How Semantics And An NYC Internet Marketing Company Can Improve Your Web Rank
Search engine algorithms are fine-tuned to gravitate to entities. Entities, in this case, means places, concepts, people, things, and even ideas. Each one of these often appears inside of the Knowledge Graph. A wide range of search terms might constitute an entity, but a single search could have several different intentions or meanings. As such, they might lead to unique entities. Take the word Mars as a leading example; it might refer to the planet, the mythical figure, or even a candy bar. The way that you use context within your content makes a drastic impact on how search engines will categorize your site. As such, it’s important to learn how to use entities properly and to your advantage.
It’s All About Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning within words. You could potentially write about something like Mars without referring to it specifically. With enough context, however, it could still be potentially understood by readers. Just take that keyword as an example again. When viewing Mars as an entity, search engines will scour the rest of the surrounding text for the semantics in order to determine the exact meaning.
When searching for that word in Google, you’ll probably see results about the planet first and foremost. Why is this? Why wouldn’t the popular candy bar be at the very top of the page? For that matter, why isn’t it one of the other iterations of Mars as an entity? Mars has even been a keyword in the title of many books and movies over the decades. To get to the heart of the matter, Google is always offering its best-educated guess to fill out search results. It uses keywords, phrases, and synonyms to figure out which exact page will match the intent of a user. When searched alone without additional context like “candy bar” or “movie”, Google would most likely you mean the solitary Mars planet and adjust its results accordingly.
Phrases And Terms That Co-Occur
Phrases and terms that co-occur are often used for the description of entities. Co-occurring terms are those that are most commonly associated with a given entity. When looking at Mars as a planet, you’ll get co-occurring terms such as:
- The Red Planet
- The Northern Hemisphere
- Martian Craters
- Low Atmospheric Pressure
- Extra-terrestrial Life
- Terrain Photos
- Earth-Size Comparison
It goes on and on! On the other hand, searches that are about the Mars candy bar will have co-occurring terms such as:
- Ingredients List
- Chocolate Candy Bar
- Fun-Size Assortment
- Limited Edition Packaging
- Fat Content And Calories
Again, the possibilities could continue on for quite some time. These additional co-occurring phrases and terms give the proper context for search engines. As such, they are an essential part of semantics and your content’s visibility. Therefore, it’s not always only about the keywords, but how the rest of your content supports them. —-
Let’s say you have a site promoting a local business in NYC, finding an internet marketing company New York residents can use to provide their content with this level of semantic clarity could be your ace in the hole for beating out your competitors. In terms of pure SEO alone, the use of semantics is invaluable. When utilized properly, search engines will be able to paint the best possible picture of your page and send more people that would be interested in its services your way.
Optimizing With Phrase-Based Indexing In Mind
Throughout the years, the Google search engine has developed a number of patents for using phrase-based indexing online. They are able to improve how well sites match certain searches through word co-occurrence and topic clustering. This kind of information retrieval can quickly find content that has been organized with great specificity. When looking at the context and semantics surrounding a website’s entities, Google is able to paint a perfect picture of what the site’s focus might be. It sounds awfully complex on the surface, but it’s quite simple. You can learn to optimize your site to take advantage of this, and a professional internet marketing company will most certainly do the same. —
If your site is already relatively focused, it’s likely there’s a degree of natural optimization already in place, complete with a degree of co-occurrence that should already play well with Google’s algorithms. You can maximize the effectiveness of this with keyword research, however. Afterward, you need to make sure every inch of your content has proper context for every entity you mention.
When you write about a given entity on your site, you need to provide as much context as you can. It helps search engines and visitors alike understand what you’re all about. Use as many meaningful descriptors as you can, but make sure they’re woven into your paragraphs in a natural manner. As with any facet of SEO, throwing things at the wall purely in hopes of improving your ranking will feel unnatural and ultimately work against you.
For more information, please feel free to call or contact NYC SEO Authority.
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