Content Strategy & SEO

Jeffrey
HubSpot Product Team
HubSpot Product Team

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

Hi All,

 

Jeffrey from the product marketing team at HubSpot here. We’re planning to sunset the Keywords tool within HubSpot this year, and I wanted to start a discussion here about why and answer any of your questions.

 

For a full timeline and background information, I recommend reading this post.

 

That said, here are 3 high-level reasons we’re sunsetting the Keywords tool:

  1. Search has moved beyond just Keywords. Search engines now base results on user intent and topics, and our exact match keywords tool was not ideal for telling you what to write about, or how you were doing.
  2. Rank is not a proxy for success. Many of the marketers that I speak with still want to “rank better” or “rank #1” for their content. While those aspirations are commendable, the fact is there is no consistency in search and back in 2011 Adam Lesnik, a Google search evangelist at the time, said that “rank checking is largely overrated and a gross waste of time.” It’s clear based on the personalization of search by localization, individual, device, and more than rank is becoming an irrelevant metric and is not a measure of success. Instead, we believe you should focus on attracting actual visitors, leads, and customers.
  3. Content Strategy is a new SEO tool that can help set you up for success. The topic cluster model works. We’ve seen a remarkable increase in traffic at HubSpot, and customers like IDS Agency, Townsend Security, and others have also experienced remarkable success. This tool not only helps you plan what to write, but also helps structure content in a way that is optimized for search engines and humans alike, and gives you insight into how many visitors, leads, and customers you are generating.

With that said, let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I’ll try to hop into this thread throughout the next few days to answer questions.

1 Accepted solution
adefranco
Solution
HubSpot Product Team
HubSpot Product Team

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

Hi all - Angela from the Product team here - first of all, thank you all taking the time to submit these responses. We appreciate the thoughtfulness, consideration, and rationale behind these comments and want to provide additional context and clarity on the themes you've cited most. Jeffrey and I have spoken to many of you on the phone but I wanted to provide some additional context behind this decision from a product and business perspective to this thread.

 

At this point, of about 120,000 weekly active users of our marketing product, about 3.7% view the Keywords tool every week, and only a third of them actually use it. Usage has been trending downward for the past 4 years, and many of you have rightfully noted it's because the tool itself has not provided the necessary value for many marketers and business owners to stick around using it. With a goal of understanding the value our users were looking for in Keywords, 2 years ago we asked both users and non-users what they wanted in an SEO tool. What we found was surprising. It was quite difficult to find users who solely relied on the HubSpot Keywords report as their means of doing keyword research. From there, we evaluated our offering from a technical, market, and business perspective after hearing from customers, and determined any investment (engineering time, partnerships, or otherwise) into the rehabilitation of the Keywords tool would not ultimately serve customers.

 

But we were not ready to deprecate the Keywords report then and there. Clearly, this tool was and is beloved by many for its simplicity and frankly it’s practicality in assessing 1) what do I write about and 2) how am I doing. In searching for an improvement to the SEO toolset, we on the product team found Matt Barby and Anum Hussain’s work on the marketing team incredibly compelling and effective: we’d found the future-proof solution we were looking for.

 

Beyond that, we also saw the market was moving in this direction with concepts like 10x content, the skyscraper technique, and overall search algorithm changes. Slowly but surely, we realized the information in the Keywords report such as exact-match, single-location Rank and Difficulty at odds with where this space is headed and where our offering is going. After some time, we made the incredibly hard decision to sunset the tool.

 

While this context doesn’t take away from the fact that a portion of loyal customers find value in the tool, it gives you some perspective into the facts of the situation. When faced with choosing priorities across a multi-tool, ever-growing platform, in an ever-changing industry, we lean on this type of data to ensure that our decisions align with the tools that you use and value most.  To wrap up, I wanted to address some of the specific questions you've brought up:

 

1) HubSpot got in a fight with their 3rd party data provider and so they’re cutting ties.

