{"id":11850,"date":"2019-12-04T10:29:50","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T09:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordlift.io\/blog\/en\/?p=11850"},"modified":"2019-12-04T21:02:45","modified_gmt":"2019-12-04T20:02:45","slug":"keywords-entities-story-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordlift.io\/blog\/en\/keywords-entities-story-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"Keywords vs Entities: a Paradigm Shift in SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

Old vs. New SEO<\/span><\/h2>\n

Once upon a time, SEO<\/a> was done through a means of finding the right keywords and placing them throughout website content with every synonym known to mankind. Being #1 was the goal and there was not a rich snippet<\/a> in sight. But one day, Google launched its knowledge graph<\/a>, spreading entities<\/a> and rich snippets far and wide on the SERP<\/a>. Things might not have changed all at once, but over time, entities became all the new rage while keywords became much less relevant. The #1 spot was never the same with knowledge cards and People Also Asked\u00a0boxes. In short, SEO is not what it used to be.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether we like it or not,<\/span> the nature of SEO has drastically changed<\/b> thanks, in part, to the emergence of entities. While keywords are far from extinct, their importance has drastically diminished in favor of entities. In a sense, <\/span>keywords and entities are interconnected<\/b> as they both utilize each others functions to better serve knowledge graphs. As such, it\u2019s important to understand their functions, their differences, and how they have changed SEO.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Keywords<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Cat<\/p>\n

Keywords are somewhat self-explanatory and easy to understand. <\/span>Keywords are words that are a focal point of content and are what users type in queries<\/b><\/span> in order to find the answers or content that they\u2019re looking for. Keywords can be picked out from a question or long-form query or used entirely on their own.<\/p>\n

If you are looking for cat videos online, common keywords may include things like: cat, kitty, cute, playing, videos, clips, compilation, etc. You might search for a long-tail query like, \u201ccute cats playing with each other video compilation\u201d or even something as short as, \u201ccute kitten video.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Entities<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Cat<\/p>\n

Entities are concepts or ideas that have distinct attributes and characteristics which can be shared with others of its kind.<\/b> They are connected within a knowledge graph, such as the one provided by Google and can be accessed by anyone. While each entity is independent, <\/span>it has direct and indirect relations with other entities<\/b><\/span> based on common attributes. They are also not required to conform to a specific language.<\/p>\n

Going back to our example on cat videos, we can find an entity on cats. The entity can describe things about cats, such as they are an animal, carnivorous, their taxonomy, names in other languages like Japanese or Latin; and many other facts and characteristics about cats.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The important thing to know about how entities work is that entities share heavy connections with each other. Think of them as people, places, things or concepts that have attributes and relations with other people, places, things or concepts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, cats as an entity are connected to other entities based on its relationship with them. Such as that it is a mammal, like whales, tigers, and bats; or that it has different breeds, like Scottish Fold, Siamese, or Egyptian Mau.<\/span><\/p>\n

How Entities Changed SEO<\/span><\/h2>\n

Entities have made conducting SEO both more useful and complicated. In the past, conducting SEO required proper utilization of keywords whereas <\/span>now, SEO is focused on developing connections with entities and providing answers<\/b> in the knowledge graph. While there are many minute changes to SERP function, there are three major takeaways in how entities have changed the SEO game:<\/span><\/p>\n