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. Immediately, Google Suggest outputs a number of topic-relevant keywords that match this term.

 

Search Keyword: 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, it receives 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 great for giving more relevance and meaning to a topic. Search engines are better able to understand content and get 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

 

• The keyword density indicates how often certain search terms appear in the content. The higher the keyword density, the better.
  However, if the keyword density is too high, this can quickly lead to KEYWORD STUFFING which can result in a penalty. If you rely on LSI keywords, you can avoid such a penalty.

 

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

What 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 during content creation. Especially in the second step, i.e. during content creation, there are also helpful tools that already take over a large part of the research work.

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.

Especially with NeuronWriter, Timo Fach from SEOBerlin.de has made good experiences: These tools can be integrated very easily into the content creation process and it is ensured that entities and other content are included in addition to LSI keywords. A potential disadvantage, however, is that there is a risk that one's own content becomes too similar to that of the competition. This should be actively kept in mind and search engines like Google should always be given a reason to rank your own site (provide more value than the currently ranking websites do).

 

Why can LSI keywords improve 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. Thus, the chance that the page will rank higher is correspondingly higher.

 

• If SEOs find similar LSI keywords, they can better understand what their website visitors are looking for. Accordingly, the content can be prepared and adjusted 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 them, their own reach is automatically increased.