Keyword prominence is an SEO best practice that entails using the target keyword of a page early in order to send a strong signal to Google about what the page should rank for.
It’s a concept akin to the journalistic rule of never burying the lede. To “bury the lede” is to bury the main point of a story beneath information that is less important to the reader.
In journalism, this is considered a mistake because it sends a mixed message about what the most important details are in a given story.
Burying the lede in a piece of web content, with the target keyword being the “lede,” is considered a bad SEO practice because it sends mixed signals about what the page is about.
That is, at least, the general consensus within the SEO industry. But is this just a wild guess, or has Google confirmed that keyword prominence is a ranking factor?
Here’s more information on the claim about keyword prominence, followed by evidence to back it up.
The Claim: Keyword Prominence Is A Ranking Factor
The location of a keyword on a page is said to influence search rankings.
SEO experts recommend using the target keyword of a page early in order to benefit from a ranking signal known as keyword prominence.
Higher rankings are positively related to keyword prominence. The more prominent a keyword is, the closer it appears to the beginning of titles and text.
It is said that using a keyword less prominently reduces the chances of ranking for that keyword.
When you conduct a Google search, it is common to see results with the exact keyword you entered at the beginning of page titles.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that keyword prominence is a ranking factor.
Is Google confirming it?
Let us now examine the supporting evidence.
Read Are HTML Heading Tags (H2-H6) Used in Google Ranking?
The Evidence for Keyword Prominence as a Ranking Factor
Early Indications
Evidence for keyword prominence as a ranking factor dates back to 2011, when it was mentioned in a video with former Google employee Matt Cutts.
He discusses how Google detects keyword usage when crawling the web, and how the first few uses of a keyword send signals to Google about the main focus of a page.
However, Cutts warns website owners not to overuse keywords because more isn’t always better.
“The way that modern search engines, or at least Google, are built is that the first time you mention a word — [Google thinks] “Hey that’s pretty interesting, it’s about that word.”
The next time you mention that word, [Google thinks] “Oh OK, it’s still about that word.” And once you start to mention it a whole lot, it really doesn’t help that much more. There are diminishing returns. It’s just an incremental benefit, but it’s really not that large.
… So the first one or two times you mention a word than that might help with your ranking, absolutely. But just because you can say it seven or eight times that doesn’t mean that it will necessarily help your ranking.”
Evidence from Recent Times
Since 2011, a lot has changed in SEO, but Google’s advice on keyword prominence has remained consistent.
Here’s some more recent evidence, this time from Google’s John Mueller, who addressed the issue in 2021 during one of his weekly Q&A sessions (at the 6:43 mark):
“I would recommend, if there’s something that you want to tell us that your page is about, to make that as visible as possible. So don’t just put that as a one word mention on the bottom.
But rather, use it in your titles, use it in your headings, use it in your subheadings, use it in your captions from images, all of these things to make it as clear as possible for users and for Google when they go to your page that this page is about this topic.
So that’s kind of the direction I would take there. I would not worry about like, can Google get to the word number 20,000 or not. Because if you’re talking about the word 20,000, and you’re saying this is the most important keyword for my page, then you’re already doing things wrong.
You really need to make sure that the information that tells us what this page is about is as obvious as possible so that when users go there they’re like “Yes, I made it to the right page, I will read what this page has to tell me.”
Mueller makes an excellent point about considering keyword prominence from the standpoint of user experience.
To return to our analogy of burying the lede, when you use the most important keyword as early as possible, you end up optimizing for both readers and Google.
Other Factors to Consider for Keyword Prominence
We’ve talked about how keyword prominence affects SEO and user experience, and now we’ll talk about how it can potentially affect the click-through rate.
Mueller strongly suggests emphasizing your most important keyword in titles, headings, subheadings, and body copy.
Page titles are not only important for SEO, but they can also influence organic search results click-through rates. That is another reason why keyword location is so important because rankings are meaningless without traffic.
Because we read from left to right in English, a page title with the keyword closest to the beginning will catch a searcher’s attention because it matches what they typed into the search bar.
The goal of SEO is not simply to appear at the top of search results; it is to persuade searchers to choose your page over others. Keywords placed strategically can help with this.
Consider what your visitors will do when they arrive at the page. They’re more likely to skim through the content than read it word for word.
Keeping this in mind, you should incorporate the keyword into your article as early as possible. You want to make sure the reader notices it while they’re skimming.
Use the keyword near the beginning of the first paragraph, or even in the first sentence if possible. You want to show the reader right away that they’ve found the right article to help them with their search query. They’re going to leave if you don’t.
As you continue to write the content, use the keyword again in headings and anywhere else the reader’s eyes are likely to jump to while skimming a page.
Keyword Prominence As A Ranking Factor: Our Verdict
Keyword prominence is a well-established ranking factor.
Google has repeatedly stated that placing a keyword near the beginning of a piece of copy is better for SEO than placing it further down a page.
If you want to increase your chances of ranking for a specific keyword, include it in your introduction paragraph. Use the keyword early, but not too frequently, or you will run into keyword stuffing issues.
See our keyword density chapter for more information on how frequently a keyword should appear on a page.
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