What are LSI keywords and how to find them?

LSI keywords or Latent Semantic Indexing keywords are important for search engine optimization — especially if you want to rank for more keywords without risking a penalty for Google algorithms.

In this blog post, we are going to discuss what are LSI keywords, how to use them, and, more importantly, how to find the right sort of LSI keywords that would help you with your SEO efforts.

What are LSI keywords?

LSI keywords enable search engine crawlers to understand the context and true meaning of your blog post.

For example, if your web page is optimized for Apple, how do you think Google would determine if it is for Apple the company or Apple the fruit?

If your web page contains keywords such as iPhone, iOS, OSX, iPad, etc. Google would know which “Apple” your web page is supposed to rank for. These keywords, therefore, can be termed as LSI or Latent Semantic Indexing keywords.

In short, LSI keywords add more context to your blog post and allow search engine crawlers a much better understanding of what your web page is about and for whom it should be ranked.

What you must know about LSI keywords

Too many SEO professionals make the mistake of believing that LSI keywords are just synonyms. They are not.

LSI keywords, as we just discussed, add more context and meaning to a web page. Therefore, they are much more than just synonyms. If you are just adding synonyms in place of LSI keywords, you are doing it wrong. By merely adding synonyms, you would be miss out on many opportunities.

For example, if your primary keyword is “best beaches in Hawaii”, you shouldn’t limit LSI keywords to just “best shores in Hawaii”. Instead, try to add more context with keywords, such as “best vacation spots in Hawaii”, “best places to relax in Hawaii”, and “Hawaii beach vacations”, etc.

4 ways to find powerful LSI keywords

There are several ways to find powerful LSI keywords. The easiest and most straightforward being the synonyms route. Thesaurus is a great resource for finding relevant synonyms for any word.

However as we just learned, we shouldn’t limit ourselves to just that.

Here are a few more ways to find powerful LSI keywords:

1. Google auto-suggestions

Remember those pesky and annoying suggestions that Google keeps recommending whenever you are trying to search something? Well, they aren’t entirely useless.

Those Google auto-suggestions often have valuable LSI keywords — related keywords that people may be searching for. Try to shortlist all those auto-suggestions for your primary keywords, and you will have a bunch of good LSI keywords to use.

Don’t worry if your list gets too big. You can always filter those keywords and select the most powerful ones to use.

2. Google related searches

You can use the same concept as above and apply to Google related searches — the small snippet by Google that lists related searches. These suggestions work similarly to Google auto suggestions.

Search through them, and you may find many useful LSI keywords to add to your blog post.

3. Google Keyword Planner Tool

The Google Keyword Planner Tool may not offer the best ideas when it comes to researching for new keywords and blog post topics, but it can offer plenty of related and LSI keywords that can add more context to your blog post.

Just add your main keywords, and let Google Keyword Planner do its magic.

You can also paste your competitor’s website URL in the Google Keyword Planner tool to find the keywords Google identifies that website with. You can do the same with your own website to come up with even more LSI keyword ideas.

4. LSI Graph

The LSIGraph tool is a web application that is specifically designed to curate LSI keywords. You may not have to pick all of them, but that list is often valuable — especially if you are trying to come up with as many LSI keywords as possible.

Conclusion

LSI keywords are important; there is no doubt about that. Without them, you may run the risk of keyword stuffing — which may lead to a penalty by Google.

By using LSI keywords, you not only make your content more appealing and interesting, but you also enable search engine crawlers to better understand what your web page is about.

By using these 4 methods, you can now come up with even better LSI keywords.