This episode of the Voices of Search podcast kicks off SEO Content Strategy Week, with host Benjamin Shapiro and guest Jourdan Rombough from Search Metrics discussing the nuances of leveraging title and header tags (H1, H2, etc.) and semantic variants to enhance SEO. They delve into the importance of on-page elements like title tags and header tags in signaling content relevance to Google, emphasizing the balance between keyword targeting and the use of semantic variations to avoid keyword stuffing—a practice that has evolved significantly with Google’s semantic search capabilities. The conversation highlights how understanding and applying semantic search principles can improve content’s visibility and ranking by incorporating related terms and topics. Jourdan explains the strategy of using title and header tags effectively by prioritizing content with targeted keywords and their semantic variations, ensuring a structured and logically appealing layout for both Google’s algorithms and the end-user. The episode wraps up by suggesting optimization techniques and tools, like Search Metrics’ content experience tool, to identify and integrate these semantic variants into content strategy, underscoring the critical role of data-driven insights in SEO.
Ben
Welcome to content Strategy week on the Voices of Search podcast. I’m your host Benjamin Shapiro, and this week we’re going to publish an episode every day discussing the SEO content strategy power plays that you need to know to boost your performance. Joining us for SEO Content Strategy Week is Jourdan Rombough, who is the UK head of SEO services for Search Metrics, which is an SEO and content marketing platform that helps enterprise-scale businesses monitor their online presence and make data driven decisions. And this week, Jourdan and I are going to start off content Strategy week talking about how to leverage titles and tags with semantic variants. All right, here’s the first installment of SEO content Strategy week with Jourdan Rombough, UK head of SEO services for search Metrics. Jourdan, welcome to the Voices of Search Podcast.
Jourdan
Thank you. I’m happy to be on.
Ben
Excited to have you as my know Jourdan. Welcome to the Voices of Search podcast is something that I’ve said I don’t know a hundred times before, and yet this is the first time Jourdan Cooney hasn’t been on the other end of the line. It’s actually kind of a relief. Now we’ve got two Jourdans at Search Metrics. Welcome to the team and welcome to your first Voices of Search episode.
Jourdan
Thank you very much.
Ben
As much as I joke love talking to my buddy Jourdan Cooney, I’m excited to chat with you as well. We’re talking about some SEO content strategy power plays this week. A couple of the little nuances of figuring out how to make your content and we’re going to start off talking about the top the title tags, the h tags, and semantic variants. Talk to me about what title tags, h tags, and semantic variants are and how they all fit together.
Jourdan
Sure, on-page elements are an important factor when it comes to trying to rank for a term, and there can be different on-page elements which the h one tag and two tag image. You can even have the alt attribute to that. That does carry a little bit of signal weight, but all of these things collectively add up to Google saying hey, is this a good page to serve my user? And so just to take it back to the days of I’m a little older I remember searching with Alta Vista back in the yep, pre-Google, and got into SEO pretty much right around the panda penguin update.
Jourdan
And so looking at a more basic, you know, doing things like taking, knowing that the title tag has more signal weight on the page the h one tag does, you can take information like this and start abusing it, like putting words in repetitively. What people also did back then was repeat the word at the bottom of the screen and make it the same color.
Ben
That’s my favorite SEO trick of all time, is the white text on a white background. And I’ll tell you that I actually use this in email marketing still, where when I send an email to someone, I will include if it’s a template, the title of the template in white at the bottom of the email. So if I ever wonder which template was sent, I can go and hover over it and turn it blue. I think like days have changed.
Jourdan
Lot since then, a lot. And so I think what Google eventually realized is not only were people abusing the system and ranking, but this is not how natural writing looks. People, when they write a good piece of content, do not say the best lawyer, 25 times credit content throughout the content piece. It’s usually the best lawyer, top attorney variations of it. So this was the birth of semantic search and Google’s understanding that there are other elements associated with certain terms. And actually, I mean, semantic search goes deeper than just the words. You can have a topic associated with a topic.
Ben
So let me ask you a question about that because when I think about leveraging title tags my sort of layman’s understanding of that is at least it used to be, hey, look, use your h one tag. That’s something that is a primary headline and a secondary headline is your h two and h three. And so you’re basically kind of, the larger the font is, in theory, the more important it is on the page, which means that the search engine should start ranking that content appropriately. This is the most important thing they’re saying. This is the headline of the page and this is the secondary headline, and then here’s the body of the content. And the fonts generally cascade down. And I understand that people started kind of spamming that process.
