While semantic search is the old news in the SEO space now, many people are still confused how to incorporate this algorithmic shift of search engines in their own strategies. This is a serious concern on many levels given Google’s RankBrain is playing even more prominent role, in the ranking system, by passing days.
If you’re in the same league, wondering how to adjust according to this major development on the marketing scene, we’ve got easier solutions. But first, the definition:
Semantic search is basically a backend process where search engine uses many factors to come up with the most relevant results, rather than simply matching the search queries with keywords. The basic intent behind semantic searches is not just to provide individuals the best resources but also to integrate the natural language processing (including voice searches) to make the results much more engaging.
In short, one can take semantic search as an element that’s shifting keyword-based search to natural language search.
Now coming to the main topic, here are 5 steps to change your SEO strategy for semantic searches:
1.Keep CTR and dwell time at the top of priority list
In this new age of machine learning, Click-Through rate (CTR), dwell time/time spent on website and bounce rate has emerged to be the most important KPIs for the search engines. They have a direct correlation between the users’ satisfaction level and quality of the content on webpages.
The higher the CTR and dwell time, the more they will signal the search engines about the relevancy of that webpage with the users’ search queries.
2.Stop chasing long-tail keywords
Yes, for long, the long-tail keywords have played a savior for professional SEO services in Kolkata and around the world. But seems like they aren’t playing as much of an important role as they once did. Since semantic searches consider other factors equally, chasing long-tail keywords won’t be very aiding to you.
Instead, pick multiple medium-tail keywords, as well as Latent Semantic Indexing keywords.
3.Don’t write keyword-centric articles/blog posts
Gone are the days when you would shell out countless contents based on specific keywords for which you would want your website to rank high. Creating keywords-rich-cum-keywords-stuffed articles not just NOT help anymore, they also hurt the website (because they usually have high bounce rate and low dwell time, which signals search engine that the webpage is of poor quality).
So invest in good professional SEO content writing services that focus on producing high-quality and resourceful contents to provide visitors higher value.
4.Develop targeted, informal and interactive contents
Stashing a chunk of useful information in 200-words-paragraph won’t do the trick for you either. Today, with people’s attention span less than that of a goldfish’s, stressing on the tone and formatting of your content is equally important.
The basic idea is to develop highly targeted contents that are more interactive and have very informal tone. Don’t just converge on texts. Infographics and videos can be just as great options. The more engaged the visitors remain, higher will be the return for you.
5.Understand your target audience’s search intent
If someone’s landing on your page with queries “how to do yoga”, they wouldn’t want to know about the history of this ancient practice, would they? You must understand your target audience and their intent. Why would the users come to your website, what kind of information they want, what problem or pain point are they looking to solve.
Do your homework well in mapping your customer journey and know your audience inside out. Not just with your SEO, this information will seamlessly help you in your overall marketing efforts.
These are 5 steps to change your current Search Engine Optimization strategy for Semantic Searches. Make the needed changes and see your efforts reward you with grand returns.
