First, let's spell out the abbreviation LSI. This is latent semantic indexing, which means “latent semantic indexing”.
There is an algorithm by which search engines decide which pages are relevant to a given search query. And this is the presence of keywords on the page with LSI.
In this article we will tell you everything you need to know about LSI keywords and how to use them to promote your site!
What are LSI keywords?
LSI keywords are keywords semantically related to your main keyword. Many people think that LSI keywords are synonymous. But this is not true. LSI keywords are simply words that are often found together in one context.
For example, “apple” and “itunes” are LSI keywords, because they have the same context and are often found together. But they are not synonymous.
Here are some examples of how LSI works.
Let's say your page or blog post is dedicated to promoting a site on the Internet.
Here are the key queries that may be associated with the word "promotion":
• Career advancement
• Financial house "Promotion"
• TV channel "Promotion"
• SEO promotion
How does Google know what the meaning of the word “promotion” has to do with your page?
Google will search for the LSI keywords on your page to determine the correct value:
• If he finds the words: “career”, “job”, “vacancy”, “labor market”, “boss”, “salary”, your page is probably about promotion.
• If he finds the words: "money", "finance", "deposits", "economy", then your page is most likely devoted to the financial house "Promotion"
• If he finds the words: “news”, “broadcast”, “news release”, “heading”, your page is likely to be “Promotion” channel,
• If he finds the words: "optimization", "meta description", "links", "content", "keywords", your page is likely to promote the site in the network.
So why did Google start using LSI keywords?
Good question!
Why does Google use LSI keywords?
There was a time when the only indicator that Google used to match a page to this search query was keyword density.
As we all know, keyword density has undergone terrible abuse.
So Google moved away from this algorithm and started looking for LSI keywords.
The logic was:
The legal “Apple Computers” page is likely to contain many other words related to Apple computers (for example, “Apple stores”, “Apple iphone 5”, “Apple New iPad”, “Apple stock price”, “discount”) .
On the other hand, a page with the keyword "Apple computers" will probably just contain this one keyword. For example, the page you are reading.
Thus, the LSI keywords provided Google with a way to separate the wheat from the chaff.
But there is another reason Google started using LSI keywords ...
Latent semantic indexing helps Google better understand the value of a search query and the value of a web page.
And it allows Google to improve its algorithms, which determine the correspondence between what people are looking for and what they find in search results.
Hummingbirds and LSI keywords
In August 2013, Google introduced the Hummingbird algorithm, which is sometimes called the semantic algorithm.
The Hummingbird algorithm focuses on synonyms and improves Google’s ability to understand the context of a web page.
While the previous algorithms were focused on individual words in a search query, Hummingbird scans every word in the context of the entire search query.
In other words, the Hummingbird algorithm tries to make sense — it helps Google match the user's intent with the search results.
But how does this help us rank higher in the search results?