Not true. In fact SEMrush, who supplies CPC, Monthly Search, and Suggestions data to Keywords, has stepped up and is offering to help be the rank-tracking provider of choice within their software and we’re developing deeper relations with them across HubSpot’s platform as well. More on that in the coming weeks but check them out here.

 

2) HubSpot didn’t want to pay to keep that data in the software.

Nope. We spend a lot of money, and will continue to spend a lot of money, to get the right data into the software, so that you can can create effective content. Cost savings had nothing to do with this decision.

 

3) HubSpot is naive in thinking rank is dead.

Interestingly, I agree with this. I help a couple friends and family with their small businesses, one of which is run via HubSpot. I understand very deeply the rush that comes from seeing your rank improve over time, and I understand the validation you get from seeing your domain gain traction with a specific term. I also realize that can get very, very dangerous. Solely focusing on rank as a measure of success might mean foregoing the opportunity to deliver the content that converts for your business in your industry, but holistically speaking rank does have its place in gauging what content Google values. At HubSpot - because we have the ability to see what your visitors value (what content gets traffic, shares, and conversions) we can and will go one step beyond, allowing for aggregation of content performance and topical ownership, even if it doesn’t “rank” on google. Even if it’s not a HTML page... think video, social posts, etc. all across the internet. A future that rank alone could not support.

 

4) Keywords in the optimization panel really helped me create content, it sucks that you’re killing that!

We’re not! I love that part of the product too - it ties things together nicely from planning to execution. We’re actually doubling-down on the product there, and pointing towards topic clusters within content strategy. You’ll see this change shortly - it will not be altogether different than what is in those panels today.

 

Ultimately we want to create a tool and toolset that lasts well into the future beyond a changing SERP, a changing searcher, new ways to search for new types of content, and a different perspective on what matters for success. I completely understand however that we’re in the middle of a perceived gap between practicality and philosophy. I am not suggesting that we replaced the Keywords tool with Content Strategy. What I am suggesting now is that we give content creation in HubSpot, sans the Keywords tool, a try. As the market, our broad customer base, our company, and our technologies evolve, so too should this content creation strategy. I promise we will be here listening to every piece of feedback, every commendation or moment of insight, every insult, every piece of friction, and we will make every effort to support you in this journey. Thanks again for the time and consideration.

 

Sincerely,

Angela

View solution in original post

80 Replies 80
bendonahower
Guide | Diamond Partner
Guide | Diamond Partner

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

This is a disappointing change. I understand the rationale behind it, but I don't think this is the right move for customers and partners. I'm sure nothing will change the deprecation of this but I do hope that you receive enough constructive feedback that it something that provides keyword data for the modern internet marketer is available in Hubspot in the future.

 

Good reasons for keywords

 

1. Trend. We've all known for a long time, including end users / clients, that personalization, changes at Google, etc. make telling a business that they rank #1 or whatever and estimation, but that estimation is useful as a cluster of keywords that comprise a topic  and also as a trend. Eg. these 10 keywords about your one service used to have an average ranking of X and now they have an average ranking of Y which is much better! Our optimizations are working and we see that in the increased search volume from organic on this or that page.

 

2. Measurement. Again, we know that keywords aren't the end all be all to reporting like they were back in the day, but they are a useful metric when given context as above.

 

Let's go sell some inbound

 

1. "Hub." As partners, a big part of the value proposition of Hubspot is that it is a hub for their marketing. As another commenter lamented, they will need to log into another tool. What's the logical objection from a prospect when I tell them that Hubspot is great for them, in part, because they won't need all of those tools that they are using, except they need to purchase SEMRush or Moz, Hootsuite, and Similarweb (to replace the long-deprecated competitor tool)? Well, the prospect might think that that doesn't really sound like much of a hub at all. 

 

2. When they already have the aforementioned tools plus Constant Contact, Unbounce, DataBox or some other reporting tool, etc. it sure makes the financial conversation easier when they are already 3/4ths the way to the cost of Hubspot Pro. At least for some prospects, this changes the value proposition calculation.

