What is the confusion about ad groups, keywords, and landing page relevancy?

The short answer is that there is confusion around how Google applies its logic to crawl and interpret the content on your landing page. If Google can relate terms such as ‘deck installer’, ‘deck contractor’, and ‘deck company’ to the keyword ‘deck builder’ when crawling and understanding keyword intent, then why doesn’t it apply that same understanding to the landing page content which contains related terms like ‘deck company’, ‘deck installer’, ‘deck installation’, and ‘deck contractor’?

Full Explanation

The confusion stems from the assumption that Google uses the same logic when analyzing keywords and landing page content. When Google processes keywords, it can connect various related terms and synonyms—such as those linked to ‘deck builder’—to understand the user’s intent better. However, many wonder why this flexible logic does not seem to equally apply when Google evaluates the relevancy of the landing page content. The landing page includes multiple related phrases like ‘deck company’, ‘deck installer’, and others, but there is uncertainty whether Google recognizes these as fully connected to the original keyword.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

Google analyzes the keyword ‘deck builder’ and can associate it with related search phrases such as ‘deck installer’, ‘deck contractor’, and ‘deck company’.
This association demonstrates Google’s ability to understand user intent through related terms in keyword data.
There is an expectation that Google applies this same association logic when crawling the landing page content.
The landing page contains terms closely related to the keyword, including ‘deck company’, ‘deck installer’, and ‘deck installation’.
The confusion arises because it is unclear why Google’s understanding of the related keywords doesn’t straightforwardly translate to recognizing the landing page’s relevance based on its content.

Real Examples

Consider the keyword ‘deck builder’. Google identifies associated terms such as ‘deck installer’, ‘deck contractor’, and ‘deck company’ in search queries. Meanwhile, a landing page targeting the keyword features content using these same related terms. The natural expectation is for Google to match the landing page’s content relevancy leveraging its understanding of these related terms. If this match does not occur as expected, it causes confusion over the consistency of Google’s content interpretation logic.

Common Mistakes

Assuming Google will automatically treat all related terms on the landing page as equally relevant to the keyword.
Neglecting to consider that Google’s interpretation of keywords may differ from how it interprets landing page content complexity and structure.
Expecting identical logic in keyword association to apply seamlessly to content analysis without accounting for content context.

FAQs

Q: Why does Google relate terms in keywords but seem less consistent with landing pages?
Google’s logic for keywords focuses on user intent through related search terms. It might use more complex signals when analyzing landing page content, so the process is not always the same.

Q: Can I optimize my landing page better to reflect keyword relevancy?
Using related terms such as ‘deck company’, ‘deck installer’, and others consistently can help, although understanding Google’s deeper content analysis is crucial.

Key Takeaways

Google’s ability to associate related terms in keywords is clear, but this logic is not guaranteed to work identically for landing page content.
There is a common misconception about how Google interprets landing page relevancy based on keywords and related terms.
Understanding the distinction between keyword association and content analysis helps clarify this confusion.