Visitors might not phrase things exactly like you do. Try using semantic words related to your keyword(s) within your headings and body copy.

Semantic keywords are fancy speak for “related keywords”. For example, you might call a shape with 4 equal sides a square, others might call it a block or a cube.

When you are writing a blog post, and trying to rank for a specific topic, it’s important to take a few minutes and think about other ways your topic could be phrased. By including these terms you can paint a more complete picture of your topic, and also include keywords your target audience might use in place of the one you chose.

A good keyword research tool (like SEMrush or Moz) will typically provide you with a list of related (or semantic) keywords… but you don’t have to shell out dough to get the ball rolling.

For starters, start typing your keyword (or keyword phrase) into Google’s search bar. Google will automatically provide you with a list of ‘related queries’ based on what you are typing in. Scanning through Google’s suggestions can be a great way to find some semantic words and phrases for your post.

You can even search for your phrase (eg. ‘Used Fishing Gear’) and scroll to the bottom of the first page of results. Google will provide a list of related searches for you to consider.

In this example you can pick out things that could be useful to include in your post, like swapping out “gear” for “equipment”. Gear and equipment, in this example, would be semantic keywords.

Using the free “Google it” method can be helpful, but does not provide all the search data (like number of searches, search intent, etc.) that a paid tool would— but it’s a good start!