Long Tail Organic SEO & Semantic Keyword Optimization

What does the word "Optimization" mean to you? Although our personal opinions may differ regarding what the term infers, knowing exactly how search engines interpret semantic relationships between words is a crucial component for improving organic website placement.

Latent semantic indexing is a process that determines the way search engines associate words. Understanding how to employ (LSI) latent semantic indexing strategically for keyword research, can provide hundreds of alternative keyword-rich suggestions for your website titles, descriptions and on page content. This process is also great for augmenting organic long-tail search engine optimization and providing a wider range of secondary phrases your website or individual pages will rank for in search engines.

For example instead of optimizing a broad search term like "architect", a person may be prone to type in a a more specific query such as "affordable architect for designing cad drawings for convenience store", the point being, the more descriptive the search, the more chances your pages have to be returned in the search results through elevating your websites secondary and pivotal keywords. Studies have conclusively shown that long tail searches result in higher conversion rates for website owners. One theory is that someone inputing a longer (more specific) search query indicates a heightened interest in the subject. This heightened interest is synonymous with a visitor who has switched from an information gatherer to a qualified prospect for your business. Now you ask, how might one catch the long tail of SEO and receive hits from dozens or quite possibly hundreds of keyword combinations in search queries? The answer, writing with a broader range of vocabulary. Keeping your keywords on topic, but using varying forms to extend the range of your SERP is completely ethical.

Increase Relevance for your Copy using (LSI) Latent Semantic Indexing

Instead of keyword stuffing (adding your keywords numerous times to inflate the importance of your pages) you can simply use alternative terms that describe the same concept and thereby strengthen your foothold for all related terms that fall under the umbrella of that keyword.

Essentially, within a few minutes time using Google and by adding one unique character before a term, you can strike keyword gold and find a variety of alternatives to enhance your rankings.

For example, applying keyword research for the word optimization Google highlighted the following associated words in bold on the displayed results.

-analysis

-positioning

-performance

-placement

-submission

-speed

Although there are additional terms returned by this query, the extent of the keywords you discover are determined by the number of results that you sift through using the numbers or arrows at the bottom of Google (in this instance approximately 10 pages produced the keywords above from descriptions related to the search term.

Now that you have found various alternative keywords that refer to the term "optimization" or whatever your word you are researching, you can incorporate them into a coherent sentence and place that sentence strategically in your web page. If you start with the topic first and use this method to construct the content on your pages, you will most assuredly achieve stronger organic rankings for your keywords that you have clearly identified for that page.

Application of Semantic Keyword Research

For example, based on the keywords above one could compile a sentence that would rank well in search engines and augment the term optimization. In this example, every keyword is used in some form, but used tactfully. This is also a great way to find terms for your tags for blogs.

In order to optimize the performance of your website or blogs position in search engines, analysis of the keywords and their placement can tremendously affect search engine rankings.

Note how most of the terms were used?

Using this method for developing your content is completely ethical and naturally strengthens the content and word density without resorting to spamming the engines or affecting usability for your visitors.

So what is the magical grapheme symbol we have been discussing? It is the tilde ~. Place the tilde in front of a keyword / search term in Google then hit return, the words you see bolded in the search results determine other known indexed words that correspond to your keyword for that search engine.

In this case I used the word ~optimization to research alternative keywords.

To summarize, using Semantic keyword association the next time you're stumped with writer's block or are simply looking for alternative keywords for Google ad words, blogs, tags, titles, descriptions or content, use the tilde before the search term and replace the word optimization with the keyword of your choice.

Jeffrey Smith is an seasoned search engine optimization strategist and founder of Seo Design Solutions in Chicago Illinois. Jeffrey has been involved in internet marketing since 1995 and brings fresh optimization methods and solutions for business seeking long-tail organic search engine placement.