 

Ben

Ben Donahowers HubSpot community signature
GeorgeBT
Participant

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

Jeffery,

First, let me commend you on a job well done managing this topic. I read the entire thread as well as the blog article release and Whiteboard Friday episode and... all the other resources you have provided along the way. I am more educated on this topic than I ever thought I would be. So I have to thank HubSpot for the change just because of the now new growth.

After spending a good amount of time on this here are my thoughts.

1. I am super glad we are interviewing you on the Hubcast as I think it will help tackle this topic. I hope it gives you a voice to a larger section of HubSpot users that may not read this but will watch or listen.

2. There are some super creative writers in this thread so I commend you for making me laugh and getting me frustrated as well.

3. I think 75% of this is the "Who moved my cheese" "I don't like change" "Now I have to learn a new tool". Frustration towards fear of the future and how are we going to do it now.

I think most of this frustration comes from not knowing what the updated tools will look like to cover the needed usability. But to be honest, we never seen the full future until we get there. Imagine if God let you see three weeks from now you won the lottery or you wrecked your car. How would you deal with that knowledge? Probably not well in either scenario.

My suggestion is that we all take a deep breath and realize it will all work out in the end. If HubSpot realizes they made a mistake, in the long run, they will fix it. Remember when they sunset page performance? it was back in play within a week or so of its death.

4. I have the awesome opportunity to run a Facebook Group called Mastering HubSpot where we have been having a discussion about this topic as well. Here are a couple thoughts from some of the members.

"After years of refusing to buy an additional product to compensate for a deficiency in the product I was already paying good money for (see also Reporting Tools #makeitfree ), I finally decided that refusing to buy the right tool for the job was only hurting us and not Hubspot. We'll be signing on with SEMrush shortly."

"I think it's a positive. I started using ahrefs a few years ago and before trying ahrefs - as a "newbie" - I didn't realize how much I was missing out on relying on Hubspot for Keywords. The investment in a keyword tool is peanuts compared to the value of a useful tool - and Hubspot's keyword tool has always been inferior to the other products on the market."

On the flip side they have also said:

"Sounds like Hubspot is saying that search has evolved beyond keywords. However, small businesses use Hubspot for its integrated platform. I’d rather see a less than stellar keyword tool than for it to completely go away."

"Yeah, the keyword tool is actually what sold me on HubSpot 2 years ago. I’m bummed its going bye bye"

So what is my take away?

Learn about it! Test it! Then make any needed moves after I have been in it vs looking at it in fear. By the way, this is how I live my entire life!

Now let's all go out into the world and do some happy HubSpotting.

Thanks in advance,
George B Thomas

PS. Selling service in this thread... not very "inbound" bro but, we still love ya.

jc
Contributor | Elite Partner
Contributor | Elite Partner

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

"I think 75% of this is the "Who moved my cheese" "I don't like change" "Now I have to learn a new tool". Frustration towards fear of the future and how are we going to do it now."

 

I think differently. 

 

Hubspot is trying to look like Apple telling us they are going where the puck will be. What is really happening is… they are telling us the puck doesn't matter anymore. #KeywordsMatter.

 

Think about it. They are saying a single topic cluster could contain hundreds of keywords on its own. Correct? Well, then logic tells me by reverse engineering that… if I rank high on an important keyword, that should mean we are strong on many more. It is also revealing. 

 

The whole argument of "this or that" between clusters and keywords is made up. They both matter. They both hold water to our inbound practices. They should both be there.

 


JC
Kt
Participant

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

This is bittersweet for me. Asking me to log into another source for reporting/reference takes time away from maximizing HS's fullest potential for our business.

 

Squirrel....

 

The more time I'm logged into another systems, I won't be logged into HS.  

 

Suggestion:  If there is enough interest, perhaps a roundtable at Inboud this year?

global22
Contributor

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

@Kt- I agree with your post. If you look online and look at the HS post that compares Hubspot to Marketo, Hubspot mentions that the benefit of using HS is, "One log-in, one support line, and one bill for your entire marketing platform".  They go on to say, "Time savings with only one set of software tools to learn and master."  I guess HS doesn't consider that stance at this point. I too am very disappointed.

jmiddlebrook
Participant | Partner
Participant | Partner

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

Jeffrey,

First of all thanks for all you do there at HubSpot. I too have to echo with most of the folks on this post and reflect my frustrations with this change. I have been using your platform for almost 5 years now, both in a large agency setting and a small, my own.

