Are keywords still relevant?

The answer to the above I believe is yes but I used MOZ blog to give me more incite into this often asked question should I still need keywords for Google.  First let me state that Google is not the only place to search there is still Yahoo search and Bing and others. I believe in keywords but not in short generic ones. a keyword like ship is too generic but battleship Missouri will bring you to results about that magnificent ship. Here is some additional info on keywords today:
More info.......

So should or shouldn't we ignore Rand when he tells us to forget about keywords and focus on topics? Somewhat unsatisfying, the answer is a strong "maybe."
While for some search topics there's a lot of variation based on the exact wording of the keywords, for others we can see that Google understands what users mean when they search and sees variations as equivalent. The key takeaway from this? Both keywords and topics are important.
You should still do keyword research. Keyword research is always going to be essential. But you should also consider the bigger picture, and as more tools that allow you to use natural language processing become available, take advantage of that to understand the overall topics you should write about, too.

Bottom line is Google is changing a bit but keywords are still relevant but so is great content with keywords:)

Another tidbit from Google and something to really look at and that is Google adwords...

Talk about change now if you look for those little ads on the right side of yur searches you will notice that they are gone! Google in bringing their search results up with responsive design and with the mobile push now lines up all results on the top and on the bottom of the organic search! Well what this may mean is and it is happening is that the big boys can more and more buy their way in where as before even with a modest investment you might have been seen on the right side. This may not be true anymore!   Here is some more  information:

What They're Saying About The Loss of Google Right-Side Ads

By: Chris Crum | Staff Writer

You're probably aware that Google recently stopped showing the normal text AdWords ads on the right-side of search results pages on the desktop, which brings the design more in line with its mobile results.
Google does continue to show Product Listing Ads (PLAs) and Knowledge Panel ads in this area, but otherwise, this part of the page is now ad-less.
Google is showing more ads in line with search results. It has ads at the bottom of results, the 3 standard ads at the top, and in some cases a fourth ad above the organic results. This is for a "very small percentage of highly commercial relevant queries" according to Google.

You might say that's a lot of ads "above the fold" in relation to non-ad content (something Google has historically frowned upon when it comes to other websites).
Regarding the fourth ad, the company was quoted as saying, "We've been testing this layout for a long time, so some people might see it on a very small number of commercial queries. We'll continue to make tweaks, but this is designed for highly commercial queries where the layout is able to provide more relevant results for people searching and better performance for advertisers."

A long time ago people were saying that the web was an equalizer where the little guy can compete with the big boys but I am afraid those days at oeast with Google Adwords are gone.  Be prepared to spend alot if you want to use adwords! I believe in a total approach and have not relied on adwords for my results. Maybe we look at other search engines for answers.

Hope this helps

Joe Rossini