What Do You Do When Keyword Data Is 100% Not Provided

As SEOs we’re fond of data. It helps us do better marketing and make the Web a better place.

Keyword referral data (ie the words that are actually getting traffic to your site), of all, has always been most helpful for us.

For those who don’t know, Google, in the quest to make search more secure, has made this data 100% not provided. Yahoo and Bing are expected to follow Google’s lead.

It’s undoubtedly annoying, unfair and probably the most pressing challenge ever.

Sure, SEO is still not dead but justifying your SEO efforts has become ever more difficult.

But there’re some questions we at ResultFirst have been asking ourselves all through: do we really need to worry? Can’t we do without keyword referral data?

If you’re producing remarkable content, giving remarkable product/service and leveraging SEO best practices, then does it matter to be awake at night over any and every Google updates (whether it’s not provided or Hummingbird, or Panda, or Penguin)?

It should not.

Let us tell you why.

It’s (NOT) all about keywords anymore

If you’ve been with us for a while, you know that we keep on guiding SEOs to think about knowledge graph, semantic search, metadata, authority, authorship, content et al rather than obsessing over just keywords.

The reason is, keywords may matter still but they are no more the most important part of an SEO’s job.

For those who’re saying: “we have come past keyword stuffing but keyword data is fundamental to improving search rankings of the most important terms.”

Well, you’ve still got Bing and Yahoo to track keyword data. But considering that they may not give you the most accurate data and that they will soon move to not provided, it’s not the best bet to be dependent on them.

One way is to track your rankings using SEO tools like SEMrush. If you know you’re ranking good for an oft-searched keyword, you should be doing well.

Another way is to leverage keyword research and build content according to it.

Authority is your new best friend

Do you know what makes Baba Ramdev the most followed Yoga guru in the world? Why do people listen to him? What makes him get his words heard across the millions?

It’s authority. He helps people live a disease-free life, a happier life, by educating them about Yoga and of course diet.

Google wants you to be the absolute best in what you do. They want you to be liked and shared by people. They want to know whether or not you’re the best answer for your target audience.

If you can do build authority, Google would love to rank you.