When it comes to optimizing website content, using adequate keywords in the text is certainly one of the most important segments. Keywords and phrases help search engines understand the content of the page and position it appropriately in the search results. More importantly, keywords allow users to find the content they are interested in and get the best answer to their search. Of course, just using the key phrase in the text is not enough, but the quality of the content and answers that the text offers is important. It was the evolution of search engines, in the first place of Google , that went in the direction of offering users the highest quality and best content and answers. Therefore, the question arises as to how the importance of keywords has changed and what is the correct use of keywords. John Mueller from Google tried to answer the question of how many times to use keywords on a page and the values of words that fit the topic in the right way.
Correct use of keywords
He answered the question of whether keyword targeting in H1, meta tags and on page is outdated due to all the changes and advancements in search. John confirmed the value of using keywords (within a reasonable range) and matching the keywords to the topic. These answers are a very important insight into this question, given the increasingly common doubts about whether their importance is the same as before, as well as the insistence of many SEO tools that a keyword must be repeated a certain number of times in the text.

Mueller first answered the part about the requirement that keywords be mentioned a certain number of times in the text. There is a belief that Google ‘s algorithm responds well to content that contains a targeted keyword a certain number of times on a page. There are numerous content writing software that, based on the top ranked sites, suggest the number of keywords the text should contain as well as some other recommendations. The idea of mentioning keywords a certain number of times goes back to the earliest search engines, before Google .
“Generally how many times you use a keyword on a page, I don’t think it really matters or makes sense. When you write naturally, this is automatically resolved “, John began the answer.
And then he explained the answer in more detail.
“And also about individual keywords, I think that’s something I wouldn’t neglect by any means, but at the same time I wouldn’t focus too much on the exact keywords. Questions like the use of singular and plural or different ways of writing certain words. That’s something you probably don’t need to worry about.
But mentioning what your site is about and the topics you want to be found for, I would still do that.”

So, especially what we see sometimes when we look at things like news articles, if a news site really doesn’t understand SEO, they might write in a way that’s more … almost like literature that you load up and figure out what it means, but the exact words that are used on the page don’t really fit that theme. So that’s something where, from an SEO point of view, if there’s something you want to rank for, I’d still mention it on the page.
I would not exaggerate the number of mentions. I would not exaggerate with synonyms and numerous variations either. But mentioning (the keyword) at least once definitely makes sense. “
Mueller positively confirmed what has been a recent trend, which is the increasing progress in the understanding of content by search engines, as well as the effort to use as natural a language as possible that most users understand.
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Source: searchenginejournal
Made by Nebojša Radovanović – SEO Expert @Digitizer
