SEO Keywords - Useless?

by TheTwoPointZero

Posted: 8 years ago 22 replies

Hi. I am a web designer and have a question about SEO. Are keywords useless now when you are setting up the SEO title and description? There is a place for keywords though it says that keywords are often ignored by search engines. I know using keywords in your title and description is important but is putting in a list of keywords useless these days? Is there any benefit at all even if very small? Is there any reason not to put them? Thanks!

#keywords #seo #useless

Gary Pettit 8 years ago

the reality is that SEO is a never-ending endeavor. Businesses can't "win" at SEO and then halt their efforts; staying on top by sustaining traffic and increasing conversions will require ongoing efforts and adjustments to Google's evolving algorithms. Additionally, each business will have different hurdles to overcome to meet their goals. While it may take one business two months to reach certain goals, it could take another twice as a long based on their industry competition, current site design, etc.
- Thanks
Signature

** CLICK BANNER NOW FOR FREE DOWNLOAD **

USE ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER, PINTEREST, BLOGS, WEBSITES, VIDEOS, INSTAGRAM, ETC.
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402067].message }}
KylieSweet 8 years ago

Still it has use, but not as important as the content within the site page that you are targeting for the particular keyword.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402112].message }}
expmrb 8 years ago

Keywords in SEO Title are never ignored.
- Thanks
Signature

SEO Motionz Forum & Blog- Digital Marketing Forum & Blog,
Forum Management & Promotion, SEO Tips, Money Making tips etc.
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402165].message }}
YourGoToWriter 8 years ago

Keywords are vital in SEO. Though to some they aren't important, keywords help maintain your site's status even with the changes in Google's algorithms.
- Thanks
Signature
WRITER FOR HIRE: 20 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN WRITING
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402167].message }}
divyanshisharma 8 years ago

Meta Keywords are still considered in Yahoo and Bing to know the page.
Meta Keywords are used by tools to audit the respective pages
- Thanks
- 1 reply
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402180].message }}
- dave_hermansen 8 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by divyanshisharma
  
  Meta Keywords are still considered in Yahoo and Bing to know the page.
  Meta Keywords are used by tools to audit the respective pages
  
  Absolutely incorrect! Meta Keywords ARE NOT used by Yahoo and Bing. There are a few extremely obscure, old search engines out there that nobody uses anymore that still use them for determining what a page is about, but that's it.
  
  You will not see them mentioned anywhere by Bing or Yahoo in their webmaster guidelines. They stopped using them at least a decade ago.
  
  The only thing that filling out the meta keywords section does is that it helps your competitors figure out what you are targeting when they click "view page source".
  
  [ 2 ] Thanks
  
  Signature
  
  BizSellers.com - The #1 place to buy & sell websites!
  We help sellers get the MAXIMUM amount for their websites and all buyers know that these sites are 100% vetted.
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402502].message }}
steverobert 8 years ago

Search queries are done by typing keyword in a search engine. Keyword play most important role in any content you have on your site. And It is always consider in title, description.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402255].message }}
MadsenRetreat 8 years ago

Keywords are important part of SEO. Without keywords what will be your strategy? its nothing without Keywords.
- Thanks
- 1 reply
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402323].message }}
- Fijoy Koyikkara 8 years ago
  
  Keywords do play a very important role, but those keywords should be legit and should be mentioned in your website content. (Not Stuffed in the website content though)
  
  The question here is about Meta Keywords, and this is completely useless, Neither Google nor Bing gives any importance to it. The only ones who give any importance to Meta Keywords are your competitors, who will get an idea of what keywords you are focussing on.
  
  Always remember, Google does not like the website owner order or force them what keywords it needs to rank their website on. Their algorithm will look at the website content for the keywords that you should be ranked. There are many other factors like social signals, speed, UI etc. But definitely not META KEYWORDS (This one is long gone)
  
  [link removed by moderator]
  
  Thanks
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402620].message }}
pammy mandal 8 years ago

Meta tags still play quite a big role in your site's SEO. The search engines still read them for it to have a simple, summarized idea of what your site is about and what exactly your keywords are.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402333].message }}
Sid Owsley 8 years ago

Hi,
The short answer to your question is Yes, keywords are still relevant to SEO but now you also need to provide a good user experience and real relevant content. Even with all the changes Google is implementing you still need good, relevant keywords to get results. User intent has become more important now, so when you provide content make sure your website actually has content that is relevant to what the user was searching for instead of some half-baked article stuffed with keywords. Make sure your content is user-centric. Get visitors to your website to complete a task or take action on something instead of solely focusing on keywords. A good user experience along with relevant keywords, along with other SEO best practices will yield results better than just throwing a bunch of keywords on your site.

Enjoy your outcome!
- [ 1 ] Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402346].message }}
JBambu 8 years ago

No, not at all.

Keywords are vital. They tell Google and humans what your pages are about.

What do you mean about "putting in a list of keywords?"
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402436].message }}
ryanbiddulph 8 years ago

I'd add for the heckuva it but Dave laid it out.

I'd still add to embrace and release the fear of competition

Ryan
- Thanks
Signature
Ryan Biddulph helps you to be a successful blogger with his courses, manuals and blog at Blogging From Paradise
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402515].message }}

TheTwoPointZero

8 years ago

Thank you everyone. Yes I meant meta keywords. I know using keywords in your content is helpful. I was wondering if there was any benefit even if very small to doing a list of keywords in the meta keywords tag. Thank you everyone for the info and recommendations!

Thanks
2 replies

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402522].message }}

dave_hermansen

8 years ago

Originally Posted by TheTwoPointZero

Then the answer is a big, fat "NO". Don't add them. It's a complete waste of your time, as it will have zero SEO benefit, and all you are doing is helping your competitors understand your keyword strategy.

[ 2 ] Thanks

Signature

BizSellers.com - The #1 place to buy & sell websites!
We help sellers get the MAXIMUM amount for their websites and all buyers know that these sites are 100% vetted.

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402568].message }}

Fijoy Koyikkara 8 years ago

Like Dave said. It's a big NO. Never do that, just leave it blank and you are doing much better.

Since you are a web designer, do not forget to add alt tags to the images
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402625].message }}

TheTwoPointZero 8 years ago

Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to explain that.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402569].message }}
affmarketer101 8 years ago

Keywords are critical to SEO, please don't ignore them.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402629].message }}
weightloss123 8 years ago

no useless , keywords is very important for seo . keyword depend on seo on/off page seo
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402759].message }}
TheTwoPointZero 8 years ago

Thanks everyone. I got the answers I needed.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11402997].message }}
electricguitar Banned 8 years ago

Doing keyword research is very very important thing in SEO. You should not skip this process.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11405114].message }}
sftslab 8 years ago

SEO keywords are the keywords in a web content that makes it possible for people to find your site in search engines.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11405199].message }}

SEO Keywords - Useless?

Trending Topics

New here

"New Member Introduction - Digital Services Provider"

How do you verify a domain's history before buying or building links on it?

Did you ever wonder how the World views you physically ??

Off-Page SEO Specialist Focused on Sustainable Link Building