In part II, we will illustrate this with an example.

Research Keyword Themes

For our example, we are going to create a website on Golf. Using Google, and we will describe how later, we discover the following themes for Golf:golf tip (7), golf championship (5), golf tournament (15), golf ball (15), golf game (5), golf grip (5), myrtle beach golf (5), golf swing (31), golf lesson (9), golf (337), golf instructor (11), golf digest (5), golf course (80), golf package (6), golf school (8), florida golf (9), golf club (104), golf vacation (8), callaway golf (5), phil mickelson (5), golf cart (5), handicap (4), country club (15), Miscellaneous keywords (21)

() - tells you how many keyword phrases there are in each theme.

For our 3 themes, we decide to use golf grip, golf swing, golf instructor and create a golf web site with the overall theme of golf lessons. So we will create a domain such as golf-lessons.com or something similar!

Create 3 sub-directories off root: golf-grip, golf-swing, golf-instructor.
On our Home Page - we will have H1 for Golf Lessons with an introductory paragraph about golf lessons. Then create 3 more paragraphs with H2 headings for each paragraph: Golf Grip, Golf Swing and Golf Instructor. Within each paragraph have a URL link to the respective Landing Page for each theme. So in paragraph 2 under a H2 Heading of Golf Grip, we have some text - here is an extract:”…to improve your golf swing you need to check your golf grip….” Have the URL link on the keywords golf grip to http://www.golf-lessons.com/golf-grip/index.htm.

Theme Landing Page

Let us continue with our Landing Page for Golf Grip. The landing page is used to introduce the topics in this theme. So start with an H1 for Golf Grip and say 5 introductory paragraphs for our topics within the Golf Grip Theme. Link from each paragraph to the appropriate topic page. Our Google research suggests:

golf grip
golf grips
proper golf grip
change golf grip
correct golf grip

5 topics is the minimum number of topics!

So create 5 pages within golf-grip directory:call them golf-grip.htm, golf-grips.htm, proper-golf-grip.htm, change-golf-grip.htm and correct-golf-grip.htm.

Use H1 heading for each page - so for golf-grip.htm use H1 heading of Golf Grip. Write naturally about the topic - do not stuff it with keywords. Do not link to other pages EXCEPT have a natural link within the text to the 2nd page of the Theme - namely golf-grips.htm

Repeat the process for the other topics in the theme. On the last page, correct-golf-grip.htm, include some external links to authority sites and link to the Landing Page of Theme 2.

Theme 2 Keywords

Our google research reveals the following topics:

golf swing
golf swings
golf swing improvement
golf swing analysis
improve golf swing
proper golf swing
golf swing machine
perfect golf swing
golf swing lesson
golf swing tips
golf swing instruction
power golf swing
golf swing plane
golf swing instructions
full golf swing
improving golf swing
fix golf swing
golf swing help
golf swing coach
classic golf swing
golf swing training equipment
golf swing tip
simple golf swing
powerful golf swing
the golf swing
better golf swing
golf swing secret
golf swing dvd
golf swing secrets
golf swing video
golf swing videos

Remember, you need a minimum of 5 pages to establish a theme. So choose at least 5 topics from this list. We would recommend that you use 5 topics which do not have much competition - the “low hanging fruit”. There are tools out there to help!

Golf Instructor Theme

Our keyword research suggests:

golf instruction
golf instruction school
golf instruction online
golf instructional dvd
golf instruction dvd
golf instruction book
golf instruction lesson
golf instructor
golf instructional
golf instructions
golf instructors

Choose 5 topics and structure as above.

Simple Site with 3 Themes

Here is a simple Theme structure. On the Home Page you create 3 Theme paragraphs which introduce the 3 themes of your website. Use H1 / H2 for titles to each “theme paragraph”. Use LSI keywords in the paragraph to introduce the “theme”. Within the first “theme paragraph” have a main keyword link to the Theme 1 Landing Page. Similarly in the next “theme paragraph” introduce Theme 2 with a natural keyword rich link to Theme 2’s landing page. Repeat the process for the final paragraph and link to Theme 3 landing page. On the Home Page have a link to a sitemap and a contacts page. NO other INTERNAL or EXTERNAL links from the main Home page.