 

For the larger agencies, I would imagine this means little to them. They have 5-10 extra tools that they pay for on top of HubSpot. Tools for billing, tools for spidering web site data, tools for task and project management, tools for data agregation and reporting, tools for web analytics, tools for advertising, etc, etc. They pack those fees into their client billable and margins.

 

However, for the smaller agencies, these tools that you offer that may feel insignificant, aren't. Another tool for a small agency to purchase and drop another $100-$300/mo. We can't go to our clients that, that are also all HubSpot clients, and tell them we are raising our prices for this change, at least not after they all re-signed in January.

 

On the practicality side of this, I agree with what most have said. Keyword ranking and keyword data, does not matter like it did in the past and I applaud the content strategy tool, it's coming along. However it is almost 30 days of an initial onboarding for us. We need a baseline and starting point and the keyword tool is just that. At the root of all success is qualified traffic, when I build a solid content and keyword strategy, and see a 90% increase in traffic in year one and a double in sales for that same client, don't tell me that keywords aren't as important.

 

The bigger question is when does your product team wakeup one morning and decide social is dead, use Hootsuite? When do they decide email is no longer a effective and chat is better, move to Mailchimp for email?

 

I think this change is bigger, personally. You've had a message on the keyword tool for months about data inaccuracy, I believe this is related to money, sorry. On a side note, if you want to drop our portal fees to reflect a third party cost, that is really the only way to make this feel any better.

 

Regards,

 

John

Jeffrey
HubSpot Product Team
HubSpot Product Team

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

Thanks for the comment and feedback, @jmiddlebrook. I'll try to answer some of your points below:

Cost of tools:

I, and the team, at HubSpot certainly understand there is a cost to dedicated SEO tools that may not be feasible for everyone. As mentioned in my response above (direct link here), I think the Content Strategy tool can help you plan content to create, execute on that content, and measure the success of that content via Traffic Analytics. That said, if you are looking to validate keywords via rank tracking or deep keyword research there are a number of inexpensive tools on the market, like AccuRanker and ranktracker.

 

Importance of Keywords:

I want to be clear at HubSpot we are not saying that keywords are no longer relevant, in fact, a topic is generally made up of hundreds or even thousands of individual long-tail keywords. Indeed, part of the difficulty with this transition has been keeping keywords as a function to a higher standard, while deprecating the Keywords tool.

 

That said, we believe that marketers and agencies should now look to measure the success of content based on metrics like sessions, leads, and customers generated rather than individual keyword data like rank.

 

Hope this helps.

 

embeya
Member

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

I agree with your comments. SEO a keyword needs a lot of tools to analyze and track the development and ranking of the website. I regularly use some paid tools for embeya.com (my website) including: Ahref, serprobot.com, majestic....

0 Upvotes
wixman
Member

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

what type of tools you use to analyze a keyword actually i also need it for my website expats in saudi arabia . please inform me about the tools.

0 Upvotes
MiaSrebrnjak
Community Manager
Community Manager

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

Hi @wixman

 

Thank you for reaching out to the Community! HubSpot's SEO tools are an integral part of our content publishing tools. You can learn more about this functionality in this Knowledge base article

 

I hope this helps!

 

Cheers

Mia


Wusstest du, dass es auch eine DACH-Community gibt?
Nimm an regionalen Unterhaltungen teil, indem du deine Spracheinstellungen änderst


Did you know that the Community is available in other languages?
Join regional conversations by
changing your language settings

Onur
Contributor | Diamond Partner
Contributor | Diamond Partner

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

Such a shame,

 

I agree with the topics and content clusters approach to SEO.

 

This is the whole premise of longtail and Latent semantic SEO. However, keyword data keeps everyone honest and helps us to ensure the success of that approach.

