When it comes to SEO, most people focus on the basics: keyword research, link building, and content creation. But there’s one relatively new technique that is quickly gaining traction in the SEO world: semantic search.
What Is Semantic Search?
A semantic search is a way of understanding the intention behind a searcher’s query to deliver more relevant results. Traditional search engines simply match the keywords in a query with documents that contain those same keywords. On the other hand, Semantic search try to understand a query’s meaning to provide more relevant results.
How Does Semantic Search Work?
Understanding how semantic search works helps to know a little about Natural Language Processing (NLP). NLP is a field of computer science that deals with the interactions between computers and human languages. Computers don’t naturally understand human language the way we do. They can only interpret the literal meaning of the words we use.
NLP helps computers understand a sentence’s underlying meaning by taking into account the context of the words used. For example, the phrase “I’m looking for a hotel in New York” has a different meaning than “Can you please book me a hotel in New York?” In the first sentence, the person is just expressing a desire to find a hotel. In the second sentence, the person is requesting that someone else book a hotel for them.
Read more: What are LSI keywords in SEO?
NLP is what enables semantic search to understand the user’s intent behind a query. Once the intent is understood, the search engine can provide results that are more relevant to what the user is actually looking for.
Benefits of Semantic Search for SEO
1. A Complete Understanding of Searcher Intent
The first and most obvious benefit of semantic search is that it allows you to understand the searcher’s intent behind a query. This understanding is crucial for providing relevant results.
2. Increased Rankings for Relevant Pages
Semantic search also has the potential to increase your rankings for relevant pages. If your pages are semantically relevant to a particular query, you’re more likely to rank higher in the search results.
3. More Traffic from Long-Tail Keywords
Another benefit of semantic search is that it can help you drive more traffic from long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases that are less common than shorter, more general keywords. They’re often easier to rank for because there’s less competition.
SEO Guru offers SEO services in Cumming, GA. Our experts can improve your website’s semantic SEO and achieve better rankings in search results.
