CSI Miami or LSI Google? Part II

Part II

One of the ways LSI has changed the way Google looks at sites is a shift from “keyword” to “themes”.  Today, and in the foreseeable future, it will be more advantageous to build your sites around a number of related words and synonyms instead of around a single keyword, because we humans are not looking for pages that contain specific keywords, we are looking for information about a subject.

Remember, realtors talk about “Location, location, location” but internet marketers think in terms of “Information, information, information”.  After all, without the right content on your site, attracting the wrong visitors will NOT make you any sales, nor will it help he person looking for that information.

In the recent past, Search-engine Optimization has been all about the focus on a keyword or keyword phrase.  The idea was that if one particular keyword was bringing in the most traffic, it should be the one used throughout the site, and as often as possible.  But now, with the introduction of Latent Semantic Indexing, websites that were once ranked high because of hundreds or thousands of external, internal or reciprocal links based on just one keyword, have now found their rankings have plummeted.

This new system looks for more humanized linking and more humanized thinking.  Instead of one keyword or keyword phrase being used, a variety of words are favored.

Though we don’t know what the future holds for search-engines, we do know that the world’s information IS being both indexed AND made available to anybody with an internet connection and a computer at an ever increasing rate.  So, for now, what can you do to help get the rankings in the search-engines that you need?  Here are a few pointers:

Create themed sites on a broader area, rather than just concentrating on one keyword or keyphrase.

Rather than artificially stuffing your pages full of keywords, write in a more natural style.

Concentrate on the subject matter and stop thinking about the keywords.  Make the CONTENT the most important aspect of your articles and posts and include synonyms, related words and plural words.

Spend less time looking for reciprocal links and more time creating inbound links. These are the far more important.  Writing quality articles and posting comments on other RELATED blogs are two great ways to get these links.

Google is definitely at the head of this new wave, but MSN and Yahoo are quickly realizing the value of LSI.  What does the future hold for search-engines?  Hang-on a moment while I Google that question!

Luke