In many ways, keyword research is what differentiates effective Internet marketing from non-targeted and poor performing marketing. Whether you're embarking upon an SEO or PPC campaign, the keywords you use are vitally important. Good keywords mean relevant visitors and improved site performance. Incorrect keywords mean few click-throughs, little traffic, and a poor conversion rate.

Search Engines And Semantic Indexing

Search engines are beginning to turn their attention towards semantic indexing. Semantic indexing is a more natural technique of indexing pages and considers relevant topics, and not just very specific keywords. This means that those pages that have been optimized for a list of semantically related keywords are likely to perform better than those with pages crammed with an individual or small sample of keywords.

Algorithmic Indexing

Finding semantically related keywords isn't necessarily as difficult as you might imagine either. After all, the main driving force behind the semantic search engine revolution is that websites employ natural content writing methods. However, pages are still not, and never will be, indexed manually. Complex algorithms are used by the search engines in order to determine the value of a page according to the occurrence of these semantic keywords. So, while organic content may provide some benefits, it still pays dividends to ensure that the algorithms used are given a simple job to determine the best search terms for your site.

Integrating Semantically Related Keywords

Web pages can still incorporate a good list of their most important keywords. In many respects, this will help with the semantic battle. Presuming that your list of keywords is related to the topic and purpose of your page, many of them will be naturally related to one another. This, in turn, means that the use of one keyword will directly benefit your page for one or more of your other keywords.

A Semantic Link Profile

Links have long been a factor in determining the value, and therefore rank, of your web page. Google in particular places a lot of weight on your link profile and sites that have a greater number of links from respected sites perform better. Using the appropriate keyword in the anchor text of the link was also important. While keyword use in your anchor text is still important, you should ensure that you are also gaining links that use your semantic keywords too. This further indicates to the search engines that your popularity was borne through organic, or natural, methods.

The Importance Of Semantic Keywords

Semantic search is already believed to have been adopted by Google and recent news also indicates that Yahoo is following suit. Yahoo already places more importance on the content of your site, and this move towards a semantic trend means that adding more pages, more content, and more semantically related keywords will help serve your needs better with Yahoo results. By building a well balanced link profile consisting of a broad range of links you will also further enhance your standing with Google, the biggest and arguably most important of all search engines.