Keywords are Dead, Focus on Meaning

I’ve worked with hundreds of owners over the years, and find that the majority of owners repeat the same mistakes over and over.

• Not because they don’t know
• Not because they have tons of examples
• Not because I’ve shown them how multiple times over

And the most common response I get from owners,
"I didn't even know I was doing it!"

You’re programmed, and operate without even thinking!

And one of the most common issues I come across is keyword stuffing, and severe over-optimization of content, making it almost impossible for owners to rank content in the last few years.

You’re trying to jam keywords into heading, keywords into keywords, and by the time you’re done, you’ll never rank. Or you’ll rank but you’ll never above position 50 and never generate a meaningful result.

Worse yet, you’re also painting a target on your back for algorithmic penalties that love to punish anyone, optimizing for SEARCH FIRST, including HCU.

Now let’s get into it!

Search Engines, across the board, shifted from keyword matching to understanding meaning, which drastically improved the algorithms ability to understand the intent of the user’s query, but also your content.

And this didn’t just happen, it’s been like this for years, and I really started to noticed in my data-driven results in late 2022.

Fast forward to Jun. 25, 2025 and we’ve leveled up again!

How Search Has Changed

Google and other search engines have evolved. They’re not looking for a checklist of words. They’re looking for meaning. They’re looking for intent. If your content reads like it was written for an algorithm, you’re going to lose your shirt.

The Rise of Semantic Search

Modern search engines use something called vector embeddings. This is a fancy way of saying they map words, phrases, and concepts into a kind of multidimensional space where related ideas sit close together.

For example, “King Lear” is close to “Shakespeare tragedy,” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is close to “Shakespeare comedy.” Both are close to “Shakespeare.” The search engine uses these relationships to figure out what you really mean, not just what you type.

For example, “Chicken Marsala” is close to “Italian chicken dishes,” and “Coq au Vin” is close to “French chicken dishes.” Both are close to “braised chicken recipes.” The search engine uses these relationships to understand that someone searching for “wine-braised chicken” might be interested in either dish, even if they didn’t use those exact recipe names.

For example, “Scandinavian minimalism” is close to “hygge decor,” and “Japanese minimalism” is close to “wabi-sabi aesthetic.” Both are close to “minimalist design.” The search engine recognizes that someone searching for “simple, clutter-free living spaces” is likely interested in these design philosophies, even without mentioning specific style names.

Which is why isn’t NOT about strategically using the same keyword 19x or mixing intent and trying to rank for 4 different things, within the same content. Yet, so many owners were taught this, use tools like topic, and over the years, this started happening without even thinking about it.

This is where things like Google’s Muvera come in. This new algorithm speeds up retrieval and ranking, and improves accuracy by using multi-vector embeddings.

We’ve seen this consistently over the years!

Accuracy improves, and suddenly that 10k monthly volume term that you really shouldn’t have ranked for vanishes. Instead you now rank for 500 monthly volume, that actually matches the intent of your content.

That means it can represent each query or piece of content with multiple vectors, multiple ways of understanding meaning, which helps it capture richer relationships and intent, essentially, what is this really about.

It’s about understanding context and similarity!

What Actually Works Now

Here’s what I see working now: content that’s written for people, not bots. You can spot it immediately. It’s direct. It answers real questions. It doesn’t dance around with awkward phrasing just to squeeze in another keyword.

Keyword Stuffing, feels a lot like AI written content. I’m sure you’ve caught the long-dashes, words like “delve”, and many more.

How do you feel, when you read AI written content, or AI responses in general, is how algorithms interpret your keywords stuffing, mixed intent, and over-optimizations.

I’ve worked with owners for years, and started a significant shift to people-first and meaning driven content in late 2022. And for many of my HCU recoveries, this was a critical step, given the majority of content was written entirely for search-engines.

Focus on Meaning

A few things that stand out, front and center.

Stop worrying about keyword density!

If you’re strategy is mentioning X or variations of X, a specific number of times, game over.

If you’re trying to rank for multiple-intents within a single article, your gaming search. Owners are so desperate to drive traffic, they’ll try to rank for A, but also B, C, D, and in the end nothing.

Avoid using tools blindly!

It’s unreal how many owners use and follow tools like RankIQ, Topic, and execute everything recommended, which leads to both of the issues outlined above this paragraph.

Stop trying to reverse-engineer the algorithm!

This one is hilarious because when you understand the complexity of algorithms, you know they’re dynamic, weighted, with varying features, and this is impossible.

And yes, while we cannot reverse engineer, there is ample evidence that giving algorithms certain things, makes ranking and LIFE significantly easier.

Quick Example

I started a manged WordPress hosting company 5 years ago to solve a consistent problem. While working with owners, in almost every case, they’re hosting was NOT giving algorithms the things that make things easy.

And given the low monthly expense, free migration, and done in 60 minutes, it’s a nobrainer for anyone building a long-term business. And it’s interesting speaking with owners, typically within 30 minutes, it becomes abundantly clear which owners will thrive.

Fun article on this right here, owner wanted to save $100/mo on hosting, migrated, and within a week, tanked. The decisions owner make matter, including the decision to repeatedly publish average content.

When we improve hosting, we drastically improve HOW algorithms interact with an entire business, from crawling, indexing, and ranking. I reference things like this as quality stacking, and the more of these you do the easier your life gets. Suffice to say, when you use the right tools, the work and the result are often significantly better.

Make decisions that FEED algorithms, consistently stack quality, and improve your business month over month for users and your audience will compound month over month.

Stop trying to copy competitors!

This is equivalent if not worse than trying to reverse engineer the algorithm. I’ve never met a single owner who has found success copying or replicating another site. What works for Susan won’t work for Maria. What works for Mark won’t work for Steve.

Like this masterclass on Dmarge, that documents an owner stacking so many bad decisions, he didn’t stand a chance. But also lets you see into the mind of an owner, and the fact they believe, they can copy/do what GQ Magazine is doing, and win, at which point I’m rolling on the floor.

When I get an audit referral, which makes up the majority of my business, I complete a 30 minute introductory call, and on average agree to onboard about 15% of the owners.

If you talk for 27 minutes, about everyone else, and 3 minutes about your business, game over. Your so focused on what everyone else is doing, your done.

You booked the meeting, you’re seeking help, if you argue or are unwilling to make decisions or execute, game over. The owners, who only commit partially, rarely if ever find success. They’re not prioritizing their business, they’re not doing the work, and they’re foot is halfway out the door or they’re juggling to many things to succeed.

Be Authentic, Meaningful, and Provide Value to your AUDIENCE

Start thinking about what your audience is actually searching for, and why. Write for them. Answer their questions. Solve their problems. That’s what works now, and it’s not changing anytime soon.

Significantly Improve the following:

Effort – do what others are not, it’s not about publishing 5 below average articles a week, but the effort, attention, and care required to publish 1 per week that connects with YOUR audience.

Originality – while everyone else is copying one another, publishing articles that read like definitions, full of keywords, BE yourself. Your ability to write from your perspective, first hand experience, amplifies originality in a way that does NOT exist anywhere else.

Helpfulness – the people visiting your business are yours, treat them well, answer their questions, and, they’ll return

EEAT – over rated for the average business owner, my advice, be real, and share your opinion. Obviously, if you’re writing health, finance, etc. this may be required.

Authenticity – be real, it consistently pays dividends and compounds everything.

Final thoughts

If your in this for the long-haul, reflect on your business (what) and operations (how). And if you’re like any of my existing clients and want real help, feel free to book a quick intro.