Two new terms you’ll be hearing frequently from SEO experts when creating content throughout the next year are proof keywords and relevant keywords. If you’re a producer of content, how much you care about these terms depends on how well you write natural content.
First, a couple definitions.
Proof keywords: Those words and terms that are related to the original keyword list your SEO team would have provided you a year ago, but never appeared on the list. They’re the terms that you should work naturally into your writing, because the first rule of good writing is to make it interesting. So if you’re writing about green energy, only use this term once. Throughout the rest of the content, use terms like renewable energy or natural energy sources to say basically the same thing.
Relevant keywords: Are slightly different. They’re the words that most likely will appear in the content you’re writing because they naturally belong there. For example, if you’re writing about Christmas trees, relevant words include ornaments, artificial and light strings.
So if you are a good writer who knows how to tell a story using the best writing practices, the latest changes in SEO and keywords shouldn’t be too difficult to follow. Here are a few of those best writing practices to remember:
Don’t repeat language
Some people also call this keyword stuffing. Repeating the same message over and over again doesn’t work anymore. Not only will people stop reading your content, but the search engines also will move on, too. Get out the thesaurus and find synonyms if absolutely needed. Better yet, if can leave it out, do so. Make the language stronger naturally and conversationally.
Provide good information
To keep readers on your page and engaged with your website, you need to provide them with the information they need and want to read. Better audience engagement on your site means the search engines will better recognize your site, which moves you up in the relevant searches.
Spend the most energy on the headings/titles
To get people to click on your website, you have to entice them in. Headlines and titles are the key. These elements need to grab the attention of your readers and then entice them to read further. It used to be that keywords were the highlight of the headline; in the new keyword world, you should focus your attention on using proof keywords to get readers interested in your online content.
You’ll soon be hearing about proof keywords and relevant keywords. The key to using them properly is simple: Develop good, quality writing, and let that great content take care of the rest and make the search engines happy.
