Why Measure Keyword Relevance?

Google is steadily moving towards determining page rank based on the topics in your content, and is focusing less and less on the backlinks. That means that content that covers a topic in a holistic, comprehensive manner will be rewarded by the Big G.

But as a marketer, how do you know if the coverage of your content is comprehensive? It’s hard to know since they don’t explain their methodology. All we know is that Google has an algorithm to calculate the topics that are covered in your content. It measures relevance based on the breadth of topics covered.

1. As one example, the AdWord pricing system is partly based on relevance. Take a look at the AdWords help pages. Google calculates the relevance of your ads, your keyword list and your landing page. It uses this data to determine your ad’s Quality Score. So, including more relevant terms in your ad copy, keyword list and landing page will be rewarded.
2. As another example, Hummingbird’s technology rewrites your queries with semantically-related information. So, the specific keyword you’re trying to rank for becomes less important. Google will rewrite it using synonyms as well as based on search intent.
3. People searching for related keywords are probably interested in your product. Google’s scoring doesn’t matter in this case. It’s likely that a webpage about ‘dog food’ would satisfy someone searching for ‘puppy chow.’

However, the calculation of relevance is murky for most marketers. Broad match and, to some extent, phrase match bring in seemingly-random keywords. No guidance is provided on the strength of that conceptual relationship.

So, marketers fall back to brainstorming related keywords. But it’s a better idea to let a computer help you. Using machine learning, you can identify keywords that relate to your topic. You can discover which related keywords are the most effective. Which are the most popular? Which have the most competition? In short, where will you get the most bang for your buck?

Enter MarketMuse. By measuring keyword relevance, MarketMuse helps you identify what topics should be covered in your content. What related keywords are missing from your content today that would provide a higher relevance score? What topics might you have in your content too frequently, to reach a point of diminishing returns?

Take MarketMuse for a spin and audit your marketing for relevance!