When (And How) To Target 2 Similar LSI Keywords On The Same Piece Of Content

What happens when you want to target multiple variations of a keyword in your website? And how do you target each one effectively?

Not everyone is using the same keyword in search engines. But naturally, you probably want to maximize your SEO and hit more than 1 keyword per page so you can rank higher for more terms. Makes sense. To do this, we’re going to have tell search engines this using strategies like keywords variations.

Here’s 2 examples to use keyword variations in your pages:

 

1. Targeting Multiple Keyword Variations

While it’s still best practice to target just 1 primary keyword per page, there’s ways to rank a page higher for multiple similar terms. As a precaution, especially if your primary (and secondary) keywords are competitive and your domain authority is low, it’s usually best to give priority to your 1 primary keyword. This means using exact matches of your primary keyword in important areas like your title tag, permalink, and 2-3 times in your content body. This should be part of writing SEO-friendly copy and your keyword research.

Sometimes keywords are so similar to each other that it’s wise to target more than 1 on a single page. Her’es a quick example:

 

A good title tag to target the similar keywords might be:

Fresh Coffee Beans – Over 50 Gourmet Coffee Beans For Sale

For the not-so similar keywords, you will want to create a new page to target each one. Always put yourself in the searcher’s positions. Ask yourself: if someone searches one of your terms, does the content on a page reflect the information they’re looking for? Then, if another searcher uses one of your other keyword variations, and they land on the same page, will they also find what they’re looking for? If the answer is no, create a new page.

 

 

2. Using Keyword Variations for 1 Phrase

Using variations of your keywords throughout a page is a more organic alternative to keyword stuffing, or using the same term over and over on a page. While websites will be penalized for keyword stuffing, keyword variations are encourage in moderation.

Sure, using an exact keyword match is still encouraged in your title tags, permalinks, and even 2-3 times in your content body. But Google’s looking for a more organic strategy. That’s where variations of a keywords come into play. I actually call this “keyword dissecting” because what you’re really doing is choosing a keyphrase, then using only part of the entire keyphase throughout your page.

Here’s an example:

Out of these keyword variations, “Coffee Beans” probably best describes the main topic if a page is about “Fresh Coffee Beans”. Now say you have a few headings in your page. You might want to use “Coffee Beans” in a couple of those headings, and “Fresh Coffee” in another heading. Try to make sure all your headings include your singular keywords. You do not have to use them individually if they’re already used in a “double keyword”.

You will also want to use these keyword variations in other places, like your main content body. This should all be done sparingly and without sounding spammy.

 

3. Using Keyword Variations in Links

It used to be that if you wanted to rank a page higher for “Fresh Coffee Beans” you would create a bunch of links to that page with title of the link (your anchor text) labeled as “Fresh Coffee Beans”.

Well, Google got smarter. If all your links have the same anchor text, Google will know what you’re up to. They’ll know you were the one that built all those links. The result? Yep, a penalty.

A more natural way to do link building is using co-citations, or using keyword variations in your link’s anchor text. Google doesn’t release exact percentages so other SEO consultants might have slightly different opinions. Sure, some links can be an exact match of your keyword (“Fresh Coffee Beans”), but only about 10-15% of links. The others should have keyword variations or even something as natural as “click here” in the anchor text.

Example:

<a href=”https://www.yourwebsite.com/your-targeted-page/” >use keyword variations here</a>

 

I know this can be a tricky subject, so feel free to ask questions in the comments sections below.

Thanks for reading,