If you’ve spent any amount of time looking into how to improve your SEO, then you have heard of keywords. Not only that, but you have likely been told over and over again how important keywords are to having strong SEO. What you may not know is that there are several types of keywords that you can use. One of those is LSI keywords and they can play an important role in how you set up SEO in your content. In this article, we discuss how you can integrate LSI keywords into your content to improve your SEO and content marketing.
The Basics of LSI Keywords
LSI keywords are based on a concept called Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI). You may also see it referred to as LSA (Latent Semantic Analysis). Essentially, it is a complex math and linguistics system that is used to try to identify associated keywords. People do not use the same keywords to classify things as they do to search for them. For example, someone may classify something as a bag, but would search for it online using terms other than bag. This creates a problem when choosing keywords to focus on for SEO. As a content developer, you may pick the right classification keywords, but not the keywords that people use to search for what you are writing about.
LSI keywords are those associated keywords that people use to find things but not classify them. Focusing on finding the right LSI keywords can make your SEO more effective overall since you will be more in tune with the words people use for searches. It could be the difference between being on the first page of search results or far deeper down in the list.
LSI Keywords are Not Used By Search Engines
It is important to note that although LSI keywords may be useful, they are not a substitute for other types of keywords. This is primarily because LSI keywords are not used by search engines, including Google. This has been in debate for a long time, but even Google has outright denied the rumors that LSI keywords are used in ranking calculations. If this is the case, why would you want to use them?
The simple answer is that using LSI keywords means that you are picking the right terms to align with your audiences’ searches, not the things that you are trying to sell. Most content developers think that keywords should focus on the product or the service, which leads to picking keywords based on what the product or service is. You could potentially get far better results by focusing on LSI keywords over more traditional options.
Using LSI Keywords for Better SEO
If you want to use LSI keywords in your work, the truth is that there are several ways that you can do this. These methods include:
Natural Topic Mastery
If you are discussing a topic that you have mastered, then you will naturally include LSI keywords. Just by talking about the topic, you are going to include semantically-relevant keywords that relate to the topic and will help you improve your overall SEO. While this method may be effective, it is not a technique to wholly rely on. Without knowing for sure what the keywords are, you won’t be able to maximize their potential benefits.
Try Autocomplete Results
Sometimes, you search for something in Google and it gives you a list of things that you may be looking for. These are called autocomplete results. You can use these to find keywords that are related to your primary keywords. The reason that they are included in the autocomplete is that people have used those exact search terms before. That means that the autocomplete results give you pre-qualified search terms that you can try to rank for in order to increase your SEO.
Try Related Search Suggestions
At the bottom of the search results page, Google gives you a list of search suggestions that are related to the keywords that you searched for. Try using these as keywords alongside your primary keywords. The search engine compiled those suggestions based on users’ previous searches that are related to your keywords. It is a good bet that you can increase traffic by ranking for those keywords.
Try Synonyms and Related Words
One of the easier options is to try related words and synonyms. This can be especially helpful if you are trying to rank internationally. Regional and continental changes in common language use may boost one keyword over another. Try to rank for multiple versions of a keyword by ranking for its synonyms.
Related words are also a good option. For example, trying to rank for the keyword “airplane” means that searcher for engine, aerodynamics, ticket prices, 737, Boeing, jet, and a host of other words could be included in the search terms and results. See if any of the related words that you can think of apply to your situation and try to rank for those as well.
Get Help with SEO
SEO can be complex but you can get help trying to improve your SEO. At KitelyTech, we help companies develop content that ranks well in global and local SEO rankings. Call us at (800) 274 2908 to discuss your SEO needs.
