Keywords Are Dead. Long Live Intent.
We stopped optimizing for strings of text and started optimizing for user motivation. The difference changed our entire marketing strategy.
For years, we treated keywords like magic spells. If we put "Best Email Tool" in the H1, Google would bless us, and users would convert.
But in 2026, keywords are a leaky abstraction. A search for "email tool" could mean "I want to send a newsletter," "I need an SMTP server," or "I want to automate cold outreach." One keyword, three completely different intents.
The Intent Gap
We realized we were failing our users by forcing them to translate our generic copy into their specific context. If someone searched for "cold outreach automation" and landed on our "All-in-one Email Platform" page, we were asking them to do the mental work of figuring out if we could help them.
That's friction. And friction kills conversions.
How We Flipped the Script
We shifted our entire philosophy from Keyword Matching to Intent Matching. We stopped caring about the exact string "email tool" and started caring about why they typed it.
Using LLMs, we now infer the intent behind the click. If the context implies "startup founder," we show "Move Fast and Break Things." If it implies "enterprise CTO," we show "Security and Compliance First."
The result? Our visitors spend less time wondering "is this for me?" and more time clicking "Sign Up."