Google Killed Keywords (And Most Businesses Don't Know It Yet)

Are keywords dead? Because it only feels like a few years ago you would open up Google, you would write in one or two words, you would scroll through the results Google gave you, and you would find a website that you think is going to answer your question. You go to the website, then if it does answer your question, that’s great. If it doesn’t, you bounce back through to Google. But honestly, that is all changing. We’re not now just using one or two words when we go to Google. We’re actually starting to ask proper questions. We’re having conversations like we would with ChatGPT. The way that we are searching for products and services is changing, and Google knows it.

Of course, Google had their developer conference, and the marketing world was abuzz with all the changes. Essentially, in a nutshell, Google is using AI to drive every single new product that it’s developing. So from AI Overviews, which is what we see here in New Zealand and Australia now, to AI Mode, which has now been launched in the States, which is essentially like a ChatGPT-type chatbot built within Google search.

And there has also been a lot of talk about one of Google’s newest products, which is part of Google AdWords, and it’s called AI Max. So it’s coming soon to Google AdWords, and it’s essentially allowing advertisers to be able to use AI-related tools to market better, to be able to find your customers easier, and not necessarily focusing on keywords, but more using the intent behind the user’s search query.

However, alongside all these announcements, and what I’ve just discussed about AI Max, the conversation is also focused on the future of keyword-less Google strategies. We’re going to break all of that down on the podcast today. If we haven’t met before, my name is Jordan McFadyen. Welcome to the For The Daring Growth Seekers podcast.

And as Google’s AI-powered search tools are developing at an alarming rate, it’s starting to mean that things like exact match keywords or phrase match keywords won’t actually hold the same power that they once did, because the way that we are searching is evolving. So that’s where this term “keyword-less search” has come into the conversation. And it’s essentially saying, does that mean that we won’t be using keywords as a way to be able to market our business?

From my perspective, I’m saying not yet. It’s just the way that it is evolving is changing the way we even set up some of these strategies. So again, Google has started to give more details about AI Max. And AI Max is essentially a Google AI product, which is driving a lot of your Google Ads campaigns, where it’s not focusing just on the keywords that users are putting into Google, but more, what is the intent behind their questions and their queries that they’re asking Google in AI Mode. We’ve also seen that they’re starting to actually talk about testing advertising within AI Overviews or AI Mode as well.

So it’s going to become really important that we understand how this keyword-less search actually works. For businesses, the shift focuses on understanding the true intent behind a customer’s search. With intent, firstly, I must say, it has been a fundamental part of building out audience personas anyway. We’ve been doing this in marketing for a very long time, but the shift that we’re seeing now means that for you to stay competitive in the future, you’re going to need to deeply understand why your customers are searching for a certain thing, and not just focusing on potentially some of the words that they’re chucking into Google.

So before we get too far into it, let’s actually just take a step back and understand exactly what a keyword-less search actually is, for the uninitiated. Because it might sound a little bit vague, but the idea is actually pretty simple. Essentially, Google’s AI is becoming much smarter at knowing what searchers actually want. Previously, obviously, Google would match a keyword with a search result. But now it’s actually trying to figure out that underlying reason behind every search.

So, a simple example, a really basic example too. If you’re searching “Apple”, you could be looking for fruit, you could be looking for technology. A keyword-focused search might struggle with finding out exactly what you want here. But intent-based search, using data guided by AI, is going to be able to determine the user’s true purpose.

Very basic example. Now, when we’re talking about intent, Google breaks down intent into the following four categories for you, and I think it’s really important that you understand what these four categories are. The first one is Know: the user wants to know more about a certain topic. The next one is Do: the user wants to do something or engage in an activity. The next one is Website: the user is looking for a specific website or a specific webpage. And then the fourth one, Visit in person: the user is looking for a particular business or organisation, or a category of a business or organisation. So those are the four different types of intent.

