How to choose semantic keywords for a site

To promote a site of any type successfully, you need semantic keywords, i.e., a complete list of all keywords related to the resource's topic, divided into groups that are similar in meaning. Semantics is used not only when creating and optimizing a site, but also when launching an advertising campaign. Semantics can be collected manually or with the help of different services.

Keywords are selected by analyzing the goods and services provided on the site, as well as the semantic core of competitors. The main attention is paid to the statistics on the use of search requests, taking into account their seasonality. The major purpose is to create pages on the site for all requests that meet the needs of the target audience.

Building a semantic is divided into the following steps:

collection of keywords that describe the site content in detail, taking into account its subject and purpose, which can be done with keyword research tools for SEO;
clustering of collected keys by sections and subsections of the project
optimization of all pages for groups of collected keywords.

When selecting keywords for online stores and service sites, they should be divided into commercial and non-commercial. The first group includes all phrases used by visitors, who are most likely to become customers of the company. As a rule, they use the words "buy", "order", "price", "cost", and others.

Non-commercial profit requests are words that users enter to get certain information. Such requests don't always lead the target audience to the site. However, there may be potential customers among such visitors.

Another important criterion to group keywords is their frequency:

High-frequency keys are words that describe the company sector most concisely. They're mostly used when searching for sites of this topic; therefore, they show the highest market competition.

Mid-range keys are slightly less popular, while remaining considerably in demand.

Low-frequency keys usually consist of several words and are used less often than the previous categories. The main advantage is an easier promotion in the TOP and the ability to attract a "warm" target audience to the resource, which knows what it needs.

There are such methods to build a semantic core online:

1. Collect the semantics in search engine services.
2. Use the semantics of a competitor.
3. Collect keyword intersections of several competitors.
4. Apply keys that competitors use in contextual advertising.
5. Collect similar keywords.
6. Use search suggestions.

The main semantic keyword tools are:

1. Google Keyword Planner
2. Serpstat
3. KWFinder
4. Keyword Tool
5. Wordtracker
6. Key Collector
7. WordStream

The semantic core is often built using competitor keywords that were found with the help of the following services:

Serpstat

Enter the name of the competitor site from the TOP-10, select the module "SEO Research" and click "Search":

Export the obtained keywords to a file, and then delete irrelevant keys, for example, branded requests related to the name of a competitive store. Using the same method, you're able to collect the semantic cores of several competitors and select the most popular keys that are used on all sites.

Google Keyword Planner

In the service, select the option "Find new keywords":

Specify the necessary site and click "Get Results":

The received key options indicating the average frequency per month are available for download:

Keyword Tool

The service works both in the free and in the paid version. In the free version you can download a limited number of suggestions options:

To get the full data, you need to subscribe to the pricing plan. However, you can export the results and use them in Serpstat to get the advanced info.

When entering a search request, search engines show similar keywords and suggestions that they use together with the search key. These keywords should also be included in the semantic core. To collect similar search requests, you can use the following options:

Google

Similar keywords appear at the bottom of the page:

Search suggestions appear when you enter a key below the search bar:

Serpstat

To find keywords with similar meanings, go to the "Keyword Research" module and click on the "Related Keywords" button. Enter the key, select the search engine, and click "Search":

You can see some search tips in the "Search Suggestions" module:

To understand the principles of creating semantics, consider the choice of keys for an online shoe store. First of all, you need to think through what requests visitors can look for a similar online store. The most obvious request, potential customers should use is the word "shoes".

Introduce it in the KWFinder service to get information about it and other additional requests:

After adding the keys, they can be exported or saved in the service to simplify further work.

To estimate the frequency of requests for this key, use the Search Volume metric. With it, you can see the dynamics of the use of the key in the search and evaluate the change in the trend line depending on the season and other parameters.

This data will help to find out the requests that are really the most popular, and find rarely used keys that have a high overall frequency. Thanks to this information, the site structure is being formed.

In this example, for promotion on the main page, high-frequency requests "shoes", "shoe website", "shoe store", "online shoe store" and "buy shoes" are suitable. The keys "baby shoes", "men's shoes", "women's shoes" and "summer shoes" are best suited for the sections. Low-frequency requests, for example, "sale of Italian shoes in London", are promoted on separate pages.

Similar work should be carried out with all types of shoes present in the online store, for example, to obtain statistics and select keys according to the words "boots", "sneakers", "shoes", "sandals", etc.

Search keywords selected by competitors for display in contextual advertising are highly relevant keys. You can add them to your semantics. To find out keywords from a competitor's advertising campaign, use Serpstat PPC Research tool:

Keys from advertising campaigns are displayed in the module "Keyword Research" — "PPC Research" — "Keywords". To work with these keys conveniently, you're able to export them to a file:

After the semantic core is assembled, proceed to its clustering. Clustering semantics lets you know which keys can be promoted on one page. To do this, check the issuance of search engines for various requests. If a certain number of pages in the results matches, the keys are promoted together.

Clustering allows you to avoid errors associated with the incorrect combination of information and commercial requests in one group, which leads to the fact that the landing page doesn't fall to the top.

For clustering, go to the "Tools" section of Serpstat and select Keyword Clustering and Text Analytics module:

After adding semantic keywords, they will be distributed into clusters:

To collect semantic keywords, you can use various tools to create a complete list of relevant keywords.

After collecting the semantics, the keys are divided into groups: clusters designed to be promoted in one section or on a separate page.