Thread by @GiordMarco96

A quick recap for those #SEO professionals still lacking some motivation to study Semantic SEO.

The future of search engines lies in innovation, we're talking about corporations, after all.

This thread will show you some concepts and valid reasons. 🧵

Google is already using such technologies and we know it for sure.

Even if we were given the benefit of doubt, there wouldn't be any discussion either.

Innovation drives profit and we know that Google wants good-enough search results.

https://twitter.com/GiordMarco96/status/1504178194894635009

You cannot optimize your content for BERT/MUM/any other NLP algorithm.

The reason is quite simple, these models/algos are trying to understand and replicate how we humans interact.

Nonetheless, you can use a better syntax and put entities in a good position.

Most of the criteria mentioned above are good old copywriting rules.

If you are a good writer by chance, that's very good for you.

Google does reward quality content, even tho you may find some edge cases where this is not false.

You can count million of edge cases but...

... you should consider the total amount of cases available, which is almost infinite.

So yeah, I am not complaining after BERT, if we exclude random updates.

Semantic SEO is powerful because it's a """new""" philosophy.

You can structure your website better and create Knowledge Graphs for other purposes, like internal search.

There are products on the market that can do that for you!

https://twitter.com/GiordMarco96/status/1508932970060550144

We have strong evidence that intent and semantics prove a key role in ranking results.

Technology is moving in the direction of Machine Learning and for good reasons.

Don't ever think that search engines will just watch events unfold.

Every update can be potentially disruptive and if you don't nurture your website correctly you may get rekted.

I think that the idea of securing rankings is based on nothing but anecdotal evidence.

Please recall that we are talking about algorithms in continuous evolution.

A lot of the mainstream or repetitive tasks like topical clusters are nothing else than repurposed patents.

Studying some of them is very useful to find that niche technique that can work in some cases.

No, this doesn't replace practice, just saying.

Using the right entities and building your own graph is a good way to create a sustainable long-term advantage.

I've tested this on some websites and it works soooo well, the only downside is that you need the budget.

And it's not good for small projects lol

Most of the stuff you can read about Semantic SEO is extremely powerful if applied correctly.

Some large websites apply some criteria unconsciously, you can double-check and notice how they apply semantic principles correctly.

Many people can be scared because they think this stuff is for engineers and not for business people.

I couldn't disagree more, semantics is not even informatics.

A lot of principles aren't even that hard if you see their use cases.

Some practical use cases that can and will help you:

- Entity optimization
- Proper internal linking
- SERP clustering
- Research topics and ideas w/ SPARQL

lazarinastoy.com/how-to-incorpo…

The peak article I linked above is not the usual generic stuff, it's super super detailed and accurate.

So, give it a read to test something new about internal linking.

I know, some of this stuff is too technical and sounds like technical jargon.

I will give you some examples in my future threads...

Anyway, I've seen the results of extreme Semantic SEO several times, given you have the budget.

I want to make one more point clear since many of you will eventually ask this.

Google doesn't expect perfection, that's why you can excel in some scenarios without that much knowledge or just by writing "good content".

In some countries you have search monopolies, meaning that there has to be some topical relevance involved.

If in the US you may complain about those 3-4 large publishers, in European countries you can notice how some publishing firms have the de-facto control of markets.

You can outrank them if you have a more relevant offer but...

Their amount of content is too large that they will have some relevance.

Some even claim that backlinks can fix a lack of relevance. True in some cases and good luck with future updates lol

You see hundreds of cases but no one can prove they're a representative sample

I guess that the main reason behind the success of some publishers is that they just do it.

This will probably change soon, as there is more awareness and defending a niche is quite hard.

Semantic SEO offers a way to save SERPs from harmful results, but we're not there yet.

AI can be dangerous if biased. And let's be fair, modern AI is.

Google's technological advancements are impressive, barring a few niches where there are anomalies.

Generating text will probably be the next step for Google, as heavily implied by their doings.

As of now, AI's just a baby and the first thing SEOs think of are those overpriced tools for generating text.

There are many use cases actually, as I said before, studying some patents can help you in getting those clues.

#Python is a valid ally, not the only one.

Data-focused SEOs can show you the ROI/value of some solutions and why they matter.

Manually checking GSC is not feasible for scaling large websites and you cannot work in Excel...

Semantic SEO fits perfectly into the new Data Science approach to SEO.

You don't know how ranking works exactly but you have enough resources and clues to create value for your user.

And yes, that includes profit as well, for the most greedy.

Some good resources on the topic:

seobythesea.com

holisticseo.digital

hillwebcreations.com

inlinks.net/p/

wordlift.io

You don't need to rush it, just read something on the topic and try to apply it.

I know, sometimes it's too abstract but if you read carefully there are clues.

E.g. Query templating > pick queries with a common pattern and create all the possible articles that cover them.

In other words, cover an entity in all its details, ask questions and answer them

oncrawl.com/technical-seo/…

Cluster articles based on query formats/patterns, as showed in:

https://twitter.com/GiordMarco96/status/1525067911932432384

Basic Semantic SEO knowledge is fine for now imho.

Automation, data analysis and smart scripts are the next steps for creating a scalable strategy.

I hope you folks recall how Google was before the advent of BERT...

If you still have doubts, check this masterpiece of a page, it will give you some ideas:

actualquickseoanswers.com

Follow me for threads, tips and case studies (coming soon) about SEO, content and Python/data.

If you liked this thread, consider liking and retweeting it!

Do check my article about the topic too!

level343.com/how-to-use-sem…