Matthew Widdop
Matty is a Digital SEO Executive at Intelligency, helping our clients to improve their digital performance. Matty is currently studying for his Level 3 Multi-Channel Marketer apprenticeship and has completed a Sport Journalism Degree at the University of Huddersfield.
What is Semantic SEO?
Semantic SEO is the process of optimising content so that it is understood by search engines due to its depth of knowledge and relevance on a specific topic rather than focusing on specific keywords. This can be done by structuring content so that it matches users intent, while also using interconnected and related terms to show search engines a deep and complex understanding of a specific topic. This is opposed to traditional SEO that focuses on creating content around a specific word or phrase to rank for on the search engine results page (SERP).
Semantic SEO or Traditional SEO
Google’s stance has shifted from relying solely on specific keywords towards topical based content especially after the introduction of AI Overviews. Creating a comprehensive piece of work on a specific topic that involves different keywords and explainers means you’re more likely to appear higher up the SERP but also in Overviews as well.
Curtis Weyant, of Search Engine Land, has written a piece on the topic of Semantic SEO and brilliantly explained how Google indexes content and how using a semantic-based approach to SEO helps to rank higher.
“At a high level it works when Google indexes websites, parses the entities it finds, and stores information about those entity relationships in its Knowledge Graph. Then, when someone submits a search query, Google uses natural language processing (NLP) to understand the search intent, retrieve the information, and present it as a combination of SERP features. Without semantic SEO, this search engine rankings process would be much less effective”
How to optimise for Semantic SEO
Due to how Google indexes content presently, making sure we’re fully optimised for Semantic SEO is important for marketers. There are some key things you can do to make sure your site is standing out from the crowd.
- Schema Markup – Structured data that you can add to pages on your website. When google crawls your page this data gives search engines a deeper understanding of the meaning and topic of a page. Some main types of schema that can be implemented include local business schema, FAQ schema, Review Schema, Article Schema and more.
- Topical Authority – Being an authority on a certain subject makes you more likely to rank higher up the SERP as Google understands you have expertise in a certain area that can be useful to their audience. Make sure to display author bios and credentials to enhance authority and trust.
- Topic clusters – These are groups of content around a niche topic that create a sense of authority around a topic by having different pieces of content from multiple angles. Creating a comprehensive piece and then having around 10-15 sub topics you can build into is a nice way of building topical authority.
What this means for Marketers
Many marketers will have already been following these semantic seo principles for some time, especially with the introduction of AI into the marketing world. However for newcomers or marketers still focused on traditional SEO, shifting content strategies to focus on a more topical based approach to SEO, rather than specific keywords is important for improving keyword rankings.
