Use Long Tail Keywords For Semantic Search
It's time to use long tail keywords for semantic search to deliver your pages to searchers higher up in search results.
What the heck does THAT mean, exactly?
Well, long tail keywords are pretty self explanatory. They're queries that have been typed in by searchers that are more than just a couple words long. Here are some examples directly from my keyword research efforts:
- How to build a sail boat
- Rotator cuff surgery recovery time
- Understanding american politics and government
- Craigslist cars and trucks for sale by owner
You get the idea...now, what is semantic search?
Semantic search tries to give us more accurate search results by matching concepts related to the search query, understanding synonyms for the search query typed in and using natural language algorithms.
So, semantic search uses related words, phrases and concepts to show you the search results you need.
Why do search engines care so much about semantic search? Because it's more important now that the internet has been around for awhile to offer as much meaning as possible for the searcher relative to what she types into a search bar. The more a search engine understands what the search query means on multiple levels, the better the search engine is able to deliver results that maater greatly to the searcher.
Related topics help pull together multiple items that are connected with the search term.
How To Use Long Tail Keywords For Semantic Search
Now that we know all of this, how can we use those multiple word phrases to boost our SEO efforts? Mainly by using our primary phrase at least once in the web page content, then using variations of the phrase. It helps to use a keyword research tool to spur our thinking about related phrases that are conceptually relevant.
Let's take a topic I'm unfortunately all too familiar with...sleeping after having rotator cuff surgery. I've had both shoulders put back together surgically. For the first six weeks after surgery, your affected arm is in a sling around the clock. You can't move the arm at all. This means you have to sleep in it, and that's the hardest part of this recovery phase. So here are some terms:
- Sleeping after rotator cuff surgery
- How to sleep after rotator cuff surgery
- Sleeping in a shoulder sling
- How to be comfortable sleeping in a sling
- Sleep on my back in a shoulder sling
One of the nice things about long tail keywords for semantic search purposes is that you can create content that's much more pleasing to read. It sounds natural, and since the search engines can connect meaning between similar words and phrases, you don't have to fret over using the same keyword phrase over and over again, which is keyword density, which is no longer a ranking factor.
It really doesn't matter what keyword research tool you use; they all end up getting data from pretty much the same place. Just know that you can take advantage of multiple, similar words and terms that support the meaning of the main keyword phrase you're optimizing a page or post for.
And here's another post talking about keyword research that I did last year.
Want to know more about semantic search, keyword research and on-page SEO? Take an SEO class from Invenio - call us at 202-725-1422 to learn more.
Learning SEO in an online course is now available from us!
Until we meet again, keep it between the ditches!
All the very best to you,
Nancy McDonald
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
