Semantic Key Word Research
May 29, 2012
Keyword research is the time-tested, reliable way to locate information on the Internet and databases. There have been many changes to they way people use keyword research, some of them have stayed around and others have disappeared into the invisible web faster than a spambot hits a web site. The Search Engine Journal has come up with “5 Tips for Conducting Semantic Keyword Research” which believes that users “must recognize the semantic nature of the search engines’ indexing behaviors.”
For those without a dictionary handy, semantics refers to the meaning or interpretation of a word or phrase. When a user types a phrase into a search engine, it uses indexing (akin to browsing through a list of synonyms) to find other pertinent results.
A happy quack to http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu
So how do the tips measure up? Tip #1 has users create a list of “level 1” core keywords aka write a list of subject/keywords. This is the first step in any research project and most people will be familiar with it if they have completed elementary school. Pretty basic, but it builds the foundation for an entire project. Tip #2 delves farther by having users expand the first list by finding more supporting keywords that are not necessary tied to the main keyword, but are connected to others on the list. Again another elementary research tip, reach out and expand.
Tip #3 moves us away from the keyword lists and tells users to peruse their results and see what questions they can answer. After the users find what can be answered they make another list detailing their findings (so we didn’t step that far away from lists).
Tip #4 explains to combine tips #1-3, which will allow the users to outline their research and then write an article on the topic. Lastly. Tip #5 is a fare-thee-well, good luck, and write interesting content:
“One final tip for incorporating semantically-related keywords into your website’s content… Building these varied phrases into your web articles should help eliminate the stilted, unpleasant content that results from trying to stuff a single target keyword into your text a certain number of times.
However, it’s still important to focus on using your new keyword lists to write content that’s as appealing to your readers as it is to the search engines. If Google’s recent crackdowns on Web spam are any indication of its future intentions, it’s safe to say that the best long-term strategy is to use semantic keywords to enhance the value of your copy – without letting its optimization eclipse the quality of the information you deliver to your website visitors.”
What have we got here? Are the tips useful? Yes, they are, but they do not bring about new material about keyword searching. As mentioned earlier, these steps are taught as the very basic of elementary research: make a keyword list about your topic, find associated terms, read what you got, then write the report. It is true that many schools and higher education institutes do not teach the basics, thus so-called researchers lack these finite skills. Also people tend to forget the beginner’s steps. Two common mishaps that make articles like this necessary, but the more seasoned researcher will simply intone, “Duh!.”
Whitney Grace, May 29, 2012
Sponsored by Polyspot
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