 

Proper Keyword research and tracking when cross-referenced with Content clusters combine search volume, difficulty and provides both a benchmark and an indication of current and competitor rank.

 

This is essential to selecting the topics to go after. Without the Keyword tool we will be forced to go elsewhere for this data.

 

It was nice to hold everything within HubSpot as a one stop shop.

 

Here at Commino, we base all content not just on Persona interest by search interest for the topics.  Using the Keyword tool allows us to write content using the same words that our audience uses to identify with that topic. 

 

Onur

jmiddlebrook
Participant | Partner
Participant | Partner

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

Team,

Your current tool for META suggests under 170 characters for META description. Moz has recently published an article that up to 300 can be included so we may want to revisit this and make some changes in gradeing sites. 

https://moz.com/blog/how-long-should-your-meta-description-be-2018

 

Thanks

Simone
Participant | Gold Partner
Participant | Gold Partner

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

It is really disappointing to hear about this decision. While we do plan content around pillar pages and topic clusters, the keyword tool helps us decide what topics we should write about and ensure we are developing our content with the right language and terms for our readers.  Furthermore, it provides us with a way to measure the performance of our content and relay it to our clients in an easy and understandable way.  Honestly, the keyword tool played a major role in why we chose HubSpot and perhaps we will have to look elsewhere.

Jeffrey
HubSpot Product Team
HubSpot Product Team

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

Hi @Simone - Thanks for the feedback. I think there may be some answers in my reply above (here's a direct link), but I wanted to specifically reply here to address your concerns about measuring performance and communicating it with clients.

 

While rank is an easy way to visually see success, it's not a direct proxy for success. If I wrote a post that ranked #1, but ultimately got very little traffic and did not generate leads or customers, then by my definition that's not a win. Instead, if I track the views/sessions, leads, and customers generated from that content then I can speak directly to the value it's providing. By setting up topic clusters in Content Strategy you can use the new Traffic Analytics report to see this exact information.

 

Hope this helps. 

global22
Contributor

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

Hello All,

I have been a Hubspot user since 2009. I am disappointed and confounded by the announcement that Hubspot is removing the keyword tool.  I cannot see any reason why the tool cannot be left intact with a reminder that cluster architecture and AI rule the day.

Anyone who is serious about SEO understands the proper way to deliver content and wouldn't solely rely on old-school keyword stuffing, etc. If agencies are still using SEMRush to investigate keyword rank it indicates that keyword volume and difficulty is relevant.

If you look at competitive platforms to Hubspot you will see that they have not discredited their keyword tool and make it part of their offering.

 

My vote is to continue educating your users about the state of SEO and let your users use the tool as they see fit.  What is the harm in leaving our beloved Keyword Tool?

 

Who is with me on this?

Thanks

 

 

ashleywr
Participant

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

I totally get and agree with the premise of this decision. However... it feels like a decision that was made based more on philosophical ideals than practicality, if that makes sense?

 

First, a large majority of the arguments made here are very focused on a B2C audience. There aren't going to be a ton of manufacturing prospects searching for "manufacturing near me"... while I'm sure it happens, that's not really the be-all-end-all of B2B marketing. 

 

Second, the decision to COMPLETELY remove an in-house keyword research tool seems just... odd(?) for a platform that sells itself as a fully integrated marketing tool. We're even being directed to use third party sources to replace this thing that was a part of HubSpot? Odd.

 

Finally, while best practice isn't to define your marketing by keywords, the data provides helpful direction for choosing topics. It kind of feels like someone taking your glasses and telling you to "feel your way around in the world" instead. Why? Because we feel it will make the world a better place.

 

I'm a bit frustrated by this decision for a number of reasons... As you can tell. We'll all get over it eventually, but man this seems like such a wacky decision. Smiley Indifferent

JohnMorgan
Participant

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

Jeffrey,

Like the others I can't say I'm happy about this decision. It's like a good friend enthusiastically announcing that he is dropping out of medical school to go live in a commune and grow organic pineapples or something. He's very excited about the change. He provides all sorts of rationalizations for his decision, but you're left thinking, "Hmm, I don't think that's really a good decision and I'm having a hard time telling him that I support him."

