Target keyword features in Shopify Apps have no direct impact on SEO

Recently Jessica asked:

I have a question regarding the Target Keyword for Google for each product. The REDACTED App sets a target KEYWORD for each product, but not too sure how they do it for Google to detect this product. Is it really necessary?

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you can't tell Google you're targeting a keyword - it doesn't work like that.

It's not as simple as adding a keyword to your site and magically you rank. That's why Google discourages focusing on keywords in favor of creating quality content.

Google will read your content and links to determine when or if your pages will show up in search results.

That doesn't mean keywords don't matter... they do matter. But adding a keyword to an SEO app isn't fairy dust that's going to make your site optimized for search.

I’ve seen some apps where you enter the keyword so you can keep track of which keywords you’re targeting on each page. It’s basically a spreadsheet of data that doesn’t do anything, but the apps hype up the feature and make people think the app helps by submitting that data to Google.

Even worse, some apps make your keywords public by adding them to a meta keywords field or structured data. Neither of these has any impact on your SEO. If anything, it's an easy way to tell your competitors which keywords you're targeting.

Meta keywords were so often abused that meta keywords haven't been used by Google in decades. Perhaps that's a clear sign that the app has no idea what they are talking about.

The app may take your keyword and scan your title, URL, and content to tell you if you’ve used the keyword in those places. That's a copywriting exercise to keep your content organized and focused. In that case, it acts as a software-powered checklist for when you are creating content but doesn’t actively do anything for SEO. Think of it like a spell-check tool.

Unlike keywords, one SEO feature that you want Google to know about is structured data. Mostly because structured data provides context to Google’s algorithm about the page, making their job easier.