Understanding LSI

What do you know about LSI? Latent Semantic Indexing, or LSI, is not a new concept by any means. If you have been doing SEO on your site, then you have researched keywords and phrases that are likely to help your website rank better on Google. High search engine ranking involves more than keyword density and selection – and that is a statement you can take directly to heart. Search engines adapt to changes and get smarter after seeing the abuse of their original algorithms. Now, they rely on a concept called latent semantic indexing to determine rankings.

So what exactly is LSI? LSI is an algorithmic determination of the words and phrases used in each section of text that takes into consideration patterns that appear in proportion between words and phrases.  In theory, quality can be set based on how keywords and phrases are used in relationship to one another. Compared to just using  ‘quantity’ to determine rankings, this takes a broader view. This way, webmasters have the ability to provide high quality content that is written naturally. This means that there is a way to compete with and even outrank the sites that rely on a formula for writing which creates content that has no natural flow but is rich in keywords.

Using synonymous words and phrases in content allows search engines to assess the value of your site. LSI views website relevance by analyzing the content and  comparing relationships between words and phrases. If you build a themed website, in particular, this will be an effective way to help your ranking attain new heights. Themed websites consist of articles that focus on a central topic be it pets, sports, cars, style or whatever you can think of. A website about cats as pets shouldn’t have a bunch articles about dogs or hamsters unless they somehow directly tie back into cats. If there is no relationship, there is no relevance and it does hurt your site.

LSI evaluates the quality of content and basic factors such as grammar, spelling, etc. Gone will be the sites using cheap writers to spawn huge amounts of ‘SEO’ content. Instead, internet users will be presented with the sites that give valuable information they want and can read naturally, while site owners will have a strong incentive to fill their sites with well written, relevant content. The days of keyword stuffing are over. Good research and well written articles are the way to get higher search engine rankings in the new world order of algorithmic ranking systems.

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