George S. SEO Expert

Semantic Core

The definition "semantic core of the website" makes people not dealing with online marketing feel perplexed while experienced SEO experts just smile hearing this. The core we speak about is quite complicated and essential because it is the foundation of website optimization. The website SEO promotion starts with the creation of the semantic core while choice of landing pages, content and promotion budget depend on it. So, let us define what exactly is a Semantic Core (SC).

SC from the inside out

The web's semantic core is a list of terms and phrases that describe its subject and purpose. In linguistics, ‘semantics’ refers to word meaning. SC - the meaning of the website, the field of basic values ​​that reflects the essence of the company's work. A promotion strategy is formed on the basis of the semantic core. After all, SC significantly ensures the effectiveness of SEO promotion by assisting generation targeted visitors. SC, in general, looks like a spreadsheet with a list of requests targeted for a certain website, an indication of the frequency with which they are typed by users in the search line, and region.

Who Creates the Semantic Core

Like any other important work, compiling a semantic core is a team effort. The core is usually formed by the website promotion expert together with the customer. And it makes sense because the first can locate all potential formulations of target inquiries in search engines, while the second knows his field of activity like no one else, allowing him to remove ineffective searches and provide more appropriate options.

How a Semantic Core is Created

The process of creating a SC fits into the following several stages.

Keyword selection:

Primary. First, you must thoroughly research all major aspects of the company's operation. Not the entire website's content since something might be not reflected there, but rather key business lines of the company. Based on this, a list of keywords is created for which promotion will be carried out with the engagement of Google.Adwords search engine service, link aggregator, etc.

Secondary. It is important to remove redundant or inappropriate inquiries that will not be used in promotion (particularly words that do not match the website's subject) and to add necessary ones that were not discovered during the initial selection. The latter is likewise accomplished with the help of mentioned services.

Let’s take "Google Adwords" for example. By entering the query "cars" in the "keywords and phrases" row, you can see user queries that include the word we listed and other queries made by the same people. The semantic core of the site is expanding thanks to them.

Optimization of the number of low-frequency requests. These are the most accurate queries that are entered into the search engine by about 100-200 people per month. Promotion on them is unlikely to give much traffic, although they provide the highest conversion rate.

Requests distribution across website pages. The most competitive search requests frequently promote the main page and pages with the highest static weight. Other requests are grouped and distributed among other pages.

Types of Search Requests

Search requests according to the frequency

- high frequency - typed into the search engine line more than 10,000 times per month by users.

- medium frequency - relatively popular words and phrases with the input frequency of 1,000 to 10,000.

- low-frequency - those that users type the least (up to 1,000 times a month). In terms of competitiveness, requests can be highly competitive (costs over $20), medium ($5-20), and low competitive (less than $5). The concepts of "high frequency search requests" and "competitive search requests" should not be confused: there is no one-to-one correspondence between them.

Possible Difficulties in Compiling the SC

- Using non-thematic queries.

- Gathering a large number of high-frequency phrases that do not lead to conversions.

- Choice to promote general requirements.

- Queries that use artificial language.

- Ignoring the site's existing query ranking.

- Phrases that have less real demand due to the fact that the words are more often used in a different order.

Therefore, compiling a semantic core is the basis for competent keywords search promotion. Compiled correctly, it will help attract a target audience, and many potential customers will learn about the resource.

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