Continual changes in search engine algorithms and general requirements for ranking pages in search results make successful SEO increasingly complicated. Misconceptions concerning the use of keywords further serve to confuse matters.

To make life just a little easier, here are the top five keyword myths and the realities behind them.

Single Keyword Optimisation

Optimising pages for single keywords was a strategy that worked well a few years ago. Today, it is far better to build on keyword concepts and improve targeting via long-tail keywords. Optimising for just one keyword ultimately restricts targeting abilities and results in important opportunities potentially being missed.

Keyword Density

Long ago, SEO was centred on the concept of an almost magical keyword formula stating just how often a specific word should be used within content. In spite of the fact that this concept has little to no merit in today’s context, the idea of the ‘perfect’ density is surprisingly still very much adhered to. In essence, keywords should be used often enough to have a detectable presence, but skilfully enough to ensure a totally natural flow of content.

Keyword Stuffing

Once upon a time, stuffing content (placing the same word over and over without regard for natural flow/ readability of content or meta data) with key-phrases or words was a great way to be detected, listed and ranked by search engines. Now this typically unnatural overuse of keywords is regarded as bad practise and penalised by search engines.

Keyword-rich Domains

Domain names rich in keywords no longer have much, if any, noteworthy impact on the value of domains. Choosing branded domain names is a far better way of building brand recognition and authority.

Omitting Keywords

Some quarters in the world of SEO believe that keywords are a thing of the past and can subsequently be disregarded altogether. This, of course, is not true. They are evolving, just like all other aspects of SEO, and marketers now need to approach keyword research, the application of such words/ phrases and metric tracking in a new, smarter way. As a whole, however, solid keyword research and placing of relevant SEO keyword data are still very much core elements of successful SEO strategies.