Let’s get this out of the way:
Ranking #1 doesn’t matter if it’s for the wrong keyword.
Sounds obvious, but too many brands are still obsessed with where they rank—when the real win is why they’re ranking and what happens next.
Welcome to the shift from vanity SEO to strategic relevance.
Because in 2025 and beyond, it’s not about being seen by everyone. It’s about being seen by the right people, at the right time, with the right message. That’s how real brands grow.
Ranking ≠ Revenue
Sure, showing up on page one of Google can feel like a win. But if it’s for a broad or irrelevant search term that doesn’t drive action? It’s just a dopamine hit.
The harsh truth is: traffic doesn’t pay the bills—conversions do.
And conversions come from alignment, not volume.
If you’re ranking for keywords that don’t match your offer, your audience, or their buying intent, your SEO isn’t helping. It’s just vanity noise.
What matters more than ranking is relevance—your ability to match search intent, provide value, and move someone closer to a solution.
What Google Really Wants in 2025: Relevance Over Everything
Google’s AI-powered updates are now prioritizing search engine relevance like never before. They’re not just crawling for keywords—they’re understanding context.
That means your old playbook of stuffing content with exact-match phrases? Dead.
Instead, Google wants:
- • Intent-based content that directly solves the query
- • Structured information it can easily scan and surface
- • Expertise and authority on a clear subject (not scattered fluff)
- • Pages that engage, not just rank
So stop writing “around” a keyword. Start writing for a human—with a problem, a question, or a goal.
How to Shift from Rankings to Relevance
1. Start With Search Intent, Not Just Search Volume
High-volume keywords feel tempting. But ask: what does someone actually want when they search this?
Intent is everything. There are three primary types:
- • Informational (They’re learning: “What is X?”)
- • Navigational (They’re looking for a specific brand/product)
- • Transactional (They’re ready to act: “Best X for Y,” “Buy X”)
Match your content to the stage. Don’t sell to researchers or educate buyers who are ready to click “Buy Now.”
The best-performing content maps to intent, not just impressions.
2. Build Topic Relevance, Not Keyword Density
Google no longer cares if you repeat your main keyword 14 times. It cares whether you’ve created a relevant experience around a topic.
That means:
- • Clustering content into hubs (not random posts)
- • Using semantic keywords and related queries
- • Creating supporting assets: FAQ, glossary, video, comparisons
You’re not just targeting a keyword—you’re owning a space.
3. Optimise for Humans, Format for Machines
Yes, we want to rank. But the best pages do both:
- • Hook real people with sharp intros and clean layouts
- • Help search engines with structured headers, schema, and metadata
Make your page easy to navigate, fast to load, and built around a clear action. Because relevance isn’t just about the copy—it’s about experience.
Real-World Example: Rankings That Don’t Deliver
Let’s say you rank #1 for “email marketing tools.” Sounds like a win.
But if you’re a niche platform for e-commerce brands, and that page attracts agencies, B2B tech users, and students doing research—you’ll get clicks but no conversions.
Now compare that to ranking #5 for “best email tools for Shopify brands.” Lower volume. Less traffic. But way more alignment.
Guess which one feeds your pipeline?
That’s the shift: from ranking for noise to ranking for impact.
Metrics That Actually Matter
If you want to measure SEO performance like an operator, focus on:
- • Conversions per search query
- • Time on page by intent segment
- • Lead-to-close rate from organic traffic
- • Revenue influenced by organic visibility
Rankings tell you if you’re visible. Relevance tells you if you’re valuable.
Relevance Also Future-Proofs You
As Google keeps evolving its AI capabilities, surface-level content will disappear from results. The brands that win are the ones that:
- • Go deeper than their competitors
- • Update consistently
- • Understand and serve user intent better than anyone else
Relevance protects your rankings because it’s tied to trust. And trust doesn’t drop with the next algorithm update.
The SEO Playbook Moving Forward
- • Audit your top-ranking pages: do they convert? Or just look good in a report?
- • Rebuild content hubs around buyer-specific intent (not just top-funnel blog spam)
- • Layer SEO into your full-funnel strategy—every stage, every asset
- • Track the outcome of ranking, not just the position
Because at the end of the day, page one doesn’t matter if nobody clicks. And clicks don’t matter if they don’t convert.
Stop obsessing over rankings. Start obsessing over relevance.
That’s how you get found and chosen. That’s how you turn search into scale.