 

Specifically, I never really noticed any issues with the keyword information that Hubspot was providing. It seemed to be pretty accurate to me and gave me an understanding of how some of our content was performing. Occasionally I would run keyword searches to verify the information provided and it seemed to match what was being reported. For instance one of our e-guides changed our search results for a particular keyword phrase from about 40 to #3. I could do the search myself and verify that information. To me that sort of data was very valuable. 

 

OTOH, if I go to my topic clusters I see that topic cluster A has increased search volume of 22% versus last month, but I don't know how you reached this conclusion. Had those pages all existed and not been connected together by hyperlinks would they (as a whole) have had the same traffic? Is the mere act of linking them together in a cohesive format the sole reason for this reported increase in performance or did one of the pages simply creep up in search results on its own and up the volume for the topic cluster as a whole? 

 

I simply don't find this data to be as useful and actionable as the keyword data. 

 

So, Jeffrey, quit medical school if you must, but I don't support your decision. Sorry.

jc
Contributor | Elite Partner
Contributor | Elite Partner

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE
Bottom line is we PLAN content strategy by topic clusters but we MEASURE it with keywords. I feel Hubspot is using the wrong narrative to justify a rather questionable change.

JC
Jeffrey
HubSpot Product Team
HubSpot Product Team

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

Hi All,

 

Thank you for the feedback. I want to take a few minutes and try to address all of your points.

 

Before that though, I want to be clear at HubSpot we are not saying that keywords are no longer relevant, in fact, a topic is generally made up of hundreds or even thousands of individual long-tail keywords. Indeed, part of the difficulty with this transition has been keeping keywords as a function to a higher standard, while deprecating the Keywords tool.

 

That said, @jc summarized it well that keywords are primarily used to plan what to write and then measure the success of content. In order to cover all of your feedback and comments we’ll break this down slightly further into planning what to write, validating what to write about, executing that you are on the right track, and finally measuring how you are doing. We’ll dive into each of these in more detail below.

 

Planning

The product updates blog post, and numerous other research and resources across the web have talked about how a keyword-based approach is no longer as effective as it once was. One of those reasons can be seen within our own customer base. Many Keywords tool users end up spending hours of time first finding the right list of keywords (from outside of HubSpot to begin with), gathering about 300 or so that may or may not be relevant to their business, and attempting to writing blog posts for each. That takes a lot of time and energy and scatters content across numerous topics that don’t provide a clear signal to Google (or your prospective customers) what your business is an authority on or should be known for. With the move to focus on topics first, we can start with a topic a business wants to be known for in a planned and straightforward manner that is not spread across numerous keywords. By starting to answer a question, “what does your business want to be known for?” the answer to that question is likely a core topic, and Content Strategy can help you holistically plan around that topic, and suggest additional topics that relate to longer-tail keywords.

 

Validating

Next, you need to validate the terms you’ve chosen will be competitive, relevant, and popular enough to spend time creating content on. Admittedly, this is where the Keywords tools shines at first. For example, you could log into Keywords and get information on difficulty, search volume, and more in a simple format as many here have mentioned. That’s hard to find across other Keyword tool vendors largely because it’s simplifying a lot out of the equation for search in 2018. The Keywords tool has unfortunately not been able to reliably get non-SEMRush data for some time, the data that comprises difficulty and rank.

 

As we continue to work on being the one-stop-shop in Content Strategy (which currently gives you Monthly Search Volume, Relevancy, and Domain authority) we recommend using a tool like SEMrush to conduct keyword research validation within an overall topic should you find more information necessary.

 

Executing

 

Once you have planned and validated content, it’s time to actually start writing. This is where the SEO optimization panel that integrated with Keywords comes-in. Within this panel, we would ask for Keywords and then recommend using it numerous times through the page, and other on-page SEO advice -- much of which is outdated.

 

If we wind the clock back 8-10 years ago it would be common for marketers to choose a keyword and then sprinkle the exact same term through a post to signal to Google the page was relevant for that term. Today though, Google no longer operates like that or evaluates results using the same criteria.

