This guest post was written by Rachel Phillips, former Three Girls Publicist and SEO Expert

Semantics are the meanings behind words. Google detects what you are searching for based on the context in which you search. For example, if you search for the word “laptop” from a mobile device, it will produce different results than if you search from your iPad. It might assume you want to find somewhere to purchase or fix your laptop (since you are out and about) and your search results will show a map pack of local laptop repair shops.

How Do You Know What SEO Keywords To Use?
Easy. You will have to do “semantic keyword research.” First, write a list of core keywords and phrases that relate to your business or the topic of your story. If you need help doing this (and you likely will), there are numerous methods to help build your list. A few of them are the Google Keyword Tool, Google advanced search (type in your keyword, then click “related searches”), and the Google Insights of Search tool.

Once you build your main list, you can expand on that list using supporting keywords. Use these related keywords in your piece of content. Think about this – predict what the person searching wants to know and build your content around answering that question/query (be empathic, put yourself in his shoes). The search engines are trying to do this too. So, you are not only predicting what they want, but what the search engine thinks they want. You have to satisfy both of them.

Out With The Old, In With The New
The old method to optimize your content for the search engines was to choose a single word and repeat it on the page at least three times. And, use it in the Title of the blog post (and/or the H1 tag), putting it as far to the beginning of the title/sentence as possible because it would get parsed sooner resulting in “better SEO.” Unfortunately, not only did that often result in some pretty spammy looking content, it was also very difficult to write that way. However, using the semantics approach allows the author to target the user so useful and readable content will rank higher on the search engines.

Are You The Authority On This Subject?
This doesn’t guarantee that the search engines will view your content as authoritative. That’s where a good cross-linking strategy comes into play. That is a topic for another blog post. Suffice it to say that you will need to educate yourself on what the search engines take into consideration when ranking a web page.

Basically, we are entering a new frontier for SEO content. We need to write semantic-search-friendly content. The search engines are getting smarter every day! Keep in mind they are built for the user. If you put fresh, genuinely useful content out there and diligently share it on every platform your audience hangs out on, then you should be fine. And remember: There are many forms of content, and video is fast becoming the most popular type, so keep it varied and interesting.

Photo Credit: MoneyBlogNewz