Latent semantic what? I still get that question from time to time when mention LSI (latent semantic indexing). Though today, it is common knowledge today that search engines have moved away from single key word ranking, and use latent semantic indexing or latent semantic analysis in their determination of what a web page will rank for. Its all about the theme of the web page and web site. We are much closer today to complete intelligence, from the early days when you could slam your web site with the same word 100 times and rank for it.
So, what is Latent Semantic Indexing? LSI is a key phrase research technique 
that recognizes search engines (Google, MSN, Yahoo) use synonymic (multiple words with the same meaning) and polysemic Latent Semantic Indexing (single word with multiple meanings) variations of your key words when determining page rank of multiple sites for the same key phrase.
In other words, when determining whether content on your web site should be considered as subject matter expertise and thus ranked well in the search engines as compared to other web sites for your key phrase, not only do the major search engines consider the key phrase you know about, they also consider their synonymic and polysemic variations Latent Semantic Indexing and how much your content uses them in relation to other sites.
In addition, search engines 
use LSA (Latent Semantic Analysis) to determine key phrases outside your chosen niche that are relavent to your key phrase. Performing an LSI analysis on a local real estate niche might reveal, for example, that in addition to "Yourtown real estste" and other real estate related terms, we might find that local schools are also widely discussed and deemed important in the search engines.
As search engines strive to become more and more "intelligent" they are adapting new techniques to develop their artificial intelligence, and LSI is one of them. The search engines are looking to see how many different ways your content says the same thing.
Now, don't rush over to the book case and grab your thesaurus and dust it off. The search engine algorithms that 
consider LSI don't necessarily Latent Semantic Indexing base their synonymic and polysemic variations on those strict variations found in the thesaurus We are talking about search engine approved synonymic and polysemic variations here.
If you know how to determine these search engine approved keyword variations, you are well ahead of the game. Very few SEO experts even know about this. If you understand this concept and put your hands on this information, you can be sure to write solid content for your web site that considers LSI. This is a very important part of getting and keeping your page rank "above the fold".
Don't just take my word for it!
Google has been using this technology for AdSense in an effort to display targeted advertisements on websites for a couple years now. Undeniable evidence now supports the fact that Google is now using the same technology to determine the relevance of web pages in their index.
In fact, Google has taken the LSI algorythm so seriously that a few years ago, google aquired a company called Applied Semantics, considered at the time to be a proven innovator in semantic text analysis. There is little doubt that Google intends to continue to develop LSI algorythms and use that technology to determine how web pages rank for specific key terms.
From a 2003 press release, here is what Google had to say at the time:
"Applied Semantics' products are based on its patented CIRCA technology, which understands, organizes, and extracts knowledge from websites and information repositories in a way that mimics human thought and enables more effective information retrieval. A key application of the CIRCA technology is Applied Semantics' AdSense product that enables web publishers to understand the key themes on web pages to deliver highly relevant and targeted advertisements."
You can read the entire press release here.
It is ALSO a fact that LSI is in use by other search engines as well. Here is what Mike Grehan of Search Engine Watch ( www.SearchEngineWatch.com ) has to say about LSI:
Latent Semantic Indexing is often misunderstood in its true purpose. (It is based on the vector space model of document classification.) Fundamentally, it operates at some level in a ranking algorithm to help alleviate issues with ranking pages purely by text pattern matching, by adding context.
Using statistical analysis, LSI can discover that documents have words which are often used in the same context. For example, "apple" and "computer" will also have "Mac OS" and are therefore also relevant. The same thing applies with "windows" as an operating system as opposed to an invention for looking through walls. It's all about trying to understand more about the nature and intent of the user query and returning information in context with the user's search, even when they give little clue as to the actual nature of the search. Incidentally, LSI is used by other search engines besides Google.
Typical SEO Compared to Latent Semantic Indexing
In the usual SEO scenario, no matter if you are a pro or you are a web site owner and just want to optimize your only site, the typical process as it is performed today is to try to find the various ways to express your widget, whatever that might be. You might come up with "big widgets" or "small widgets" or "new widgets" or "old widgets", or whatever.
That might be a struggle for many, and thus sprung up the market of tools that will help you find those variations, there must be over a dozen of them.
When you are finished, you hope you have found those set of key phrases that resonate with your potential visitor. You then spend hours making sure you comply with what you believe is the latest information about key phrase inclusion percentages and re-write your web site copy, ad the proper "alt tag" comments, anchored text, and the like. Your hope is that with the usual SEO approach, when your potential customer places your chosen key phrase variations into their favorite search engine, your web site is returned as a top result.
Could your hopes soon be dashed? The goal in web marketing is to connect web researchers or potential customers or clients with relevant content that will assist them accomplish their goals. Use to be this was accomplished simply by optimizing 
for specific key phrases.
That is changing, search engines are smarter today. Search engines look at your overall content on your site, they examine your words, links, your alt tags, and from that information, determine what your web site theme is about. Then they match this result with Internet search queries, delivering a better result to their customers, your potential customers. If in your approach you simply determined different versions of your widget like I described above, there is a very good chance that your content will be considered spamy and consequently, your search engine rank for your wonderfully optimized page for "big yellow widgets" would be lucky to get above 100, much less above 10 or 20.
You can avoid this likely scenario by working with a Semantic Theme in your website content.
Search engines demand better results for their customers, you either provide that to them, or face certain destruction. Maybe not today, but it is coming. All you have to do is write quality content that contains those key words that the search engines believe, together, form a semantic theme representing what the search engines believe matches the key phrase you know your customers are searching for.
You can achieve both with a Latent Semantic Index analysis by Singular Marketing. Our LSI analysis will provide you 2 things:
- Key phrase variations that you might figure out if you work at it long enough or if you use some of the inferior key phrase tools out there.
- Search engine approved synonymic and polysemic variations of all phrases determined in number 1.
- Other key words used in the "neighborhood" of those words determined in steps 1 and 2 for "successful" web pages.
- Complete knowledge of what your semantic theme looks like for your niche.
The Latent Semantic Index analysis described above is included at no additional cost in our complete Search Engine Rank package.
If however our complete package is not for you right now and you only want an LSI analysis performed on your market or key phrase, we can do that. Purchase our LSI Analysis.