Ben
They were just using their h ones more often and kind of keyword stuffing in some sense. And now Google’s gotten better because they’re basically just looking for the copy. So do title tags, the h tags, do they even matter anymore? Is Google just like weighing each individual word or phrase independently? How much does it matter? If you’re actually using the different ways to sort of change the fonts?
Jourdan
Yeah, certainly nobody knows to what extent it does, but the answer is yes. You have to look at it as this is an algorithm, so it’s looking at a piece of content in a very structured way. So the best way that you can possibly provide a breakout of what this page is about is by using some type of note system where okay, h one equals a title, h two is a subtitle and follow this paradigm throughout the process of structured data. And Google is able to interpret this the best they can as it is a machine. Now Google is progressively getting better at the algorithm, releasing technologies like more complicated machine learning. Bert mum, these are all an AI asset to the search algorithm is going to be a game changer without a doubt to how a page is going to get ranked.
Jourdan
But right now, as logic, I think it follows what logic would dictate that if a page is about used cars, that person is most likely going to put used cars into the title tag.
Ben
So I guess my next question is, let’s talk about optimization tactics for these titles. It used to be I made the joke of white text on a white background and keyword stuffing. It seems like there is still some value in using an h one as opposed to an h two to assign priority to a given piece of content. If that’s the case, why isn’t everybody just writing all of their content with their h one? How do you figure out how to optimize what should be in your title tag? What should be your h one, what should be your h two? This sort of cascading prioritization that you’re.
Jourdan
Sending Google, and I think that’s where a lot of people go wrong. One of the things that I’ve seen a lot of people do is first cover a bunch of diverse topics in the different h tags. So they’ll talk about a field in medicine, but it will not be focused and it will be pretty much about every factor of that field. That’s where as far as a page goes, you want to have a targeted keyword. This basic philosophy of having a targeted keyword and actually utilizing semantic variations of that targeted keyword in the h tags to get it to rank higher.
Ben
I’m going to go back to my question I understand that you can use different variants to sort of signal Google. How do you know how much to use any given tag? Is it purely just aesthetics? I want this font to be my hone. I want to take up this space. So put this many keywords in my h one tag. Is there a rule, rhyme, or reason for figuring out how to kind of use the various tags?
Jourdan
There are rules that seos talk about and all of that does matter. And I’m talking about rules all the way up to people, SEO experts saying that if the core keyword term is closer to the beginning, then it has more signal weight. Now, when it comes down to it, that will always be nothing more than a speculation that us seos make, just as we’ve made many. But thinking about how Google took this concept of semantic search and started learning what’s associated with other topics to produce high quality as part of the strategy to rank high. And let me just give an example.
Jourdan
So there’s a technology called TFiDF, and essentially a very simplistic breakdown of it would be the algorithm looking at millions of documents and across millions of documents finding similarities like, oh, when there is the topic of Coca Cola mentioned, there’s also the topic of carbonation. And so these are now elements that you want to include in your writing to have a better chance to rank high.
Ben
So give me one resource or optimization technique when it comes to leveraging your title tags. H tags. Thinking about semantic variants, what are the ways to make sure that you’re optimizing these variables to the best of your ability?
Jourdan
So let’s say we have a keyword, we’re trying to rank a page for best used cars. So in the title tag, we want to have the best used cars along with some other text. We then in an h tag will reuse used cars, but maybe a semantic variation of it as well. So purchased used automobiles, gently worn automobiles. So this is now a method where Google realized, hey, the word used cars is not mentioned 50 times in an article. That’s really good about used cars. You can now diversify your keyword density by targeting other semantic variations, like also putting used automobiles.
Jourdan
So instead of using a used car in both my h one and my h two, what I would most likely do is make an h one that has used cars and then for my h two use a semantic variation that supports the core keyword term. So in the h one, we have used automobile. In the h two, we have used cars. These both mean the same thing to Google and will give it the strength to rank higher in the search engines.
Ben,
You know what I use for this, and I don’t mean to be a shill. Even though the company is the presenting sponsor of this podcast, search metrics has a content experience tool, and I think that the way that it covers the use of semantic terms and variants is very important. So when you’re creating a piece of content in the content experience tool, not only does it tell you all right, here’s the number of terms that you need to mention. Hey, you want to mention using cars seven times in your content. It will also tell you that you should use a pre-owned vehicle six times, and then you want to use gently worn car seats three times or whatever the other terms are. At the end of the day, there’s a content optimization that happens here.
