Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI)

The effect of latent semantic indexing (LSI) on your website rankings

Latent semantic indexing (LSI) is a technique that is used by all major search engines nowadays. Does your website take this into account? How does it influence the position of your web pages in Google's search results?

What is latent semantic indexing?

LSI means that a search engine tries to associate certain terms with concepts when indexing web pages. For example, Paris and Hilton are associated with a woman instead of a city and a hotel, Tiger and Woods are associated with golf.

To find out which other keywords Google finds related to a keyword, search for a keyword and add a tilde in front of it. Google will mark the related keywords in bold on the result page. It seems that Google finds the word "Nokia" related to "phone".

How can Google match keywords with certain concepts?


Google has billions of web pages in its index. If Google finds that many web pages contain both the word Paris and the word Hilton then Google might assume that these keywords are related. The other words on these pages could give Google a hint that this special word combination is about a woman.
Words that frequently appear very close to each other could get a tighter connection. Google has a lot of data that allows them to calculate the relation between different words.

What does this mean for the position of your web pages in Google's search results?


If you want to be listed for certain keywords, you must show Google that your website is relevant to a certain topic. There are several things that you can do to increase the relevancy of your website for a topic:
1. Optimize different pages of your website for different keywords

If you're targeting the search term "used cars" you should also create pages that are relevant to the keywords "auto", "SUV", etc.

The more pages of your website are relevant to a certain topic, the more likely it is that your web pages will be listed for keywords that are related to that topic. Make sure that your keywords appear in the right elements on your web pages.

2. Get links from semantically relevant pages


If you're selling cars then the "Cars" web page that links to your site should not be about the movie. Links from topically related pages will be semantically beneficial to your site.

A link to your website that comes from a page that contains links to other web pages that deal with the same topic has a greater effect on the rankings of your website then a link from a page that links to totally different pages and your site.

For that reason, it is important that you try to get links from related websites. It is also very important that you submit your website to the right category in Internet directories. If your website is listed in the wrong category, this can have a negative effect on your rankings.

3. Use meaningful site architecture

Use a logical system to organize your website content. Create content sections that deal with different parts of your main topic and make sure that everything that is related to your topic is mentioned on your web pages.
Make sure that your web pages are put in the right categories on your website and that it's easy to find the different categories.

4. Find out why other pages rank higher than yours


If you ever asked yourself why another page has been ranked higher than yours although you perfectly optimized your pages for your search terms then you should analyze the inbound links of the top ranked pages.

The number and the authority of inbound links are important. However, it's also important that the links come from semantically and topically related pages.

Don't focus on a single keyword when optimizing your pages. If you want to prepare your website for advanced search engine algorithms then you have to create a website that has been optimized for many different but related search terms.

In addition, it's important that the links to your website come from topically related pages so that search engines put your website in the right context.

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SEO interview questions and Answers

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Interview Question and Answers

1)      Give me a description of your general SEO experience?

Ans:  My experience is mainly with my own site at www.afreshpath.com and one other site www.qualitymotorsreno.com. So far, my site is on page one for narrow search terms involving outdoor recreation in NevadAns The other site has gone from not being listed at all in the first 10 pages of any search result to being in pages 2 and 3 of a couple of search engines. That work is ongoing at this time.

2)      Can you write HTML code by hand?

Ans: Yes I can. I do use some WYSIWYG editors and then modify the code by hand as needed.

3)      Could you briefly explain the PageRank algorithm?

Ans: In simple terms, Google uses the gross number of inbound links to a page to determine how important the page is. This "pagerank" has little to do with actual search results but can make a difference on user behavior.

4)      Have you created any SEO tools either from scratch or pieced together from others?

Ans: No, I do make use of many tools already available on the internet as well as SEO programs that I have purchased.

5)      What do you think of PageRank?

Ans: In relation to SEO projects, it is relatively unimportant but can give an indication of how much work needs to be done in gaining inbound links.

6)      What do you think of using XML sitemaps?

