Google and other search engines use a variety of algorithms and indexing techniques to determine the conceptual and contextual meaning of a page’s content so that it can relate search queries to specific terms and provide the most helpful search results. One indexing technique in particular, latent semantic indexing (LSI), has changed the way search engines understand the context of phrases and determine the relevancy of pages to queries. For example, thanks to LSI Google can determine that a page containing the phrase “Paris Hilton” is about the female celebrity, and not a Hilton hotel located in Paris, France. Once a page has been indexed as being relative to a specific topic it can appear in search engine results without users having to type in the exact primary keyword, thus making it easier for people to find the information they’re looking for with minimal knowledge on the subject, while also preventing the confusion between conceptually unrelated phrases that contain the same words. So how can you take advantage of latent semantic indexing, and how can doing so improve your on-page SEO? Here’s how:
Target Multiple Keywords Simultaneously
If you’ve been researching SEO for a short while you’ve probably realized that competing in a specific niche/sub-niche involves ranking for popular keywords. You’re probably also aware of how difficult it is to rank for general keywords like “car insurance” or “credit cards.” Instead of wasting your time targeting a single authoritative keyword, in today’s web it is better to target several key phrases per article. A good way to do this is to break your content into subsections and devote each section to a specific key phrase that an interested web surfer might type into Google. It would also be wise to target groups of 10 to 15 keywords throughout different navigational sections of your website in order to increase the chances of having multiple pages appear in the search results for a single query.
Generate Longtail Keyword Traffic
What are longtail keywords you ask? They’re simply phrases between 2 to 5 words long that are commonly inputted into search engines as queries. Latent semantic indexing makes it possible for Google to index combinations of words and key phrases. A good way to obtain success in any niche is to hone in on micro-topics and discover the phrases that people are using to find out trending information on the subject. In other words, if your website pertains to the bicycle repair niche, a good example of a longtail keyword would be “replacing a bike tire.””After doing a bit of research analysis and brainstorming you can formulate longtail keywords like this and insert them into your page/article titles or subheadings for enhanced rankings.
Improve Page Quality and Relevance
Search engines like Google utilize complex algorithms to analyze the connections between words/phrases on a page in order to assign a general quality/relevance rating. Over the years search engine spiders/crawlers (which collect data and index pages) have become proficient in detecting blatant attempts at keyword “stuffing,” a practice in which the webmaster purposely overuses a single keyword in an effort to rank higher for that term. Using LSI Google can differentiate linear, SEO-oriented content, from insightful and informative content by looking for relevant terms that are commonly found on other pages that pertain to a page’s topic. In essence, if your content is diverse and includes a wide range of keywords relative to your topic, it will not only generate more interest in readers, it will also be looked upon more highly by search engines.
Encourages Interest in Related Topics
Have you ever typed in a search query about a specific event, product/service, or informational topic, only to be led on an unexpected educational journey through related topics simply by clicking the links returned in the search results? Of course you have, and so has everyone else, thanks to LSI. Google understands that web surfers don’t always know what keywords to input when looking for specific information, so they help them out by returning results that are deemed to be relevant based on contextually similar phrases within the subject matter of a page’s content. For example:
You’re looking for information about a specific sporting event that is going to take place in an upcoming tournament, so you type in the phrase “{team name here} vs {other team name here} on {date here}.” The search results not only return pages that pertain to the specific match you’re referring to, but also links to pages that discuss the overall tournament, even though you never specifically mentioned the name of the tournament. Before you know it you’re reading about other teams and events, purely due to the intelligence of latent semantic indexing. In this example the searcher may also have been trying to remember the name of the tournament, but could only remember one specific match, so Google helped them out by showing contextually related pages.
To attract web traffic in a similar fashion all you have to do is continually post informative content that is relative to your industry, and latent semantic indexing will do the rest.
Produces Inherently Informative Content
Fortunately, you can now focus more on posting informative, relative articles, rather than fretting about which specific keywords you’re going to target, as LSI will allow Google to index the content appropriately and refer visitors to your pages based on a wide variety of inputted phrases. That’s not to say that keyword research is absolutely useless, as it can be a very beneficial tool when used properly. However, the aforementioned practice of keyword stuffing is becoming a thing of the past, as content writers and webmasters understand that stuffing content full of helpful information is far more important than cramming it full of keywords. Also, when you have a thorough understanding of latent semantic indexing (LSI) you’ll realize that utilizing multiple keywords within one article is beneficial, so you’ll be inspired to discuss various aspects of the issue, thereby creating more diverse information.