And let’s be clear again that understanding intent is not just another marketing buzzword or something that you should now just only be thinking about. This has been a fundamental marketing concept for a really long time. It’s just that we’re finding it’s becoming increasingly important as the AI era actually evolves. And it’s the key to making sure that your business actually remains relevant in search results, and in the changes that we’re seeing in search results. And one of the key reasons, and one of the most important ones, is that for smaller marketing budgets, it could help minimise wasted advertising costs as well.

And intent really means having an understanding about exactly what problem customers are trying to solve, or what goal they’re trying to achieve, and not just the keywords that they’re using to be able to help find those answers. But understanding intent will also help us understand and figure out what phase a customer is actually at in their journey of discovering your business.

So if we go back to Google’s messy middle concept, this is where Google described people where they have a trigger, but then they go into the exploration phase of trying to find a product or service that’s going to help alleviate that trigger. Once they move through that, they move into the evaluation phase, to see whether they even want to work with that particular business or product or service. And they go between the exploration and evaluation phase often. So the question you need to be asking yourself is: are they still in that exploration phase, or have they moved through to the evaluation phase? How might their search, or the intent behind a search, look different based on the phase that they are currently in with their discovery of your product and service?

So when Google’s AI tools, like AI Max in Google Ads, figure out the intent based on the search data (think your previous search history or your past user behaviour), they can then actually match your business to customers who generally need what you offer. So now that you have a better understanding about what intent actually is, and why it’s actually important for you to focus on it, I want to actually now break down some easy ways for you to start discovering and working through your potential customers’ intent. Because honestly, it’s about truly understanding your customer.

So this is where it comes back to fundamentals. Talk with your current clients or your customers. Use your customer service or your sales team, if you’ve got one, to help with this, or just pick up the phone. Directly ask your customers why did they actually choose you in the end? What problem or need were you able to solve? Or what were they looking for when they actually did find you? Then, as part of this analysis, pretend that you are even a potential customer with a problem that your business solves. What would you be typing into Google? What intent would you have behind that search when you’re actually going to Google as well?

And try searching using different phrases, not just those obvious ones. Try to think outside of the box. Think about the fact that people are now using conversational search. They’re asking long questions, not just a couple of keywords here and there. And I want you to look at those search results that Google is showing you, and the AI Overviews, and the results you get in ChatGPT, and look at the kind of websites and information that appears as part of that. And then re-evaluate all those findings, and all those things you’re finding out from your customers, back to the key intent categories that we looked at earlier. Know: the user wants to know more about something. Do: the user wants to do something. Website: the user is looking for a website. Or Visit in person: the user is looking for a specific business or organisation.

So as a starting point, I’ll run through some of the questions that you can ask yourself as part of this evaluation phase. So, what are they searching for? These are the questions you need to be asking yourself. What specific problems are customers trying to solve when they’re looking for a business like mine? What tasks are they trying to complete? Is it find a local store? Is it compare prices? Is it learn to fix something? Book an appointment? Things like that. And thinking about what stage are they at? Are they just at that research phase? Are they comparing different options? Or are they ready to buy now?

Then we have a look at the why. So why are they searching? What’s the motivation behind the searching? What’s the main goal behind that search? Is it they’re looking to save money? They’re looking to save time. They’re looking to improve their health, decorate their home, fix something broken. What triggered their search in the first place? It goes back to that trigger. It’s maybe, again, something that broke. They have a new need. They’re planning an event. They’re feeling a certain way.

These are all triggers, and you need to be truly understanding what their motivation is. Understanding what are the frustrations or the pain points that lead them to jump on a Google search in the first place. Again, is it that they’re tired of a specific problem? Is it that they just need a faster solution? They can’t find something specific elsewhere. They’ve looked at other places and they’ve gone to Google for it. So again, thinking about the motivation. Why are they actually going to Google or ChatGPT to find answers to this particular problem? And how can you and your business actually help solve that, and become part of that answer as well?

Then the what: what they expect to find. So, these questions you can ask yourself. What kind of information were they hoping to see on a website? Were they hoping to see prices, or examples of your work, or reviews, or how-to guides, or your address or your phone number, wanting to make contact right away? So when they’re going into Google search and they’re typing in an answer, or into ChatGPT, what are they actually expecting to see? What’s the result that they are wanting? And making sure that your content is just like what they’re actually wanting to see.