Ben
Your title and h tags are very important, but the content that you’re putting on your page and understanding the use of those semantic variables is probably what wins the day. And that wraps up this episode of the Voices of Search podcast. Thanks for listening to my conversation with Jourdan Rombough, the UK head of SEO services for search Metrics. Join us again tomorrow when Jourdan and I discuss structured data. If you’re interested in contacting Jourdan, you can find a link to his link in profile in our show notes. You can contact him on Twitter. His handle is JourdanRombough Jourdan Rombough. Or you can visit his personal website, which is optimizationtheory.com. And of course, his company’s website is searchmetrics.com.
Ben
Just one more link in our show notes I’d like to tell you about if you didn’t have a chance to take notes while you were listening to this podcast, head over to voicesoftsearch.com, where we have summaries of all of our episodes and contact information for our guests. You can also send us your topic suggestions or your SEO questions, and you can even apply to be a guest speaker on the Voices of Search podcast. Of course, you can always reach out on social media. Our handle is Voices of Search on Twitter and my personal handle is Benjshap.
Ben
And if you haven’t subscribed yet and you want a daily stream of SEO and content marketing insights in your podcast feed, we’re going to publish an episode every day during the work week, so hit the subscribe button in your podcast app and we’ll be back in your feed in the next business day. All right, that’s it for today. But until next time, remember, the answers are always in the data.
In this episode of the Voices of Search podcast, the discussion centers on advanced SEO techniques, particularly focusing on title tags, semantic variants, structured data, and creating a content experience tailored for both Google’s algorithm and the target audience. The conversation introduces TFIDF (Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency) and LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) as crucial concepts in SEO strategy. Jourdan Rombough, the UK head of SEO services for Search Metrics, emphasizes the importance of understanding these algorithmic concepts to think like a search engine and improve content relevance and ranking. He illustrates the significance of TFIDF and LSI with the example of Coca-Cola, explaining how these algorithms help identify related topics and keywords that enrich content and signal to Google the comprehensive coverage of a subject.
The podcast further delves into practical strategies for keyword research and content optimization. Ben and Jourdan discuss how to discover semantically related terms and the importance of contextual understanding in SEO. They highlight the use of Google search results and the content experience tool at Search Metrics for identifying related terms and questions that can enhance content relevance. The conversation underscores the necessity of aligning content with user intent and leveraging semantic variants to maximize content visibility and engagement. The episode wraps up with an invitation for listeners to engage further with the topic in future discussions and offers resources for those interested in delving deeper into SEO strategies.
Ben
So far this week, Jourdan and I have talked about leveraging your title tags and using semantic variants. We’ve also talked about using structured data and how you could give Google the signal of how you want their algorithm to ingest data from your page. And yesterday we talked about developing a creative content experience, whether you’re writing for Google or whether you’re writing for your readers. Today we’re going to continue the conversation talking about TFIDF and LSI. All right, here’s the fourth installment of Content Strategy Week with Jourdan Rombough, UK head of SEO services for search metrics. Jourdan, welcome back to Content Strategy Week on the Voices of Search podcast.
Jourdan
Hey, how are you doing? Good to be here.
Ben
Always a pleasure to have you back on the show. Always good to talk to Jourdan from search metrics, no matter what his last name is. Let’s continue our conversation talking about content strategy. We’ve talked a little bit about how to tell Google what your page is, whether it’s the unstructured data using semantic variables restating the same thing multiple different ways, structured data giving Google a clear signal about what your page is, and also whether you should be writing for Google, whether you should be writing for your end consumer. Today we’re going to go straight into the acronym word salad and talk about TFIDF and LSI. First off, tell me what TFIDF and LSI are.
Jourdan
So LSI latent semantic indexing, TFIDF term document, inversed frequency essentially, these are two algorithmic concepts that play just a small portion of the entire ecosystem that Google has for their search engines. So I think that it’s important to understand or at least know about these elements because it will help you think more like the search engine and understand what it’s looking for. Now, TFIDF, and I think I brought this up in a previous episode, but if I mention Coca-Cola, if there is a document about Coca-Cola, if there are a million documents with the topic of Coca-Cola, and this algorithm notices that, oh, you know what? When the brand Coca-Cola is spoken about, it also commonly speaks about carbonation. So now it knows what topics are closely associated with the core keyword term that you’re ranking for.
Jourdan
So if you end up writing some very weak content, I feel that Google uses this as a gauge to determine the bad from the better. So if you were to just write a topic and optimize it around a core keyword term, but keep it exactly one topic, in the instance of Coca-Cola, just talking about the brand name, Google’s algorithm knows that if carbonation is commonly used and spoken about when this topic is talked about too, and we’ll notice that it’s not on the page and feel that it might feel a little empty. So this is what makes doing research on your topic. And in search metrics, it actually will tell you other closely related topics that you need to write about as well.
