Latent Semantic Indexing – An SEO Strategy

Latent Semantic Indexing(LSI) – An SEO Strategy

Although the word Latent Semantic Indexing sounds a little complicated. It is quite a conceptual term which you might be already using in your keyword research and SEO.

However a conscious closer look at it will definitely give you fair idea of what is Latent Semantic Indexing.

When a user types a query into Google’s search box, this is known as ‘keyword’. Google gives the user certain results based on the typed keyword.

Let’s take an Example-

When we type the word “aviator” in Google Search, before entering, you get a number of options below the search box. Which are predicted by google based on the keyword entered such as Aviator Watch, Aviator Bike, Aviator Sunglasses, Aviator Movie etc…

This shows that the person searching with the word aviator might be looking for ‘aviator sunglasses’ or ‘aviator movie’ which are 2 totally different things. You will not want your website to rank in the search engine result pages for ‘aviator movie’ if your website is selling sunglasses.

Apple – A Fruit or Phone?

In the search query “Apple,” ‘Apple’ might mean the ‘Fruit Apple’ or ‘Apple I-Phone’. So, when the user types in a keyword, Google analyses the words entered after the keywords. And understands the intent of the user to know what he is looking for.

After this, Google scrutinizes the websites having this keyword and understands the context for which it has been used. It ranks the websites which will best answer the user’s question.

This context based search is called as Latent Semantic Indexing and optimizing your content using ‘Latent Semantic Keywords’ is known as ‘Latent Semantic Optimization’. Therefore, you should understand how the search engine thinks and devise your keyword strategy accordingly.

How does LSI make your content more SEO-Friendly?

Latent Semantic Indexing provides context to your content.

Even though your content has rich and interesting information and the primary keywords. It will not be useful without using LSI-driven keywords as it will not be able to give Google. A clear idea of what your content is about and your website might land on a SERP where it is not relevant.

So LSI keywords give a context or meaning to your content and help google understand it better. The search engine is constantly looking for ‘the user’s intent based on the relationship between keywords’ and ‘your content’s context matching that intent’ such as ‘aviator sunglasses’, ‘ray ban aviator sunglasses’ could be LSI keywords for “aviator” in the context of sunglasses.

LSI helps you gain web traffic

Importantly, Search Engines cannot interpret the meaning behind a text easily as we human beings do. Latent Semantic Indexing keywords make google’s work easier to understand your web page content and in turn. You are ranked higher in the SERP’s and therefore you are likely to get more traffic.

LSI driven content is also more specifically targeted to reach the intended audience and will land up in front of the right audience. It is beneficial for you as you will gain more traffic. Users who will get exactly what they are looking for and search engines to easily understand and give accurate results.

LSI Keywords should be related to the Primary Keyword
Your LSI keywords must answer all the questions related to your primary keyword, that your user might be looking for. Let’s think in the context of the movie Aviator. In this case, the user might be looking for “what the movie is about”, “buying DVD of the movie”, “star ratings, cast crew or reviews of the movie”. If your website is about movies, you must use LSI keywords related to the above purposes to make your content visible to the user.

Ways to find LSI-Keywords

1. Google Autocomplete: When you type a word in the search engine box, google gives some predictions or suggestions based on the most popular searches related to that word. This is a good way to look for LSI keywords
2. Google Related Searches: When you type a keyword and get results on SERP, at the bottom of the page Google shows some searches related to the keyword. These are also good examples of LSI keywords
3. LSI Graph: This is a special tool in which you can type a keyword and get a list of all related LSI keywords.
4. Keyword Planner Tool: Google keyword planner tool through Google Adwords is also a good way to find all combinations of searches related to your term.
5. Various Tools: Some other tools like Ubersuggest, Keyword Research Database Tool are helpful in finding the LSI keywords.

An SEO-Tip:

You can use these keywords in your Title Tag, Description Tag, Header Tag, URLs, Anchor tags and in your website/blog Content.

Things to Remember

• LSI is not the only one SEO strategy that makes your content seo-friendly. There are many other factors which you will need to ensure such as Quality of content, Research and facts, and other SEO factors.
• Do not overstuff your content with LSI keywords and use only those keywords which are relevant to your topic. You can also use synonyms and word combinations. Re-read your content and remove any words that do not match.

Future of LSI

Every article needs to be judged as a whole which is not possible using a single keyword. But a set of keywords and this is where LSI becomes meaningful. On the other hand, Google is constantly updating its algorithms.

Google’s latest Hummingbird Algorithm also focuses on semantic analysis and semantic search wherein Google takes into consideration all the contextual keywords. LSI keywords that bind a piece of content together in terms of meaning. Therefore, it is definitely worth spending your efforts in looking for the right LSI driven keywords to develop rich engaging content and because content is the King in SEO. Google will surely reward you if your site matches the search criteria and if it loves your content.
At Ad2Brand, we offer a variety of services related to Digital Marketing, like Keyword Oriented & SEO Related Content, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing,Social Media Optimization, Online Reputation Management, Paid Media, Programmatic Advertising, Conversion Rate Optimization, Content Marketing, Email Marketing and Blog Creation..
Apart from this, take a look at a few of our other Main Services like Branding & Design, Web/App Development, Strategy & Consulting and Data Analytics …