NLP Terms in SEO – How to Use and Optimize for Higher Rankings

Have you ever wondered how Google understands your search queries and finds you the most relevant piece of information even though there are billions of other articles as well? Google does it by using some advanced Artificial Intelligence algorithms known as NLP.

NLP, or Natural Language Processing, is a set of algorithms that allow computers and systems like Google to understand and comprehend human language easily. Google utilizes it to understand the intent behind a query to find the best content for the user.

If you reverse engineer the NLP being used by Google Search, you might be able to nail the search intent in the content and have higher chances of getting ranked. To do that, I am going to discuss some top NLP terms in SEO and how to use them for higher ranking. Let’s start.

NLP in SEO means understanding how Google uses NLP and then utilizing the information to optimize the content for higher ranking. As an SEO expert, you know that Google is a semantic search engine. It is now using BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) to analyze the queries of users.

BERT is a deep learning algorithm that focuses on the overall sentence and content instead of analyzing separate words. It helps the search engine understand that the queries “buy laptops in Dallas” and “Where buy laptops dallas near me” are looking for the same answers.

SEO experts can use this for their own benefit. They can optimize their content by understanding different NLP terms in SEO. That’s what I am going to explain in the upcoming sections. 

NLP terms in SEO are certain terms that describe the NLP techniques and concepts used by search engines to understand search queries in a better way. By understanding these terms, you can make the content designed in the best way to rank at the top search results. 

When you employ these techniques in the content, you’ll be able to craft work that is according to the needs and requirements of the user. So, when a person searches for something on Google, your content will pop up in the top results. 

There are several terms that are used to describe the usage of NLP by search engines in understanding user intent. I’ve discussed some of the top ones below: 

1 – Entities

Entities are specific and well-defined things about which data can be shared. It includes things like names, places, and things, e.g., Tesla, Mount Everest, etc. Google utilizes these terms to understand the intent behind the query and provide relevant results to the user. It uses entities to understand the true meaning behind the words and give accurate results.

How to use entities the right way?

• Adjust well-known entities related to the topic to provide a better context.
• Provide factual content and entity-based information about the topic you’re discussing.
• Use schema markup in order to help Google analyze entities in the content.

2 – Sentiment Analysis

Sentiment analysis is one of the most important NLP terms in SEO that you should focus on. It is an effective technique that Google utilizes to analyze whether the tone of the content is negative, positive, or neutral. 

Additionally, it determines the emotions behind the wording and the tone accordingly to understand the writers’ attitude and opinion about the topic in discussion.

How to use sentiment analysis the right way?

• Try to maintain a neutral tone so that your content does not look very promotional or very negative.
• Use an emotional style in order to engage the audience with the opinion you’re expressing in the content.
• Understand the sentiment of ranked competitors and use their techniques in order to convey your unique point of view.

3 – Keyword Clustering

Keyword clustering is an NLP-based technique that can be helpful in making search engine-friendly content. It involves using grouped keywords that are relevant to each other. Google approaches keyword clustering in order to provide relevant searches and the right content results to users. People get to find more relevant and useful content with the help of this technique.

How to use keyword clustering the right way?

• Use online tools like SEMrush in order to find relevant keywords for a topic.
• Group all the keywords and discuss them properly in a topic.
• Write separate blog posts for each topic and interlink all of them to the main article.

4 – Coreference Resolution

Coreference resolution refers to Google understanding the pronouns used in a piece of content. It enables the search engine to understand the content even when there are not many main keywords involved in it. 

For example, in the content “Elon Musk founded Tesla. He is its CEO”, Google understands that “He” means Elon Musk and “its” is for Tesla. With such an understanding, the engine deeply understands the content and ranks/shows in the results accordingly.

How to use coreference resolution the right way?

• Use pronouns often in the content and use them with clarity.
• Use the name of the entities whenever it is required to make it more sensible for readers.
• Follow a proper sentence flow in order to use pronouns the right way.

5 – Latent Semantic Indexing

Another useful NLP term in SEO is Latent Semantic Indexing. It is a technique that search engines use to identify keywords that are semantically related to the main keyword. It is a proper method of analyzing the content beyond the main keyword.

Let’s understand it with the help of an example. Let’s say the main keyword of the content is Digital Marketing. The semantically related keywords could include “SEO”, “Content Strategy”, etc.

How to use Latent Semantic Indexing the right way?

• Find relevant terms to your main topic (just like in keyword clustering).
• Use these keywords in a natural way wherever required.
• Optimize meta descriptions and alt text by using these keywords.

6 – Stop Words

Before search engines started using NLP, they used to ignore stop words like “the”, “and”, “of”, etc. It used to do it because they do not contribute much in explaining the main query. However, with the advancement, Google is now analyzing Stop Words in order to comprehend the content intent.

How to use Stop Words the right way?

• Write content in a conversational tone.
• Add stop words often to attach sentences easily.
• Use long-tail keywords that have stop words in them.

To sum it up, utilizing NLP terms in SEO can entirely change the game of content ranking for you. Google has become very smart and is now using BERT to understand human language more precisely.

It can now understand the content in a better way in order to provide search results according to the intent of search queries. You can understand and then utilize these terms to make your content more searchable and useful. As a result, Google will rank it in the top results, making the site successful.

What is NLP in SEO?

NLP in SEO means the use of Natural Language Processing algorithms by search engines in order to understand human language better. It helps with understanding the user’s search intent in a better way to provide relevant results.

What are NLP terms in SEO?

These terms are words that are related to certain techniques used by Google to understand human-written language in a better way. These terms can be utilized by SEO experts to optimize their content.

What are NLP entities in SEO?

Entities refer to the well-defined terms, such as the names of places and people. Google uses entities in order to find the most relevant content according to the search query of users.

What is an example of NLP in SEO?

A good example of NLP in SEO is coreference resolution. It is a technique that Google uses to understand pronouns associated with nouns. It helps the engine understand content even without requiring main nouns/keywords in every sentence.