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.
Also on this day
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Google’s John Mueller on intent research vs keyword research for 2020
2020: Search engines continue to get better at understanding intent and rely less on keywords. But Mueller wouldn’t go as far as to say keyword research practices will or should go away anytime soon.
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2020: John Mueller said that the Google team goes through reconsideration requests in batches, so sometimes it can feel like there is a backlog.
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2020: Page owners could use Bing Pages to aggregate social media links, publish contact details, customize Outlook profiles with images and content and promote social media posts.
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2020: In this installment of Barry Schwartz’s vlog series, he chatted with Dean about making good quality videos, the nofollow link attribute change and more.
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2019: if you have hundreds or thousands of pages, removing URLs one by one can be time-consuming. What tocan you do? Use temporary sitemaps, according to John Mueller.
Google Assistant updates: Airline check-ins, hotel bookings, language translation and Maps
2019: Google was working hard to make the Assistant (and by extension, Home) a transactional platform.
Machine vs. man: What really matters for SEO success
2019: Lily Ray on changes to how sites are evaluated, dealing with traffic drops due to algorithm changes, Google’s search quality rater guidelines and more.
Google to roll out new Search Console features in coming weeks
2018: Verified users in Google Search Console were about to get access the new Search Performance, Index Coverage, AMP status and Job posting reports.
Google removes addiction treatment ads from UK search results
2018: An investigation revealed an ongoing issue with middlemen bidding on the terms and receiving large kickbacks from the private centers where the searchers were ultimately referred to – a practice called “patient brokering.”
Google accidentally removes news publishers from Google News
2018: Google called it an “unintentional technical issue.”
It’s Google Home vs. Amazon Alexa at CES in the battle for the voice ecosystem
2018: Google and Amazon both announced new device partnerships; the Google Assistant would be on new “smart display” devices, more TVs, speakers and in cars.
Google announces solution to longstanding AMP cache URL display problem
2018: Google said it was making a change to stop displaying Google URLs, instead of the publisher URLs, in search results served from the AMP cache.
Search In Pics: GoogleBot & BB-8, Google Onesie & Tesla Model X
2016: The latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have and more.
Google Now Bugs Remove Cards From Users While Google Now Tests Custom Background Themes
2015: Some users were missing their Google Now cards, which they rely on to see if there will be traffic on the way to work, how cold it may be or other useful information for their day.
AdWords Reach Reporting Moves To The Campaigns Tab
2015: Google moved the Reach and Frequency report out of the Dimensions tab to the Campaigns tab.
Bing’s New Best-Sellers Carousel Helps Readers Find Just The Right Book
2015: Microsoft’s search engine started displaying a carousel of New York Times best-selling books when searching for specific book genres.
Google France Homepage Goes “Je Suis Charlie” In Memory Of Charlie Hebdo Victims
2015: Google France added the “Je Suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”) badge on its homepage, honoring the lives lost during the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, France.
Yahoo’s News Digest App Is “Summly 2.0”
2014: CEO Marissa Mayer introduced the new news app at CES. Summly was acquired by Yahoo in March 2013 for an estimated $30 million.
Utah Has Highest Google Usage, West Virginia The Lowest
2014: Ad network Chitika released a new tool that provided a user percentage or traffic market-share breakdown of PC operating system and search usage on a state-by-state basis.
Google’s Matt Cutts On Publishers With Duplicate Content: Use The Canonical Tag
2014: In How should I address a small duplicate content issue?, Cutts said to use the rel=canonical tag to help consolidate the PageRank of the stories and avoid any issues with Google.
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Google Fixes Definition URLs, Makes Them Clickable Links
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Yahoo To Keep BOSS In Microsoft Deal, May Charge In Future
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Where’s AP In Google News? Apparently In Limbo, As Contract Running Out
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Google Fast Flip Now On Google News Home Page
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Google SMS Search Is Down … For The Count?
2009: “Sorry, ‘[search term]’ did not return any results”.
Google StreetView, GPS Save Kidnapped Girl
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Microsoft To Buy Fast Search For $1.23 Billion
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Yahoo’s Yang Outlines Vision For An Integrated, Open Yahoo 2.0
2008: Search appeared to be a piece of the overall approach but not the core here; community and trusted content sources are emphasized.
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Open Letter To Wikipedia Editors: Yes, Matt Cutts Is Notable
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Court OKs Narrow Use of Competitor Trademarks in Search Ads & Meta Tags
2007: A U.S. District Court ruled that the use of keyword-triggered ads and keyword metatags using trademarked terms cannot confuse consumers if the resulting ads/search results don’t display a competitor’s trademarks.
An Open Letter to Paid Search Networks
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Yahoo Introduces Yahoo Go 2.0, Mobile Search & Other Apps
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Search Engine ChaCha Announces $6 Million Round
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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
2010: Ecommerce Usability Showdown: Affiliate VS. Merchants by Gab Goldenberg
2010: Testing In 2010: Tips & Ideas To Get You Started by Carrie Hill
2010: The Convergence Of Web Search & Site Search by Shaun Ryan
2009: SEO Trends From 2008 & A Look Into 2009 by Jill Whalen
2008: New Year’s Resolutions For Your PPC Campaigns by Brad Geddes
2008: 10 Simple Steps To Social Media Success In 2008 by Chris Winfield
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