SEO glossary: LSI keywords

What are LSI keywords?

A look at LSI keywords shows that they are assigned to a main keyword. These are therefore related keywords that belong to a main keyword. For example, if a search query is made for the term "bakery", matching topic-relevant LSI keywords are displayed directly underneath.

 

Example: We enter the search term "bakery" into Google. Google Suggest immediately returns a series of topic-relevant keywords that match this term.

 

Search term: Bakery

 

Keywords: bakery nearby, bakery XY, bakery in XY, bakery with café, good bakery

 

If SEOs and webmasters use such LSI keywords in their content, they create added value for visitors and search engines. This is because it creates more contextual information. In addition, search engine crawlers can use LSI keywords to better understand and decide the meaning of individual search terms used in the content.

Consequently, the better search engines like Google understand the content, the better the relevant rankings will be.

 

 

Why are LSI keywords important for SEO?

If SEOs use LSI keywords in their content, they receive great added value. This can result in a clear competitive advantage.

Below are some of the advantages of using LSI keywords:

 

Better determination of quality and relevance

 

• LSI keywords are ideal for giving a topic more relevance and meaning. Search engines are better able to understand content and gain more knowledge about content, companies, products or services.

 

• In addition, semantically related search terms help to improve search results. This is because search engines better understand what users are looking for and actually want to find.

 

LSI has a higher weighting than keyword density

 

• Keyword density is known to indicate how often certain search terms appear in the content. The higher the keyword density, the better.
  However, too high a keyword density can quickly lead to KEYWORD STUFFING which can result in a penalty. Those who rely on LSI keywords therefore avoid such penalties.

 

• In addition, LSI ensures that the content is richer in different search terms. It therefore has a higher weighting than keyword density.

Which tools can you use to find LSI keywords?

LSI keywords can of course be found manually, for example during keyword research (with tools such as Google Suggest, KWFinder, etc.) or as part of content creation. However, especially in the second step, i.e. during content creation, there are also helpful tools that take a large part of the research work off your hands.

In addition to the well-known WDF*IDF tools, these also include SEO content editors such as SurferSEO or NeuronWriter. These analyze the SERPs for one or more keywords and create a content editor based on the content of ranking competitors. This then provides information on the text length, number of subheadings and paragraphs and, of course, the keywords.

Timo Fach from SEOBerlin.de has had good experiences with NeuronWriter in particular: these tools are very easy to integrate into the content creation process and ensure that entities and other content are included in addition to LSI keywords. One potential disadvantage, however, is that there is a risk of your own content becoming too similar to that of your competitors. You should actively keep this in mind and always give search engines such as Google a reason to rank your own page (provide more added value than the currently ranking websites do).

 

Why can LSI keywords improve the ranking?

 

The following are reasons why LSI keywords can improve rankings:

 

• If LSI keywords are used in addition to the main keyword, Google can better understand the content of a website. If search engine crawlers discover pages that contain not only the main keyword but also LSI keywords, this provides greater added value. The chance that the page will rank higher is correspondingly higher.

 

• If SEOs search for similar LSI keywords, they can better understand what their website visitors are looking for. Accordingly, the content can also be prepared and adapted according to the search queries.

 

• If search engine users enter a main keyword, they receive an overview of similar search queries in Google Suggest. If users click on this, their own reach is automatically increased.