4 Tips To Use Semantic SEO For Higher Rankings

Search engine optimization (SEO) is not a set-and-forget kind of deal. As Google’s ranking algorithm gets increasingly sophisticated, SEO practices are continuously evolving.

At the end of the day, however, Google is just working hard to maintain its authority as a reliable search engine – and it does this by rewarding the websites that provide value to its users. That’s essentially what dictates white-hat SEO practices. And that’s why businesses that are serious about securing their position in organic search results are currently focusing all their content marketing efforts on semantic SEO.

What Is Semantic SEO?

To put it simply, semantic SEO refers to the practice of optimizing your content for collective topics that are connected, rather than single keywords.
That means that when you create content which you want to rank for a certain keyword and answer a specific query, you will anticipate the questions that would naturally come to a reader after the initial query. By including the answers to these questions as well, your content has a chance to rank for a variety of relevant keywords, and ultimately a chance to rank for a longer period of time.

In other words, semantic SEO is about adding more depth and meaning to your articles, so that you optimize them for the true intent of your readers. Now let’s have a look at the key tips for using it to earn higher rankings.

#1 Write With Your Customer In Mind

If you haven’t already been doing this, now is the time to start. The whole point of semantic SEO is creating in-depth, valuable content that encompasses a topic wholly. Don’t write for Google’s algorithm – write for the people your content is intended for, and everything else comes after. Turn to Reddit or Quora to get a better idea of what your target audience is asking and try to provide them with maximum knowledge within the given context.

Of course, keywords remain inherent to SEO, but here’s the thing: with the onset of voice search and the ever-growing demand for truly valuable content, Google now focuses more on topics than keywords. The conversational value of your content and the logical encompassing of information is key, and that’s what semantics comes down to.

#2 Do More In-Depth Keyword Research

As we’ve mentioned, there’s no running away from keywords – in fact, semantic SEO gives you wider opportunities to make the most out of keyword research.
Semantic SEO suggests that the times of single-keyword mentality are long gone, and content with conversational value inexorably needs to cater to semantics and encompass related terms. Combine tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Keyword Tool to get more variations.

The idea is to strategically include your initial keyword as well as a wide range of conversational or topical keywords and phrases.

#3 Focus On Building Your Brand Presence

What does brand presence have to do with semantic SEO? Quite a lot, in fact, and it comes down to two SEO terms:

• Co-citation: unlinked mentions of your brand across the web
• Co-occurrence: related terms that become associated with a brand

Basically, these two now all within semantic SEO as Google is able to recognize brand presence in more complex ways. And a brand presence of this nature certainly plays an important role, as Google rewards brands who build their authority and online reputation. Don’t leave this to chance – look for help from reliable digital marketing agencies and find someone with expertise in online branding and reputation management. Develop a clear and consistent strategy to power-up your brand presence and you’re bound to count the benefits.

#4 Take What Google Is Giving Freely

Google is giving you valuable hints in three places:

• the auto-suggest feature
• the “Related to search” section
• the “People also ask” section

You’ll find extremely valuable content suggestions and keyword phrase ideas here.

Its algorithm is always trying to anticipate the additional questions that logically arise after a certain query is answered – which is what you should be doing too in order to write in-depth posts with semantic SEO in mind.

Over To You

In the swarm of content marketing noise, your posts will stand above the rest if you focus all your efforts on building relevancy and anticipating the problems your target audience faces. Strive to be the most relevant answer, and Google will reward you. That’s why it’s a good idea to go back to old articles and blow the dust off.

Update, expand, and make your content clear for the reader as well as for Google.

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