Semantic Search: What It Is & Why It Matters for SEO Today
Search engine technology has evolved, making semantic search essential for SEO. Learn what it is, why it matters and how to optimize for it.
What is semantic search? Search News You Can Use with Dr. Marie Haynes.
In this episode, Marie shares her thoughts on semantic search. Semantic search is search that’s based on understanding the meaning of words and the connections between them. In 2013, the Hummingbird algorithm made it possible for Google to expand their semantic search capabilities. With each new advancement in AI and NLP, they get a little closer. This episode discusses how SEOs can use a knowledge of semantic search to improve the quality of their websites in Google’s eyes.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Sponsor:
https://contentfly.com/searchnews
MHC’s algo update list:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/algo
Danny Sullivan on Search Engine Land writing about Hummingbird:
https://searchengineland.com/google-hummingbird-172816
WSJ article with Amit Singhal describing Hummingbird calling it “semantic search”:
https://web.archive.org/web/20150503223300/http://www.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702304459804577281842851136290-lMyQjAxMTAyMDEwNDExNDQyWj.html
What site owners should know about Google core updates:
https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/08/core-updates
Stanford seminar by Xin Luna Dong on the knowledge vault and knowledge based trust: https://www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkxy93C30py9Kvj8Xd8pYYndOQghr6BKTis
MHC’s QRG book:
https://mariehaynes.com/book
How AI powers Google’s search results:
https://blog.google/products/search/how-ai-powers-great-search-results/
https://www.mariehaynes.com/google-ai-and-seo/
The Quality Update:
https://searchengineland.com/the-quality-update-google-confirms-changing-how-quality-is-assessed-resulting-in-rankings-shake-up-221118
Amit Singhal Panda questions:
https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2011/05/more-guidance-on-building-high-quality
Is MUM Google’s next step in becoming a semantic search engine? By Olaf Kopp:
https://searchengineland.com/google-mum-update-seo-future-383551
Koray Tuğberk GÜBÜR on topical authority:
https://www.oncrawl.com/technical-seo/importance-topical-authority-semantic-seo/
Some of Marie’s teachings on E-A-T:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/resources/eat/
3 part YT series on E-A-T:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDUhcogUl44
Contact Marie and the MHC team:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/contact
Semantic Search Explained
This video is one of a series which explains some of the research being carried out at DERI, NUI Galway.
This video explains how semantic search technologies will make easier to find specific information on the Web and allow this information to be conveniently shared.
How to do Semantic SEO in 5 mins
Search Engine Optimization has changed drastically in the last decade. Back in 2013, ranking a piece of content meant inserting keywords and phrases, trying to con search engines into believing that YOUR content is the best out there.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
0:17 What is Semantic Search?
0:36 How Google Understands Keywords
1:46 Top Semantic SEO Strategies
2:23 Contextual Keyword Analysis
3:27 Competitive Analysis
4:06 Creating the Best Page
Even though that served the purpose of digital marketers and SEO experts, it did not necessarily help search engine users.
With that being said, search engines such as Google have now updated their ranking factors to ensure that only relevant content passes through the quality checks to make it through to the top pages and positions.
Google’s new algorithms mean that your content needs CONTEXT more than anything. Simply overloading it relevant key phrases will not do the trick anymore. These days, a content marketer needs so much more to ensure higher rankings and improved search results.
Enter Semantic SEO
This video explains what is Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) and Semantic SEO and how you can use it generate higher rankings while delivering top quality content. Additionally, this will also explain how you can use Google’s search suggestions to provide relevant, high quality content.
We will focus on:
• Finding semantically relevant keywords and phrases for your topic.
• Discovering and addressing the search intent to get contextually correct results.
• Using google as well as other tools to gather the required information.
• Delivering an overall superior piece of content,
Finding semantically relevant keywords and phrases for your topic
Also known as contextual keywords, semantically relevant keywords are not simply synonyms of your main keyword, but closely related words that add context to what you’re talking about.
The most comprehensive method to find semantically relevant keywords is the “Alphabet Soup” method. This method ensures that you end up with a comprehensive list of keywords that are all considered relevant by Google. Using these, along with Google’s suggested queries gets you closer to the most relevant outline you can have for your article.
Discovering and addressing the search intent to get contextually correct results
Accurately determining searcher intent is so much easier with Google’s search suggestions. Whenever you type in a query, the bottom of the search engine result page (SERP) shows suggested questions related to the topic you are searching for. These questions show you what Google considers to be the most important and popular search terms.
Getting a handle on the exact searcher intent will give you an edge over the competition as you will be able to answer the most pressing questions that users have about a certain topic. And voila, that’s exactly what search engines will be looking for!
Using Google as well as other tools to gather the required information
The next thing you should be doing is to find out high priority keywords in terms of search volume and similarly, keywords that your competitors are ranking for. You can do this by using online tools such as SEMrush, Ahrefs etc. You can even go a step further and do a complete competitor analysis so that you know all the ranking secrets of the current #1 result.
Delivering an overall superior piece of content
Equipped with all this information, you should be ready with a comprehensive outline to deliver a superior piece of high-quality content. After all, search engines’ ultimate goal is to provide users with content that is most relevant to their search queries.
Using semantic SEO and LSI keywords will give you a great shot at securing 1st page positions for most of your online content.
Link Building HQ
At Link Building HQ, our goal is to provide the most relevant and up-to-date information to search engine marketers.
Visit our website: www.linkbuildinghq.com for more amazing tips.
How to Optimize a Page for Semantic SEO
In this video. I’m going to show you how to do some semantic SEO and how you can best optimize your pages for semantic search. So, what is semantic search? We’ve covered this a couple of times in our site, and I’m going to link to some of those videos so you can get a little bit more information. But essentially, it’s all about making our content more machine-readable.
Get the course: https://learn.simplifiedsearch.net/how-to-optimize-for-semantic-search-a-simplified-approach-to-advanced-seo
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Subscribe for more free YouTube tips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4EW…
What is Semantic SEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQHkIRZVx9s
The Role of Content Marketing in Semantic SEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNcOfDv8qsQ
How to Analyze the SERPs with NLP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki_9Ftexzs4
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1PI6JBn06i3xNUdEuHZ9xKPG3oSRi1AUm?usp=sharing