Exact keyword match on a page is dead. Is this right??

[CamperConnect14]

Hi,

I read that you should give up on using exact keywords on a page if it means that the written content flows better. I just want your thoughts on this please because I don't want to miss opportunities.

The keywords used are an example: SEO LONDON is the high vol./popular keyword that I want a page to rank for. Would I use that as the main keyword throughout the page, even though it doesn't really make sense (by this I mean you'd never really use this term other than typing it into google)? Or should I use something that makes more sense such as, 'SEO IN LONDON' or LONDON SEO?

Would Google overlook the 'IN' in 'seo in london' so it's seen as 'SEO London'? (Same sort of question for LONDON SEO).

If this is the case then why does google still show 1000 hits for SEO LONDON and just 100 for SEO IN LONDON? This makes me think that I should just target the exact keyword that people are typing even if it doesn't look natural.

Best, James

[ClaytonJ]

James

SEO London, appears natural to me.  But that would be in the Title Tag, once. Your H1 is what I assume you are talking about? That could be Search Engine Optimization Experts, London, or skip the London. They dovetail.

It does matter what your competitors are up to. Old school, but you could do a keyword density analysis of the top 20 results and see if you can identify any trends.

Exact match is still powerful, but too many exact matches may lead to being penalized. So it has to be natural and inviting and better still answer the customer query.

Hope that assists.

[CamperConnect14]

Hi

Thanks for this! So you'd say the exact match in the title but not in the H1 as well? How often would you use it in the body?

Best, James

[ClaytonJ]

The customer has to come first.  So the landing page must resonant with the customer.

In the "body" as you say, I might not use it.  Hummingbird, has given us a variety of ways to make the point, without repetition. What I would do, if it is competitive space is do a keyword density check on the other sites that do rank.  And also write down why you think the top 4-5 sites rank for that keyword... quality backlinks, video, awesome landing page... Do a decent competitive analysis.

Then I would review where I stood in comparison. There is no silver bullet, just hard work.

You have limited resources so first need to focus on best opportunities.  I just do not know what they are.  Do you have an SSL, is you loading speed for your home page under 2 seconds... ? They are all considerations I would make... on top of a competitive analysis.  A starting point should be a site audit...    https://moz.com/blog/technical-site-audit-for-2015

My view is make a list of to do's and just work through them... do it properly and it always works out...

[CamperConnect14]

Thanks John - really helpful!