What is Semantic SEO? A Complete Guide for Higher Ranking

Semantic SEO is different from traditional SEO. Here we can’t publish content by writing content directly with keywords. But Google has not said that we will stop doing keyword optimization. Keyword optimization is still important. For Semantic SEO we have to follow some steps only then we can use Semantic SEO properly.

All the steps we have to follow:

• First, we must check if the website UX is OK.

Website’s UX is very important for ranking so before you start Semantic SEO, ensure your website is UX and mobile-friendly.

• Topic clustering

At the beginning of Semantic SEO, you have to cluster the topic & Subtopic of the website. What kind of topics will you post on your website?

For example: To write about pets on your website, you must decide which pets to write about and what to write about.

• Keyword research

Now you can do topic-based keyword research. But choose keywords that you can easily rank for initially. Also, keep your topic intent right.

• Keyword clustering

Now you have found many relevant keywords among the keywords you have researched. So they have to be clustered now.

For example: Your keywords are (1. WordPress SEO) and (2. What is WordPress SEO). Notice here that the intent is the same and when you search these two keywords on Google, Google will show you the same search results because the topic of these two keywords is the same.

In traditional SEO all these keywords are posted separately. But in Semantic SEO these keywords are covered in one page and relevant keywords are optimized in subheading or LSI. So here you must do keyword clustering.

• Keyword mapping

Keyword Mapping – Now map your clustered keywords and strategically optimize them with your content. This will help your content rank for multiple keywords.

• Semantic content

Follow what we have detailed above about Semantic Content first. And cover the relevant keywords of a topic on one page instead of posting them separately. Outline topics with relevant keywords and write optimized in-depth content that will satisfy users.

• Answer “People Also Ask” Questions

This is a great cold-head tip! From this, we have achieved a lot of success.

The People Also Ask Box is a question box that Google tells you, “People want to know about these topics”. I won’t say if you answer these questions or if you use your targeted keywords you will rank well. But if you answer by adding these questions then your question will also show here in this box. From which you will get a lot of traffic.

• Target Keyword Variations With The Same Page

In the beginning, when we did SEO we used to do a different post for every change of a keyword.

For example: one post optimized with “YouTube SEO” and another post with “YouTube Video SEO”.

The idea was to create a page that would be super-optimized for specific keywords and post separately for each variation of that keyword.

But thanks to updates like Panda and Hummingbird, this approach no longer works.

Google now shows search results by topic. Google shows results according to intent, so many times a website is shown in search results for multiple keywords because Google is now following the topic.

For example: When you search for “YouTube SEO” and “YouTube Video SEO” you will see the same results.

So from now on cover the entire topic in one page instead of creating multiple pages.

Let me explain the point:

Earlier I used to do one post on “Wix SEO Tips” and another post on “Wix SEO Techniques”. But now I use “Wix SEO Tips & Techniques” like this and use the “Wix SEO Techniques” keyword LSI somewhere in the content.

But thanks to Semantic SEO – I know that Google understands that these things are similar. So I now optimize both these keywords together.

• Avoid Long Tail Keywords

You already know that it makes no sense to post with different keywords for a topic. It turns out that the same rule applies to most long-tail keywords.

Long tail keywords are popular because they are not very competitive. So most of the long-tail keywords are being used but thanks to Semantic SEO, Google now lumps similar long-tail keywords on the same topic.

For example, take two long tail keywords like “Best eCommerce SEO Tips” and “10 Best eCommerce Website SEO Tips”. Google now understands that both of these long-tail terms fall under the topic of “eCommerce SEO“.

So I now recommend creating content with semi-competitive “mid-tail” keywords. And if your content is really amazing Google will automatically rank your keywords.

• Publish Long Content

If you are serious about Semantic SEO then you must write long content. Here I mean “by long” content of 1 thousand, 2 thousand, or even 5 thousand words.

I’m not saying that you should just write while going long. You must write accurate and informative content. Generally, you cannot cover a topic with 500 words.

So since you will be doing semantic SEO and you need to cover the entire topic, you may need thousands of words per topic.

Moreover, Google likes it a lot when you cover related topics and the user is satisfied.

• Include Semantically Related Phrases

These are also known as LSI keywords. These phrases greatly help Google understand your website’s content and intent, which is a superpower for ranking. So use some part of your clustering keywords as LSI.

• Optimize for Conversational Keywords

You may know that voice search is constantly growing. According to Google, (41% of US adults do at least one voice search per day). And because voice search queries are more conversational, they do exactly what semantic search is trying to find: understand topics, not just individual keywords.

In other words,

You don’t have to type like a robot or use the “wrong words” keywords you get in keyword research tools to rank in Google.

For example: Let’s say your target keyword is: “Backlinks Tool SEO”. Back in the day, you had to figure out how to force-optimize your content for these same keywords. But now you don’t have to.

Now, you can use a natural language version of that term (like “backlinks tool for SEO”) and still rank for that keyword.

In fact, if you look at the SERPs for “Backlinks Tool SEO”, none of them use this incorrect term in their content.

• Use Structured Data

Structured data (schema) helps your website for ranking. This helps search engines understand your content better. Also, Structured Data adds rich snippets to your website, increasing your site’s organic CTR.

So that’s what Semantic SEO is and how you can use it. If you follow our guide completely then you will be 100% successful.