Semantic Relevance: A Keyword Strategy for LLMs

1. Vocabulary Diversity and Lexical Diversity Score
2. Quality and Consistency of Main Keywords
3. Semantic Alignment
4. Synonyms and Variants
5. Natural Distribution of Keywords

1. Vocabulary Diversity and Lexical Diversity Score

The richness of the vocabulary used in a piece of content is a key indicator of its quality and depth. For search engines, including generative AIs, content with high lexical diversity is perceived as more informative and less repetitive.

Make sure the content uses a rich and varied vocabulary. A high diversity score indicates good use of words and phrases. Avoid limiting yourself to a small set of terms, even if they are relevant.

2. Quality and consistency of main keywords

Main keywords must be carefully chosen to reflect the central topic of the page and match users' search intentions. Their quality and consistency are essential for ranking.

Evaluate the quality of the main keywords used. Are they relevant to the content? Do they match the queries users are likely to type? Ensure there is consistency between the targeted keywords and the actual content of the page.

A main keyword should be neither underused (not present enough to signal its relevance) nor overly repeated (keyword stuffing), which can be perceived as an attempt at manipulation by search engines and harm readability.

Maintain a natural keyword density. Avoid keyword stuffing, which involves excessively repeating a keyword. This can lead to a penalty and degrade the user experience. Conversely, ensure that the main keyword is present enough for search engines to understand the topic, without being underexploited.

3. Semantic Alignment

Semantic alignment is the consistency between the main keywords and their presence in the key HTML elements of the page. This reinforces the relevance of the content for search engines.

Ensure the presence of the main keywords in strategic elements of the page:

• The <title> tag: the title of the page displayed in search results.
• The <h1> tag: the title of the page displayed in search results. : the main title of the page's content.
• The <meta name="description"> tag: the short summary of the page.

The use of these keywords in these tags should be natural and relevant, clearly signaling the page's topic to search engines and users.

4. Use of synonyms and variations

Using synonyms and variations around the main keywords enriches the semantic scope of the content and helps search engines understand the depth and nuance of the topic. This is especially important for generative AIs that analyze the overall context.

Integrate related terms, synonyms, and similar phrases with the main keywords. This helps cover a broader spectrum of search queries and improves the algorithms' semantic understanding of the content.

5. Natural Keyword Distribution

The distribution of keywords throughout the text should be natural and not give the impression of forced optimization. Modern search engines are able to detect unnatural repetition patterns.

Spread keywords organically throughout the content, including in subheadings (<h2>, <h3>), paragraphs, and lists. The goal is to create content that sounds natural to a human reader, while also being optimized for search engines.

Resources & helpful links

• Google Search Central - Creating Helpful, Trustworthy Content
• Moz - Understanding Intent research