Keyword Research

I use a number of keyword discovery tools and techniques to find the best variety of keyword phrases. Finding popular keyword phrases is easy, but finding all the less used phrases or variations isn’t so easy. For an SEO, these other words are very important in the optimization process. These are words we also use to fine tune Google’s understanding of our web pages. We manipulate Google’s keyword understanding of the pages and get higher rankings by using a creative mix of words. Very often, synonyms, related and associated words, along with stemmed variations are used to create a more dynamic presentation to Google. The copy and links are what Google and other robots spider. By making them accessible to the robots, we are in effect presenting the pages to Google. We get to speak to the search engine and convince them that our client’s pages are the most relevant resource on the topic.

What’s important to know about how Google indexes keyword phrases is that it uses a lot of filters to deal with repetition and tone that down, and it uses semantic analysis too. That means it looks for words that are related to or associated with, or synonymous with a keyword phrase. If you type in ~loans for instance, you’ll see words that Google believes are similar to loans. Yahoo and MSN use similar semantic processing.

By looking for related words or even modifiers, they’re hoping that they will better target the real meaning searchers have in mind when they search. Google has a lot of search tools people can use to search, but sadly few people have the time to learn them. Most searchers want the search engine to do the hard work for them. People simply add extra words in their search query to hopefully get the sites they’re interested in.

Google Search Tools give clues for SEO Professionals

The Google wheel is another indicator of semantic relevance. In this graphic above, other terms are offered up by Google. These can be clicked on for even further related phrases. This type of search tool can be very useful when you’re investigating a topic you know very little about. It can help you ask the right questions or make the right queries.

Keyword usage in your copy and links is a more complex matter than you’d imagine. With billions of pages available on a particular topic, Google, Yahoo and Bing have to filter in the most relevant ones. It does that by trying to read between the lines so to speak to get a deeper understanding of what the page is about and whether it is a valuable resource. By optimizing your site at a deeper level, your pages will be considered richer, deeper and more relevant for thousands of keyword phrases. There’s no telling what words people will add to their basic searches. In SEO and high rankings, it’s all about building relevance.

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