As SEO experts, we exert great effort to make the websites we consult more visible and increase the organic traffic for small businesses that may not have the advertising budgets of market leaders. We invest so much time in pleasing Google’s crawlers that we sometimes overlook simple points that could be more inclusive. It’s really about seeing the big picture.
Semantic search is expected to be understood and implemented by SEO experts as a significant development that can completely revolutionize the way SEO activities are conducted.
What is Semantic Search?
The term “semantic” refers to expressing the essence of something and involves examining the meanings and essences of words. In this context, semantic search aims to understand the user’s intent through contextual meaning and provide them with the most relevant and accurate results. It can be said to offer more personalized results or attempts to do so.
Semantic search engines are concerned not with keywords but with the meaning of the word the user is searching for. Therefore, the meaning of the searched query and the user’s intention are crucial. Semantic search utilizes concept matching, understanding synonymous words, and using natural language algorithms to transform structured and unstructured data into an intuitive and responsive database, providing more interactive search results. In this sense, Google’s knowledge graphs are considered a competency paradigm in semantic search.
Why Do Search Engines Use Semantic Search?
There are several reasons
Cost Efficiency
Web pages with authority on topic hierarchy, concept connections, and semantic search elements can process all similar queries. Thus, a search engine can spend fewer computational, crawling, indexing, and ranking resources to create the best possible results page.
Human Nature
Humans are semantic entities. They often match and classify similar things equally and categorize similar things together. Semantic search works similarly by applying natural language processing rules. It is a search engine that aligns with the way humans think. Another well-known reason is that semantic search allows the web to be organized more comfortably, evident in results like “People Also Ask” and “Knowledge Panels.”
Technologies in Google’s Semantic Search Process
In the evolution of Semantic Search, Google has four crucial milestones in its technologies and updates.
Knowledge Graph
Google’s Knowledge Graph, released in 2012, includes entities with interconnected definitions and dimensions within a context. Search engines understand entities in the real world through knowledge graphs, aiding in the understanding of content accuracy.
Hummingbird
Introduced to deliver better search results using machine learning, Hummingbird focused on understanding the meaning of complex search queries, shifting from individual keywords to the meaning of sentences.
RankBrain
Utilizing complex machine learning algorithms, RankBrain understands new queries and associates them with past user queries. This helps Google maintain the semantic structure of the web.
BERT
BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) is an algorithm used to better understand information within content, recognize entities, and comprehend relationships between entities. It enhances the understanding of long and complex sentences and queries.
Optimization Tips for Semantic Search
Focus on the Topic, Not Keywords
Rather than targeting keywords, focus on creating comprehensive and informative content that covers the entire topic. Google understands that different variations of a broad search term are nearly the same, so aim to create a guide that covers the entire subject.
Understand Search Intent and Add Value
Once you’ve identified the area you want to rank for, build your organic search strategy around it. Understand the types of keywords you want to rank for, analyze your current competition, and consider how to provide better content. Understand the user’s journey, improve user experiences with your content at every organic search touchpoint, and reach your goal in every customer’s interaction with your organic search themes.
Use Structured Data
Schema markup is an alternative way to provide information about your page and content to search engines. Use schema.org’s various schema types to mark up your content so that Google can understand it without relying on complex algorithms.
In addition to these, consider using the following methods while creating content:
Avoid using subjective sentences in your content and provide examples when making recommendations. Use numeric statistics and percentages to create clear sentences wherever possible. Stay focused on the topic while answering questions, avoiding straying too far. The development of semantic search has changed the entire content ecosystem, motivating publishers to create more valuable and relevant content for users. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on sentences rather than keywords, understand your target audience, and produce comprehensive, clear, and objective content.
Success stories demonstrating positive changes on the web through the proper organization of content for semantic search suggest that the face of the web will improve for both users and search engines without making any technical developments. For further insights, you can also explore our blog post on “Featured Snippet: What is it and How to Achieve it?” and consider partnering with a successful SEO agency to increase your website’s visibility with the right strategies.
Author: Hakan Karaman