Ben
So talk to me about doing the research when you’ve got a topic you want to write about. You mentioned Coca-Cola. How do I figure out that carbonation, sugar always, you know, what are the other terms that are related? How do you do the digging and mining to figure out what the other kinds of variants you need to include on the page are?
Jourdan,
I think the easiest. My preferred way is to use the content experience tool that we have, but not everybody has access to that. You can use other techniques if I do a Google search on Coca-Cola, it usually will also bring up frequently asked questions further down on the page. So I know that data can be used to enrich my experience.
Ben
So when I Google Coca-Cola, let’s use this as an example and I just press the spacebar after the term Coca-Cola. The other results are Coca Cola logo, Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola Products, coffee stock, product list, nutritional facts consolidated, and Coca-Cola headquarters. So I think my takeaway and using this as a case study is when you’re thinking about some of the other variables that Google is looking for with a given keyword, you can infer a lot just from the search results. In this case, when I’m writing the term Coca-Cola, I’m not necessarily writing about a soda. When you’re just trying to rank for the keyword term Coca-Cola. Google is thinking more about the company, right? These are all products, stock headquarters, Coca Cola Consolidated. Those are business terms, right? This is the term Coca-Cola.
Ben,
When somebody looks for it is not where can I go get a Coke? It tells me about Coca-Cola as a company. And you can also infer this from some of the other content that’s on the page. When I look at what the top result is, it’s the Coca-Cola company. When I look know the other modules that are on the page. There’s the Wikipedia post from Coca-Cola talking about who their competitors are. So I think that the context that you’re getting when you’re doing your keyword research is not knowing what some of the relevant terms are there to a given keyword that you’re looking for. It’s also, what’s the context? Are you looking for Coca-Cola? The soda? Are you looking for recipes? Are you looking for where can I get a Coke in this case?
Ben
When you’re looking for Coca-Cola, Google thinks you’re looking for the so.
Jourdan
And just to talk about this other term that we brought, you know, these are latent words that we can’t see as semantic, like closely or synonymously related indexing words. So these are keywords that instead of me doing for the phrase best lawyer, the same phrase, top attorney, is semantically related to that. And there are ways to figure out exactly what these semantic terms are. So one is just using search operators. If I do a search for lawyers and then say, but do not provide the word lawyer in lawyers, it will give me a diverse range of other semantically related elements that Google has paired with the topic.
Ben
At the end of the day, when Google is evaluating your content, they’re not only looking for whether it is appropriate for what the user experience is, and what the intent of the user’s query is. It’s also looking for what are some of the other variables, and synonyms. We call them semantic keywords. How else does your content relate? So when you’re writing your content, there are a couple of different things to consider. One, is your content going to provide the desired results based on the query the user is entering? We use the example of Coca-Cola. When somebody is entering the term Coca-Cola, they’re not looking to buy a Coke. They’re looking to research the company Coca-Cola. You need to do your keyword research to understand what those relationships are and what the keyword intent is.
Ben
On the flip side, there are also times when you’re writing a piece of content, and there are many different ways to state the content. And so basically you can get the best bang for your buck. I don’t know if it’s reusing the same content, but understanding all of the semantic variables where your content can be repurposed to make sure that you’re giving yourself the most shots at the algorithm. And that wraps up this episode of the Voices of Search podcast. Thanks for listening to my conversation with Jourdan Rombough, the UK head of SEO services at Search Metrics. Join us again tomorrow when Jourdan and I wrap up this conversation talking about using Google to discover LSI keyword variations. If you’re interested in contacting Jourdan, you can find a link to his LinkedIn profile in our show notes. You can contact him on Twitter.
Ben
His handle is JourdanRombough jourdanrombough. Or you can visit his website, which is optimizationtheory.com. And of course, his company’s website is searchmetrics.com. Just one more link in our show notes I’d like to tell you about if you didn’t have a chance to take notes while you were listening to this podcast, head over to voicesoftsearch.com, where we have summaries of all of our episodes and contact information for our guests. You can also send us your topic suggestions or your SEO questions, and you can even apply to be a guest speaker on the Voices of search podcast. Of course, you can always reach out on social media. Our handle is voices of Search on Twitter and my handle is benjshap. Benjshap.
Ben
And if you haven’t subscribed yet and you want a daily stream of SEO and content marketing insights in your podcast feed, we’re going to publish an episode every day during the work week. So hit the subscribe button in your podcast app and we’ll be back your feed in the next business day. All right, that’s it for today. But until next time, remember, the answers are always in the data.