Using latent semantic indexing (LSI) keywords – terms and phrases that are similar or related to the target keyword of a webpage – in that page’s content can be highly, highly advantageous to your SEO results.
That is, if you know how to find them. The rise of semantic search, employed by search engines in their efforts to achieve a more accurate and contextual understanding of an information searcher’s true intent, has altered SEO such that marketers ought to now optimize keywords for a page’s topic, not just its target phrase. [1]
Here are four techniques that can help you discover appropriate LSI keywords for your website content and how to reap their benefits: [2]
1) LSI keywords are more than just synonyms
In determining your LSI keywords, you need to maintain an expansive view of your target keyword’s topic; do not simply plug in other words that mean more or less the same thing. For instance, a page targeting “best beaches in Florida” shouldn’t just utilize synonym-based LSI keywords like “best coast in Florida” and “best shore in Florida,” but should also use terms that describe the subject more conceptually, i.e. “Florida beach vacations,” or “Florida water getaways.”
2) Investigate other Google searches related to your topic
When searching for LSI keywords well-suited for a page’s goal, basic Google searches are full of strong suggestions. Do a Google search for your target keyword – the bottom of the search results page will usually yield a slew of related searches that effectively tell you what Google considers to be relevant to the topic. This allows you to crowdsource LSI keywords to use, based on real search phrases.
Image: Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google LLC, used with permission.
Another valuable keyword discovery strategy is to view the other strings that appear in Google’s search bar as you type in your target.
Image: Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google LLC, used with permission.
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