Ans: I use them. They are an additional tool to help the search engines when they crawl a site. There is no requirement for any sitemap and your pages will get indexed without them if you pay close attention to navigation within your site.

7)      What SEO tools do you regularly use?

Ans: Keyword analysis tools, keyword density tools, index checking, backlink checking, word processor to check spelling and grammar, HTML validation and others.

8)      Under what circumstances would you look to exclude pages from search engines using robots.txt vs. Meta robots tag?

Ans: Usually I would use the robots.txt to keep a search engine from indexing an entire directory on a site. This would often be directories dealing with admin functions or directories that only contain script or image libraries.

9)      What areas do you think are currently the most important in organically ranking a site?

Ans: Text on page! Search engines utilize text and only text in providing search results. That text is found in many place including the URL and title of your pages as well as the visible text you place on your pages.

 

10)  Do you have experience in copywriting and can you provide some writing samples?

Ans: My experience in "copywriting" is limited to my site at www.afreshpath.com. It is a blog about outdoor recreation in Nevada and so far is placing well in search results.

 

11)  Have you ever had something you've written reach the front-page of Digg? Sphinn? Or be stumbled?

Ans: Not yet! I am not particularly worried about it but I do try to write in such a way that others would be incited to submit my articles.

 

12)  Explain to me what META tags matter in today's world?

Ans: The most important META tag for SEO is your page description. Search engines do make use of this tag but it does not outweigh the title or visible text. The META keywords tag is not much of a factor in the major search engines but should not be overlooked.

 

13)  Explain various steps that you would take to optimize a website?

Ans: I). Interview website owner or webmaster to get a good grasp of the site's purpose and goals.
II).     Perform a keyword analysis to find best performing keywords that should be used for that site and for individual pages of the site
III).    Analyze site content to determine usage of relevant keywords and phrases. This includes visible text as well at titles, META tags, and "alt" attributes.
IV).      Examine site navigation
V).      Determine the existence of robots.txt and sitemap and examine those for effectiveness.
VI).      Make recommendations for changes needed for the site and each individual page.

14)  If the company whose site you've been working for has decided to move all of its content to a new domain, what steps would you take?

Ans: I would update the old site with permanent redirects to new page for every page. Then I would attempt to remove old content from the major search engines to avoid duplicate content issues.

15)  Rate from 1 to 10, tell me the most important "on page" elements?

Ans: #1 issue is visible text being relevant to expected search terms.
    # 2 would then be page a title
    # 3 is navigation and "alt" attributes for navigation items and link text.
    # 4 would be "alt" attributes for images and other media presented on pages.            

    #5 follow steps from question no 13

16)  What do you think about link buying?

Ans: I discourage the practice for the most part. There are more effective means of paid marketing. One exception would be purchasing listings in highly reputable directories such as Yahoo directory. 

17)  What is Latent Semantic Analysis (LSI Indexing)?

Ans: LSI indexing tries to overcome the limitations of "literal" search term matching. For example, if someone is searching for "hiking in Northern Nevada" a literal search would only match the words used without taking into account words such as "hike", "hiked". LSI can give more relevant results because it does take word usage and context into account determining what a page is "about" rather than a strict reliance on literal wording.

18)  What is Phrase Based Indexing and Retrieval and what roles does it play?

Ans: In regards to search results, it is a method that search engines such as Google use to determine relevance of a page based on phrases actually used in a document. For example, if you have a page instructing people on wildlife photography, the search engine would reasonably expect to see terms and phrases such as "selecting a camera", "approaching wildlife", and "low light photo conditions". Related phrases will add to the relevance of a page where unrelated phrases will reduce the relevance of a page. This is one technique that Google is using to weed out "spam" sites.

19)  What is the difference between SEO and SEM?

Ans: Seo is search engine optimization and is the process you use in getting your pages to place well on search results. SEM is search engine marketing and involves purchasing advertising space on search result pages. Sponsored listings are SEM. Both are related though! When using Google Adwords, the better you optimize your pages for search, the less you will be paying for your selected keywords in the PPC campaign and the better placement your ads will get.

