We knew we were headed this way. And it is here now. The latest algorithmic changes in Google was geared towards making their search results more SEMANTIC.

Search is becoming personal and interactive, and search engines such as, Google is all geared up to embrace SEMANTIC search.

What does this mean for Searchers?

It means searchers can expect much more meaningful and relevant results because SEMANTIC search uses various data points to provide relevant results.Data points such as where the search is performed, context, different meanings or relevance of the search terms, and various other factors. Essentially SEMANTIC search tries to provide relevant results by addressing all the aspects of the search terms, not only in terms of it apparent superficial meaning, but also the derived meanings, reference, relevance associated with the word or phrase.

The intended outcome is to provide accurate results.

What does this mean for SEOs?

It means the focus is again on content, it always was, but now it is even more so because your content is what will distinguish you from your competitors. Is your content interactive enough? Does it understand what the visitor needs and provide answers accordingly? The content needs to be interactive, there is a need to pre-empt what the searcher is looking for or asking for, and provide relevant answers.

A lot of effort needs to be put into researching keywords and into providing content that is comprehensive. Essentially, the content should include variations and synonyms and other related meaning of the specific key term that you are focusing on. This will ensure that you do not lose out on visitors who are looking for related but relevant key terms. This is where long tailed keywords are helpful. The idea is to be generous with content by ensuring that you are thinking like your customer and that your content answers all the questions that they will have.

Deciphering what a searcher is actually looking for is what SEMANTICS does by analyzing the search behaviour pattern in terms of some of the data points mentioned above.

In order to emerge stronger and make the most of the changes that are happening today;it is very pertinent now that marketers understand the value of Social Media. Social media sites are where many of your potential customers hang out these days.

Not only should a website offer excellent interactive content, it should allow blending with the Social media sites. You can’t remain unsocial for long, you’ve got to
socialize if you wish to be heard and regarded as an expert!

At the end of the day the searcher should get the accurate information, whether it comes from a social networking site, or a blog, or a website, it really does not matter. That is the essence today. Internet marketing strategy needs to be inclusive of all the viable sources of reaching out to prospective customers. SEOs and online marketers need to find different ways of utilizing various platforms to reach out.

You might be interested in this post that I wrote sometime back on Interactive Search Results; The Future of Searching…

In the meantime, keep refining and working on your content, and work towards a strategy that will improve your reach and visibility in the Social media sites.