How LSI Keywords Play a Vital Role in Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) has become all the rage in the modern digital era. From aspiring bloggers to big businesses, everyone has utilized the perks of SEM while promoting their content online.

This kind of internet marketing involves promoting websites through paid advertisements. In layman’s terms, SEM is the practice of purchasing ads to gain visibility and website traffic through search engines. A significant way to achieve this is by using keywords.

Keywords, as you may know, are words or phrases that a person enters when searching for something. These ‘words’ form the core of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). They also help your content in ranking at the top of the search results.

What are LSI Keywords?

While keywords can be utilized in many ways, the new-age search engines rely significantly on Latent Semantic Indexing keywords (LSI). LSI keywords are terms that are conceptually related to your main topic.

Search engines use them to get a better understanding of your content and its in-depth coverage. For example, if you are writing a blog about ‘vacation spots in Los Angeles,’ the possible LSI keywords might be ‘things to do in LA,’ ‘beaches in LA,’ and the like.

With #LSI keywords, #searchengines get a better understanding of your content and what it covers. The result? Better, more targeted rankings! See how it works on the @RedBranch blog: Click To Tweet

Why Should You Use LSI Keywords?

You may think placing the focus keyword in your content is all you need for SEO, but here’s why you need to emphasize the LSI keywords.

1. Google depends on LSI Keywords.

Earlier, Google would look only for main keywords while crawling through a page’s content. But now, all search engines have become smarter. They check the entire content piece not only for the occurrence of the focus keyphrase but also for related terms. If they find LSI keywords, they decide your content is relevant to the searched topic.

According to a Google research paper, “Uncovering common themes from a large number of unorganized search queries is a primary step to mine insights about aggregated user interests.”

Hence, you have to evolve your marketing skills to match those of the search engine. This is where associated keywords turn out to be a game-changer.

2. They affect search ranking and bounce rate.

Since Google now focuses on the overall context instead of keyword density, including LSI keywords, will ensure your page gets a higher ranking in search results. Rather than stuffing your content with keywords, use relevant phrases to make it more rounded.

For instance, while writing about ‘breakups’, if you include words like ‘heartbreak,’ ‘pain,’ ‘emotions,’ etc., the search engine will get the idea that your content covers the topic in great depth and give it precedence in search lists.

Similarly, the bounce rate is affected by the use of LSI keywords. As LSI makes your content highly targeted, there is less likelihood of a visitor navigating away from your site after viewing one page. Instead, it increases engagement and viewer activity on your page.

3. LSI Keywords make content more natural.

Even though SEO is critical, you should also ensure your content isn’t stuffed with unnecessary keywords just for the sake of it. Your priority should be to deliver relevant and engaging content to users.

Focusing on LSI keywords ensures that the content covers all aspects of the topic, and the information flow appears natural. This improves readability and organic engagement while also keeping SEM in mind.

How to Use LSI Keywords Effectively?

Once you know how helpful LSI keywords are, the big question is how to use them effectively in your content.

Relevance in snippets, titles, caption, and so on

While viewing search results on Google, you will find certain words or phrases in bold. These may be relevant to your search topic but not the exact words you searched for. They are LSI keywords that Google picks up as important.

Including keywords in snippets will fetch you brownie points. The same goes for titles and sub-titles in your content, as well as the Alt Text with your images. Spread out the keyword usage evenly.

This screenshot shows the search keyword and LSI keywords in bold in the search results.

Keywords tools for LSI

The best place to find LSI keywords is in Google search or auto-suggest. If you enter the main keyword and search, you will find a few LSI keywords highlighted in the search results, like in the above screenshot.

Additionally, you can use keyword tools like:

• Google Keyword Planner: It helps find contextual keywords by giving the search input. You can also enter a top-ranking page’s link and find out the LSI keywords being used there.
• LSI Keyword Tools: Many keyword tools on the internet help you search for LSI keywords to optimize your content. Some of them are LSI Graph, LSI Keywords.com, Ultimate Keyword Hunter, Google Correlate, etc. Each of these tools provides unique features to hunt appropriate LSI keywords.

Utilizing PPC (pay-per-click) marketing

PPC is a form of internet marketing in which advertisers pay a certain fee each time their ad is clicked on a page. It is a popular Search Engine Marketing technique that lets you buy visits to your website before building up organic engagement. To carry out PPC campaigns effectively, you should consider hiring PPC experts.

PPC Experts and How They Can Help

You may think you can run a pay-per-click advertising campaign on your own, but there are certain aspects and nuances that only a PPC specialist will know. A PPC Expert or Specialist manages PPC campaigns, right from its inception and design to its implementation strategy and result-analysis.

When you hire a Google Adwords expert or PPC specialist, you will rest assured that aspects like keyword choices, landing page design, trend watching, and LSI keyword placement are taken care of. A PPC expert is also prepared to modify existing strategies and keywords based on results and campaign performance.

 

PPC Experts enhance your content by:

• Analyzing trends and statistics to select the right strategy
• Organizing and timing your campaign for maximum effectiveness
• Applying creativity and technical expertise to harness results
• Building customer relationship for better engagement

Tips on Using LSI Keywords in SEM

Keep these points in mind while using LSI keywords in your content.

Dos	Don’ts
Use LSI keywords spread throughout the content.	Overstuff your page with unnecessary keywords.
Insert contextually relevant words that describe/enhance your main topic.	Just use synonyms of the primary keyword as LSI keywords.
Preserve the natural structure and flow of the content.	Arrange your content according to the occurrence of keywords you feel are significant.
Use suggestions, tools, or experts to search for and modify LSI Keywords.	Stick to a particular keyword or phrase that is not yielding results.

LSI keywords are fairly new to the digital marketing space but can create a massive difference if used appropriately. They can improve SEO, boost ranking, and help search engines navigate lengthy content. If Search Engine Marketing has you stumped, LSI keywords will turn out to be a game-changer. Try it now or hire a PPC expert to start your journey with Search Engine Marketing.

By Guest Author: Sheryl Jones:

Sheryl is the Sr. Marketing Specialist at Uplers, who has a great experience in designing well-defined user journeys across the digital marketing domain. She leverages her digital marketing expertise to help businesses draw significant ROIs.