You’ve probably heard that you can boost your SEO efforts by incorporating semantic keywords, but there’s a lot of conflicting information out there, and it can be confusing to know where to start. So let’s define what semantic keywords are, what they can do for your SEO efforts, and how to find relevant keywords for your website.
What are Semantic Keywords?
Semantic keywords are simply words and phrases that are related to the concept of your target keywords and topics. In other words, they’re phrases that would naturally come up when discussing your main topic.
For example, if your target keyword is “healthy diet,” some semantically related keywords would be “balanced meals,” “whole foods,” and “plant-based recipes.” While you may not be looking to rank for these particular keywords, they’re relevant to your main topic and often come up within that context.
Semantic keyword grouping is important in SEO and content optimization because modern search engine algorithms don’t just look at the keywords in a search query — they try to go deeper and analyze the intent behind the query.
By using semantic keywords, you can cover more keyword territory, but it also gives search engines more in-depth insight into the context of your content, which helps your site rank higher in relevant SERPs.
Understanding Search Intent
We already mentioned that search engines look for the “why” behind queries to provide the most relevant results. This is called the search intent — the reason for a user’s query — and there are three primary types of search intents:
- Informational: looking for information or answers
- Navigational: searching for a specific website
- Transactional: intending to make a purchase or complete an action
So search intent is essentially the context of their query, and semantically related keywords help you align your content with that context. This ensures that your content is relevant to what the user is looking for and also increases your chances of ranking higher in search results.
Why Should You Use Semantic Keywords in SEO?
Now, you’re probably thinking, “I already did all of this keyword research, and now I have to figure out semantic keywords too? Is that really necessary?” The short answer is: yes! Search engine algorithms are constantly evolving, and the old tactic of repeating your target keywords over and over doesn’t work. Here’s why semantic keywords are a must for successful SEO.
Improved Search Relevance
Semantic keyword grouping enhances the relevance of your content in the eyes of search engines. It shows that your content doesn’t just match a few keywords — it’s an authoritative, comprehensive source of information on that specific topic.
Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI)
Latent semantic indexing (LSI) is a mathematical method developed to help computers understand the relationship between terms and concepts. (Semantic keywords are often referred to as LSI keywords, but that’s not technically correct since LSI is actually an outdated technology that was developed pre-internet and is not used by search engines.)
However, modern search engines use semantic networks, natural language processing, and AI and machine learning to accomplish a similar goal: figure out what the user is really searching for and determine which content is most relevant. Semantically related keywords are an essential aspect of this process, as they give search engines a holistic picture of what the content offers.
Reduced Keyword Stuffing
There was a time when you could take your target keyword, repeat it over and over throughout your content, and — BOOM — you’re at the top of the SERPs. Nowadays, not only does that not work, but it will also get you penalized by search engines.
Semantic keyword grouping lets you diversify the language used in your content, cover more relevant keywords, and also make your content more readable and less, well, keyword-stuffed.
How to Find Semantic Keywords?
Now that you understand the “why” behind semantic keywords, let’s look at how you can determine which keywords to incorporate into your content. There are a few different ways you can do semantic keyword research, including:
Keyword Research Tools
One of the easiest ways to find related keywords is with your SEO keyword research tools. These tools analyze content across the web to find frequently searched terms that are contextually relevant to your primary keywords. It depends on your particular tools, but you should see a section with additional suggested keywords that are often used in the same context as your target keywords.
Google’s Search Suggestions
Another simple way to uncover semantic keywords is to do a Google search for your primary keyword. On the SERPs, you’ll see suggestions for related searches, as well as bolded related terms in the snippets. Both of these features can be incredibly useful for semantic keyword research.
People Also Ask (PAA) Boxes
Google search results also provide a resource called the “People also ask” section. It contains popular questions that users often search in relation to your query. You can use these questions as inspiration for new relevant content or pull some semantic keywords from the results to incorporate into your existing content.
User Intent Analysis
This approach is more in-depth than the previous methods — it actually incorporates all of them to gain detailed insight into what users are searching for. To conduct a user intent analysis, start by Googling your keyword and looking at the search intent of each top-ranking page.
For example, if your keyword is “chocolate chip cookies,” and the majority of the top results are recipes for chocolate chip cookies, you know that users searching that particular term are most commonly looking for recipes.
You can experiment with different modifiers and keyword combinations, analyze the related search suggestions, and check out the PAA boxes to get a more comprehensive understanding of user intents across various keywords and queries.
As you can see, semantic keywords are an important aspect of SEO. They help search engines understand what your content is about and show it to users with relevant queries. A simple Google search for your target keyword is an easy way to get started uncovering semantically related keywords to incorporate in your content and get it ranking higher in the SERPs.
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