This day in search marketing history: January 8

Intent research vs. keyword research

In 2020, Frédéric Dubut of Bing told us: “Keyword research are probably going to become slowly obsolete and you’ll need to switch to intent research as a practice.”

Barry Schwartz asked Google’s John Mueller about Dubut’s statement. Here’s what Mueller said:

“There’s probably always gonna be a little bit of room for keyword research because you’re kind of providing those words to users. And even if search engines are trying to understand more than just those words, showing specific words to users can make it a little bit easier for them to understand what your pages are about and can sometimes drive a little bit of that conversion process.”

So, is keyword research obsolete yet? In 2023, there definitely has been a significant shift in the way SEOs think about user intent, or the search intent behind a query. But keyword research is still far from obsolete.

Read all about it in Google’s John Mueller on intent research vs keyword research for 2020.

From Search Marketing Expo (SMX)

Google Ads and SMBs: How to drive results on a low budget

Past contributions from Search Engine Land’s Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

These columns are a snapshot in time and have not been updated since publishing, unless noted. Opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.

2020: Here’s some data to help you understand how to rank better with your brand name by Brian Patterson

2019: Learn how one startup doubled CPL and saved money by Duane Brown

2018: What the development of visual search will mean for SEO by Kristopher Jones

2016: Is Your Account Leaking Money? The Importance Of Query Mapping by Amy Bishop

2016: How To Ensure Your SEO Recommendations Get Implemented by Winston Burton

2015: What Yahoo’s Firefox Deal Tells Us About Paid Search In 2015 by Mark Ballard

2015: AdWords Scripts For Every Level: Part 4, A Real World Use Case (Free Script Included) by Ginny Marvin

2014: For SMBs, The Time Is Now To Embrace Search Advertising by John Cosley

2013: Why Is Search Engine Results Personalization A Driver For Using Local Domains Internationally? by Andy Atkins-Krüger

2013: Propel Promotion Of Your Content: 9 Ways I Promote Sharing Online by Jordan Kasteler

2013: 3 Areas That Get Overlooked When Building Links In A Bubble by Julie Joyce

2010: 5 Web Analytics New Year Resolutions by Ben Gott