20)  What kind of strategies do you normally implement for back links?

Ans: I check the competitors back links to find highly relevant sites and request a link from them. If reciprocal linking is required, I may be able to place a link back to them in a relevant portion of a page on the site but if not, I will state so and may not gain that link. Another method I use is to submit press releases to relevant media.

21)  What role do social media play in an SEO strategy?

Ans: Social media such as social networking sites i.e. Facebook, Orkut, Bebo and news sites can provide brand building and viral marketing. Viral marketing has proven to be powerful if the content of a site is appealing. Brand building creates awareness among people in social networking sites 

22)  What things wouldn't you to do increase rankings because the risk of penalty is too high?

Ans: I would avoid any site with the appearance of a link farm. I would also avoid any "spam" practice such as unsolicited email campaigns, certain affiliate advertising sites, sites that re-direct visitors to your site, and anything resembling the practices of Zango.

23)  Why might you want to use no follow on an internal link?

Ans: Many sites have shopping carts and member login or logout links. This type of link is simply an administrative function and does nothing to contribute to site content. The search engine does not need to index those pages.

24)  Are you familiar with web analytics and what packages are your familiar with?

Ans: Yes I am and the tool I use most frequently is Google's webmaster tools. I also use the available Yahoo hosting tools for my own sites. Knowing what search terms your visitors are actually using to find your site as well as where those visitors are coming from will help refine SEO efforts. The amount of time each visitor spends on your site will help in determining if content changes are needed.

25)  From an analytics perspective, what is different between users from organic search results vs. a type-in user?

Ans: A user coming into your site from an organic search usually has never visited your site before or is performing a general search for a specific product or topic. These visitors are trying to find the site that most suits their needs. A "type-in" user is especially interested in your website. They may have found your URL in print advertising or from a friend. Often, these users are familiar with what you are offering and are coming back to your site as a repeat visitor.

26)  How do you evaluate whether an SEO campaign is working?

Ans: The main indicator is to perform a search on all major search engines using the keywords/ key phrases I am optimizing for. An analysis of those results will help to determine if optimization has gained in the results or lost ground. This analysis should be done over time as each search engine will update and index on a varying schedule. Another aspect is to use website statistics to determine where traffic is originating.

27)  What does competitive analysis mean to you and what techniques do you use?

Ans: Competitive analysis means taking a close look at websites that rank highly in search results and comparing those sites to the one you are optimizing. They have employed methods that are working and are a valuable source for ideas.

28)  If you've done 6 months of SEO for a site and yet there haven't been any improvements, how would you go about diagnosing the problem?

Ans: I might approach the problem as if it were an entirely new project. Again taking a look at the keywords and phrases that I am attempting to optimize for and again taking a close inspection of top ranking competition. If the site is indexed and does show up in the first 10 pages of a search but on in the top three, I would look into modification of major areas such as page titles, on page text, and page descriptions. If the site is not yet indexed or has been dropped from an index, there are major problems and the site may require a total re-work and re-submission.

29)  How many target keywords should a site have?

Ans: I advise not more than three or four well related keyword phrases. This allows for more effective optimization.

30)  You hear a rumor that Google is weighting the HTML LAYER tag very heavily in ranking the relevance of its results - how does this affect your work?

Ans: It doesn't unless the rumor proves to be fact. Yes, I check on the rumor but as with all rumors, it can have detrimental effects if you "jump on the band wagon" and it proves to be just a rumor with no basis in fact.

31)  Why does Google rank Wikipedia for so many topics?

Ans: Wikipedia is an established authority! As such, it is referenced by huge numbers of other documents with relevant text associated with links back to Wikipedia.

32)  If salary and location were not an issue, who would you work for?

Ans: Myself and only myself if those conditions existed.

Reference: I have taken this entire question and answer from this link: http://webservices.afreshpath.com/seo_interview.html to spread to more people