Semantic SEO

President & CEO at B&FPS
Daniel is a Search Marketing Consultant with 20+ years of expertise in Search Engine Optimization and Brand Development. He has a Master’s (MS) in Interactive Technology from the University of Alabama, a Bachelor’s (BPA) in Public Administration from Barry University, General Business from the University of Michigan-Flint School of Management; specializations from the University of Michigan, professional development from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and is a proud Belen Wolverine!
Daniel P. Borbolla
Latest posts by Daniel P. Borbolla (see all)

An effective SEO strategy successfully targets what your audience will search for.

If you work in SEO, you already know about keywords. You choose the main word that search engines can use to land on your webpage. That helps put your page on the top of the results screen.

Semantic SEO is another layer that helps clarify the meaning and understanding of your keyword and webpage.

It encompasses words, phrases, and sentences related to your keyword that help the search engine (and the reader) understand your topic. Semantics can also involve your webpage’s structure and the visuals displayed.

How Do Search Engines Use Semantics?

Google uses the Knowledge Graph to group topics as it understands them. So instead of simply matching a keyword in the results, the process is much more sophisticated.

Search engines not only look at your title and keywords, but they can also study your content and derive meaning. Semantics allow them to understand what’s on your page and what they should do with it.

As content increases, semantics become more important. Content written by a human is better, but more of it is trending toward being generated by AI (artificial intelligence).

AI still has a ways to go before it reaches the authenticity of traditional content, but it’s making strides.

Search engines need semantics to sift through the vast amount of content on the web. Semantics allow search engines to provide more accurate results in a very short time.

How Can You Help Search Engines?

For a search engine to use semantics, it needs your help. Here are some things you can do:

Learn how search engines work. Google uses several tools, including the Knowledge Graph and Natural Language Processing (NLP). The more you understand how Google ranks your page, the better equipped you are to provide it with the necessary words and structure to achieve optimal ranking.

Keep writing clear, concise, and easy to read. You have to figure out what the user and search engines are looking for and provide them with the words, images, and tools they need.

Use semantic keywords, phrases, and concepts to illustrate the meaning. Create in-depth content that’s detailed, unique, helpful, and well-structured. Write for NLP — this is what the search engine uses to understand content. Use SEO best practices. Semantics alone won’t replace all of the other things Google looks for.

Search engines are always evolving. So you may need to play around a bit with words and test a little to determine whether your changes are giving you the results you want.

Where Do You Find Semantic Keywords?

Semantic keywords are related to your primary keyword. They could include other words the searcher might plug in. Here are a couple of ways to find these words:

Google Search Results. When you search for a word in Google, the results may have other words bolded in the meta description or the title of the search term. These related keywords are helpful to note.

For example, if you search for the phrase “how to start a business,” results also come up for “small business ideas,” “start a small business at home,” “top 40 small businesses you can start,” and “how to start a company.” If these are relevant to your content, adding them will boost semantic searches.

Other tools help, too. Including Google Ads, Google Trends, Social Monitoring Tools, and keyword mechanisms developed by various SEO companies.

Keep in mind that search engines don’t look for a single word in semantics — they look at a whole batch of keywords and how they relate.

Why Should I Use Semantic Keywords?

Semantic keywords enhance your SEO strategy.

You’ll drive more quality traffic to your site. Searchers can find what they’re looking for faster and get answers to questions they didn’t know they had.

Users tend to think more conversationally — they may ask questions. They might even search using their voice instead of typing on a keyboard. Search engines can interpret those words and return results based on the user’s meaning.

Search engines continually learn the language based on what they find in content and can better match queries.

No matter what device searchers use or how they ask a question, the search engine can return qualified results.

Semantic SEO Is Important

Semantic SEO is becoming vital in page rankings. Users want instant search results without having to guess the keywords.

Say a user searches for the word “jaguar.” Without context, the search engine will return results for a car and a cat. If the user searches for “driving a jaguar,” the search engine will most likely direct them to a car site.

Semantic SEO helps all types of websites, including e-commerce. Drive people to your page by employing semantics to describe a product and explain how it’s used.

Instead of just selling a “blender,” you can list the 20 uses for it. If users search for blenders that make juice, they’re more likely to land on your page if that’s one of your features.

Search engines get specific in extracting information that a user might be searching for. To take full advantage of semantics, the information must be relevant and describe the product.

Moving Forward

If your site underperforms, or it gets a lot of clicks but users don’t stick around, it could be that those users landed on your site looking for something else.

Optimizing your site for SEO and using Semantic SEO will help search engines direct users to your site who are more likely to convert.

While there are tools for adding semantic keywords, it takes a lot of time and effort.

We knows the ins and outs of SEO, including Semantic SEO, and can optimize your website to create results. Contact us today to put Semantic SEO to work for you!

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