I Won’t Know What You’re Thinking Anymore

I won’t know what you (the readers) are thinking anymore – and that sucks. Google’s not sharing keyword information with site owners anymore … and this is huge.

For years I’ve looked at the keywords that have brought visitors to RealCrozetVA and RealCentralVA to discern what questions to answer and what was trending in the minds of my readers and visitors.

I know my business cycles as the keywords shift from “buyers agent in Charlottesville” to “fall foliage in Charlottesville” and “Is Charlottesville the inspiration for Who-ville” (no) and “buying a home in Charlottesville in spring.”

Google’s changing all that. I wondered about this a few weeks ago, but this week brings confirmation.

It appears that Google has cut off keyword data altogether.… This means no more keyword data will be passed to site owners.

If you’re interested in reading a bit more, Moz has a useful post.

What this means is that I (and other site owners) need to accept not knowing search keywords anymore. Such is life.

So … I won’t know what questions you’re asking anymore unless you actively ask me (you know – send me a message or call or text me – 434-242-7140).

While keyword stuffing in an attempt to game Google has been common practice by many (not just in the real estate writing space) for years, I’ve done that only a handful of times – and have stated my intentions every time.

Ultimately, as I don’t have my own Building 43 filled with people smarter than the Googlers, I’m going to keep trying to write about stuff that interests me, answers questions about the Charlottesville real estate market, growth, politics, etc and will continue to try to answer my clients’ questions.

This is as good a time as any to highlight my monthly note –