Of the 5.6 billion Google searches per day, 15% are totally new terms that have never been searched before. Yet online consumers keep getting high-quality, relevant search results that help them solve their problems.
That shows one thing:
Google has gotten a lot smarter in understanding searchers’ intent and ranking web pages based on meaning. The search engine giant has moved away from relying on exact match keywords to understand contextuality.
How did it do that?
By leveraging latent semantic indexing.
But what is that exactly? And why should you know more about it as a business owner?
In this article, you’re going to learn:
- What LSI keywords are
- How they can help you craft better content
- Why they’re essential for SEO
- 7 easy ways to find LSI keywords
Let’s dive in.
What is an LSI Keyword?
Latent semantic indexing (LSI) is an analytical method that Google uses to recognize thematically related keywords. It’s a mathematical practice that identifies the relationship between different words and how they relate in terms of context.
In simple words:
LSI keywords enable search engines to understand different web pages and how they differ based on contextual information. That leads to more accurate results, smarter SERP rankings, and more targeted traffic.
To give you an example:
Let’s search on Google for “summer shoes” and look at the suggested autocomplete words.
Google considers these bolded queries highly relevant to your main keyword. So by using them in your content, you can improve web page context and eventually score higher SEO rankings.
Why Are LSI Keywords Important for SEO?
The end result for using LSI keywords is increased SEO results, which is excellent for you as a content publisher. Your articles will gain more visibility and help you convert highly-targeted visitors into loyal customers.
But…
How do LSI keywords help you get there? And why is Google so concerned about the use of related keywords in content writing?
Here are two reasons why LSI keywords are crucial for SEO:
1- Content Relevance
Google scans web pages for the most used keywords to understand the overall topic. It relies on closely tied terms to determine the main subject and rank the page accordingly.
Without enough contextual information, new web pages will struggle to make their way to the top of the SERPs.
2- Keyword Variety
Keyword stuffing was one of Google’s biggest challenges in the past two decades due to the way it negatively affected the user experience.
A web page full of repetitive key phrases kills the writing flow and makes it impossible for the reader to concentrate on the text. But on the other hand, a content creator must maintain a good keyword density to rank high.
So:
Google introduced LSI keywords to offer bloggers more linguistic options.
How to Find LSI Keywords For Your Content Writing
You can place LSI keywords anywhere in your content to maintain a smooth writing flow and keep readers engaged.
For example, you can use them in:
- Headings & subheadings
- Body text
- Alt image tags
- Image filenames
- Anchor text
Now remember:
LSI keywords are intended to enhance the user experience and keep readers longer on your website. Therefore, you must make sure not to overuse them and maintain a natural-sounding tone that is easy to read and understand.
Here are 7 free tricks to help you find top quality LSI keywords:
1- Google Autocomplete
Google autocomplete is one of the quickest ways to come up with highly-relevant keywords when writing your content. The feature shows you a list of keyword predictions that your target audience often uses to find solutions.
For example, let’s search Google for “running shoes”:
As you can see, all these suggested queries are KSI keywords you can use to enrich your blog posts.
2- Related Searches
Search engines want you to focus on carefully selected ideas for each topic you cover. So to help you get there, Google features a “Searches Related” section at the bottom of the SERPs for each search term.
This section will highlight eight relevant LSI keywords that your visitors often use with the main keyword.
Let’s see a quick example:
These bolded words is what you should focus on when making your LSI keywords list for each article. That’s going to help you keep a beautiful writing style in your content without the need to sacrifice any important ideas.
Want to take this to the next level?
By clicking one of the suggested key phrases from the list, you’ll generate even more LSI keywords and come up with extremely specific terms. You can even do that several times until you have enough LSI keywords for your article.
3- LSI Graph
LSI Graph is the best online tool for semantic keyword generation today. It helps you discover top-performing LSI keywords with their exact search volume and keyword competition.
The thing with this tool is that it digs deeper into the SERPs to come up with unpopular LSI terms for your topic. That’s an excellent way to help you target the low-hanging fruit and focus on easy SEO keywords.
While the tool may have premium plans, the free plan is more than enough to get you started. You can sign up for their email newsletter and get up to 10 free searches per day.
4- Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is another keyword tool that you must add to your SEO tools arsenal. Although it was not specifically designed for semantic keyword research, it’s identical to LSI Graph in the keyword results it gives you.
This tool won’t only help you boost page relevance to the primary keyword, but it’s also excellent for increasing your SERP rankings for multiple keywords.
The SEO difficulty score allows you to estimate the organic competition and how easy it is to rank for different keywords. So you’ll know which search queries to use more in your writing.
5- Bolded Words in Meta Descriptions
Ever notice how some words in the meta description are bolded?
It’s because they’re high-relevance words that often appear with the primary keyword.
Here’s an example for the search term “cat boots”:
“CAT footwear,” “CAT shoes,” “Caterpillar,” and “shoes” are all LSI keywords that will enhance your content and help Google robots better understand your pages.
Note:
This technique isn’t always useful as some results pages show no bolded words. But overall, it’s still a super quick, effective way for finding hidden thematically related keywords.
6- Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is a free keyword research tool by Google. It was developed to help webmasters discover new keyword ideas and improve their SEO performance.
By entering the primary keyword into the search box, Google will do all the work of suggesting the most relevant keywords about the topic. You’ll gain access to new queries you would have never thought about on your own.
Want to hear the best part?
You can use Google Keyword Planner to scan any competitor’s blog post or landing page for key phrases. Within the results, you’re going to get a lot of unique LSI keywords that most other tools can’t give you.
7- Image Tags
Unlike humans, Google spiders have no way of understanding what an image is about or how it relates to the content surrounding it. So they rely on tags and key phrases to guess what any visual content is about.
Google Images Search is a gold mine of thematically related keywords for content creators. Each time you type in a term, the search engine will show you a long list of keywords, most of which are closely related to your topic.
You’ll then pick the most relevant LSI keywords and include them in your list.
Another way to do this is by using Pinterest.
Pinterest is one of the most popular image-sharing social platforms online. It has a lot of new content pinned every day with interesting keywords and image descriptions.
To come up with LSI keyword ideas, type in your keyword in the search box — you’ll see lots of suggestions at the top of the page.
Wrapping It up
Google keeps using machine learning to get smarter and improve the user experience.
LSI keywords is just one example of that.
By using a variety of conceptually related words in your articles, you’ll improve your writing style and avoid keyword stuffing. That helps search engines better understand page context and eventually serve your content to a relevant audience.
Ready to get your business to the next level with search engine optimization?
SEO Fuel Marketing has a team of digital marketing experts and SEOs with over a decade of experience. We’ll help you strategize and execute a plan that gets you the organic rankings you deserve.
For more information, don’t hesitate to contact us or give us a call at (773) 672-2545. We’ll be happy to discuss your project needs and help you find solutions.