What kind of solution are they expecting? Are they expecting to find immediately a product that they want to buy, or a service provider that they can hire straight away? Or do they literally just want some free advice or a comparison chart? And then the other one is what they plan to do next. So what is the desired outcome as part of their intent? What do they want to be able to do after they find the right information or business? Do they actually want to make a purchase? Do they still want to just get a quote and work it out? Do they want to download a guide? Do they want to be able to visit a store, or call someone straight away and ask for help? How quickly do they need a solution as well? Is it urgent, or something that they’re slowly bubbling away at, something they’re planning for in the future as well?

So asking yourself those questions is really going to help. What are they searching for? Why are they searching for it, that motivation? What they expect to actually be able to find, and what they plan to do next: what is that desired outcome that they are going for? If you can go through those particular things, and combine that with that research that you’ve done talking to your customers and your clients, you have got a real step forward into understanding the intent behind your customers and your clients.

So at this stage you’ve likely, hopefully, got a better picture of what a user’s intent actually is. And at this stage, hopefully you’ve started to map out in your head how the intent might slightly change as the user moves between that exploration and the evaluation phase of their fact-finding mission of being able to get answers. But knowing intent is only one thing, and it’s only one piece of the puzzle, but then using it effectively is another. So the question then is: how do we piece all of this together into something that you can actually use, and help set you up for the future as well?

So, two examples that you can use right away. Use intent to help write better ads. Content is becoming more and more important for AI tools to match your business with better quality customers who are much more likely to convert. So use your intent analysis, and use it to craft your ad headlines, your descriptions, your copy that speak directly to your customers’ specific problems or goals. And again, use the intent to also help build your campaign phases, moving between the exploration and the evaluation phase. What content and information are your customers wanting and needing to see at every stage of their discovery journey?

Also, use intent to help improve your website. Make sure your landing pages, your service pages, your product pages, the pages that you have on your website, make sure that when they click on it, users immediately get that information or that option that they are searching for. Review those key website landing pages to ensure that they’re clearly describing how you’re solving specific problems, or how you’re going to satisfy their desires as well.

And if you’re not matching intent back to the content on your site, or the content that you’re posting across your social media channels, you’re likely pushing your customer back into that exploration phase. And we don’t want them to go back to exploration. We want them to evaluate your business and head down to that conversion, that purchase, or whatever action you want them to do. So that’s what we want. We want them to continue to evaluate your brand before they push that purchase or contact, instead of going back to the exploration phase. So making sure that your content across your ads and your website matches intent.

And from here, it’s just having a bit of a shift from just thinking about words and keywords to thinking more about the person, the human behind every single search, and what they are trying to accomplish. What are the big pain points? What are the things that are going on in their head as they’re typing in questions related to your product and service? What is going on in their head, and what are they expecting to get out of it as well? What is their intent?

And knowing this means that soon you’ll be able to create clearer messaging. You’ll be able to build stronger connections, and ultimately you’ll be able to have better results as well. And you can start today by literally just getting to know your customers more intimately and better than you ever have before.

As always, if you’ve got questions about anything we discuss, you can get in contact with me anytime. Our website is donebynine.com. You can get all the other resources that we share on our podcast, and you can listen to all our podcast episodes across our website as well. You can find out details about how our team can even help you with some of these strategies, and help with your strategy as you move into this AI era, to make sure that your business is set up for success into the future with all the changes that we’re facing. So again, more than welcome to contact us on our website, donebynine.com, or use any of the resources you can find online as well.

Thank you so much for listening. If you’ve got anything out of today’s episode, I’d love it if you could refer this podcast to someone else in your business network that you think would also value some of the information we’ve shared here today. And if you could leave us a review on any platform you’re listening to, whether it’s Spotify or Apple Podcasts or anywhere online, please, if you can leave us a review. It does really help this podcast, and it makes it so much easier for us to be able to do this in the future for you as well. Thank you again so much for listening to another episode of the For The Daring Growth Seekers podcast. We look forward to seeing you on the next one.