 

We are in the process of rebuilding the SEO optimization panel now and will release it to all customers as soon as possible. This new version will refocus on incorporating topics, and ensuring that content fits into your overall topic cluster. This, combined with SEO recommendations in the actual topic cluster editor, allows for clearer “next steps” then the Keyword tool currently does; add in the execution play of creating pillar pages/internal links and that’s where we start to see customers displaying measurable increases in quality and quantity of traffic.

 

Measuring

We all know that since late 2013 Google has encrypted search results, which means that we no longer get specific data on which keywords people are searching for, and clicking on to land on our site. So, the Keywords tool and even Sources report diverged from measuring exactly what content brought what leads, and ultimately customers.

 

In place of this, many people have turned to rank as a measure of success. And yes, we have used it as well at HubSpot.

 

But the fact is, with the localization and personalization of search today rank is simply not a metric that we should solely define success on. One study showed that there is 0% consistency in rank. In addition, there have been numerous articles around the problems with rank tracking like this one, and even a Whiteboard Friday from Rand Fishkin.

 

While this is hardly a black and white issue, we do strongly believe that measuring the success your content by what topics generated sessions, leads, and ultimately customers is a more future-proof approach. This is possible today with Content Strategy, and we are investing more into in the future as well to clearly display the efficacy of the content generated across a marketing teams efforts - all efforts - not just blog posts and website pages!

 

Answers to a few other questions…

 

What about the SEO optimization panel within Website Pages, Landing Pages, and Blog?

 

We’re in the process of refreshing this panel now and plan to release a refreshed version shortly. The new version will focus more on topics and linking your content into topic clusters within Content Strategy, while also recommending on-page best practices.

 

I see that topic cluster A has increased search volume of 22% versus last month, how did you reach this conclusion?

 

There are two parts to this. The act of internally linking numerous pages/posts back to a central topic-based pillar page can in-fact increase your visibility in search results. This ties back directly to the execution step discussed earlier. When you look at two case studies from IDS Agency, and Townsend Security, these are both customers that have been creating content for a considerate amount of time now and when they adopted this approach have seen a remarkable increase in traffic.

 

The second part is that we are tracking traffic to any post, or page, within the topic cluster. The actual report that displays this change in sessions is the Topic Clusters report found in Reports > Analytics tools  > Traffic Analytics.

 

Here are also some additional resources around this:

I hope this helps. I and the team here at HubSpot know this transition isn’t easy so my hope is that the context here describes how we’re thinking about SEO and supporting all customers, partners, and ourselves for the next generation of content creation.

 

If you have any other questions let me know. The product team and many others are listening and appreciate the feedback. Thank you.

jdthomas
Participant | Diamond Partner
Participant | Diamond Partner

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

Like so many others, I get the rationale posited, but am frustrated with the decision (and we appreciate the Strategy tool.) Multiple times you've recommended that we invest in a tool like SEMrush. We do use other tools in addition to the H.S. Keyword tool, but if your response to "Why are you taking this away?" is "Just spend another $100-400/mo to replace it," is HubSpot prepared to reimburse loyal H.S. customers for that amount (rhetorical  question)? As an agency, the keyword report is just one of the tools our CUSTOMER use to gauge how well we are performing on their behalf, e.g. we have a client who had virtually no keywords on page one when we started, who now has over 100, and they rarely have access to other tools outside of HubSpot. I even wrote a blog years ago on how much I love little green triangles, because it was such great visual feedback on progress or lack thereof, even though it understandably jumps around. My bottom line question is... WHY? We love to use HubSpot's tools to sell HubSpot in part by showing them how easy it is to understand and use (and because it is all-inclusive).  Please don't make it more difficult for us to do so by removing features we use to help sell your products.

henryo
Participant | Elite Partner
Participant | Elite Partner

[Discussion] Sunsetting the Keywords Tool in 2018

SOLVE

This is exactly what I was thinking, and said better than I would've. Thanks for saying it.

0 Upvotes