Theme 1 Landing Page

The landing page introduces the pages (articles) that develop Theme 1. Use H1 title for the Theme 1’s topic. We recommend a minimum of 5 pages to reinforce Theme 1. So if you have 5 pages within Theme 1, 5 paragraphs are needed to introduce the 5 pages within Theme 1. Again use LSI keywords in paragraph 1 to describe the first page’s topic within Theme1 with a natural keyword url link to Theme 1 Topic 1. Create 4 more paragraphs with url links to each page(topic) within Theme 1. Use H2 titles for each of the 5 paragraphs.

Directory Structure

Home Page (index.htm) is in the root directory. Each theme has its own directory. Theme Landing page is named index.htm. Use keyword-rich filenames for all the other topic pages within the directory.

Linking

Theme Landing Page

We have 5 natural links to each topic page within the theme as described above. Also have a link back to the “Home Page”. NO other external or internal LINKS.

Theme Pages (Topics)

Each page will have an incoming link from the Theme Landing Page. Then link Topic 1 page to Topic2 - no other links ideally on Topic 1 page. Link Topic 2 to Topic 3, etc. On Topic 5, however, have some external links to Authority sites. Finally Link Topic 5 to Theme 2 Landing Page.

We will illustrate this with real example - part 2: Keyword Themes

The LSI is an algorithm that attempts to replicate the thought processes that a “human” would go through to check if the results of their query are relevant to what they were really searching for.

So search engines utilising LSI will compare words, “concepts”, and “structure” of your pages and website with the high trust sites.
So ALL your pages are contributing to the status of your “authority”. If you cannot convince Google that your content is relevant, then your rankings will be low.

What does this all mean?

It is very important to structure your site correctly. You need to create themes and sub-themes for your web site. More about this later…..Simple Theme Structure

In the Google search box precede the term or phrase with ~ (tilde).

So in the case of Apple - add ~Apple to the search box and search!

Note the terms that are emboldened - such as the Apple, Mac, computer, Windows, etc. These are the terms that LSI determines are important on the page to reinforce “Apple”. So web page should include these terms.
Google results below….

Recommendation - details of the simplest tool for LSI research << click here

Synonym

Defined as “word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another in the same language”.

For example one synonym of “argue” would be “reason”. If I do a search on Google for “argue”, the results are all related to “argue” - argument, how to argue, etc.

Polysemy

- the ambiguity of an individual word or phrase that can be used (in different contexts) to express two or more different meanings

For example: Mole as in 1) Burrowing animal and in 2) Espionage.

How does this apply to Google?

If you contemplate a search on Google for “apple”. What would you expect to see? Items related to Apple with the meaning of fruit?

Well - do the search and what is the result? The first page of results all relate to Apple computer and its products and services!

But Google is intelligent to know that if you expand the phrase to “apple tart” - then the search results relate to fruit pie rather than an Apple Computer slut!

What is the significance of these observation?

Well if I am creating a web page or site on Apple (as in computers), I would not be using a Thesaurus to find alternative words for “Apple”. Why? The Thesaurus will produce variations on Apple the fruit! .

So what is important is understanding Google’s Thesaurus which IS based on LSI. Google will highly rank sites who are authorities about that Keyword or phrase. How does Google use LSI to work that out? With Google’s resources (online libraries of books, etc) it has worked out what associated terms and phrases you would expect to find on the page (or website) to reinforce the search term.

Example of LSI at work

For example at its simplest level, for “Apple” through its LSI technology it expects to find the terms Apple, Apple Computer, Quick Time, Windows and Mac on the page! How do I know that? See Tools

Next >> How does LSI apply to your site