With LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) being the latest tool in the belt to thwart spammers, LSI has not only changed the way content is looked at but incoming links as well. While having incoming links is important, their effect is now lessened as not just any link will help your rankings anymore. The idea is to build a theme of links to all of your pages, or deep link them.

For example, deep linking to many pages within a website using anchor text that relates to the “theme” of the page is much more crucial than having a bunch of links back to your homepage. Anchor text keywords must also be thematically altered for inbound links to any one page. If this sounds confusing let me try and clear this shit up. Lets say the page you are linking to is about the “flu.” Right off the bat, LSI would determine if the phrase “naturally” occurs within the domain name [ie. www.fluhelp.com]. Next, LSI would look for some variations of related key phrases that could/should be used within the anchor text of the links:

“stomach flu”
“flu symptoms”
“bird flu”
“common cold”
“flu treatments”
“flu vaccine”
etc…

This is not a new practice by any means. Any real, decent SEO has probably been using themed strategies to achieve top rankings for years as the natural theming builds much stronger rankings and content. Most people who are new to the game think these new techniques have derived from the introduction of LSI technology when in fact “themed websites” have just been a closely guarded secret.

As always, the information and questions you find on forums can be highly inaccurate and misleading. When it comes to Google’s ranking algorithm there are a few known tidbits and a huge amount of speculation and rumors that although sometimes true can be highly misleading.

In the beginning search engine spiders would look only for the presence and frequency of keywords on a web page to determine that pages relevancy. As search began to grow it became clear that this type of approach would yield poor search results. A good example is the engine could match “car” and “automobile” but fail to recognize homonym (words with multiple meanings) such as “mouse” and “keyboard.” Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) is a new approach at understanding not only keywords, but the context in which they are used on the entire web page.

Using statistical analysis (LSI) can look at pages that have words which are often used in the same context. Lets say “apple” and “computer” are keywords, “Mac OS” is also there and are therefore also relevant. Another way to look at this is determining whether a page is about “windows” the operating system, or an invention to throw things out of your car. LSI technology is about looking more into the context of indexed content, and allowing a more natural method of search to happen. Consequently, the technology is not only used by Google but other search engines as well.

An excerpt from Google’s LSI Patent that gives the basic key requirements of their LSI technology:
“The system is further adapted to identify phrases that are
related to each other, based on a phrase’s ability to predict
the presence of other phrases in a document. More specifically,
a prediction measure is used that relates the actual co-occurrence
rate of two phrases to an expected co-occurrence rate
of the two phrases. Information gain, as the ratio of actual
co-occurrence rate to expected co-occurrence rate, is one such
prediction measure. Two phrases are related where the prediction
measure exceeds a predetermined threshold. In that case, the
second phrase has significant information gain with respect to
the first phrase. Semantically, related phrases will be those
that are commonly used to discuss or describe a given topic or
concept, such as “President of the United States” and “White
House.” For a given phrase, the related phrases can be ordered
according to their relevance or significance based on their
respective prediction measures.”

From a webmasters perspective there’s not much to worry about. If you are creating quality content with a theme, your rankings will most likely just improve. Those at risk as always are those looking to game the indexing system with keyword stuffing, or over working their keyword density until the page is no longer natural context. Randomly inserting keywords into an article / website will no longer get you those top rankings. In fact, over optimizing and duplicate content could not only hurt your rankings but be the death of them.  This this big change in search, its likely to have an effect on the way people create content. Again, the idea is to theme your content (more coming soon.)

That should give you the overview of what exactly LSI technology is. The general idea as always from the search engine’s end is a new way to bring natural search to the table, cut down on spam,  and those who are faking their way to the top. If you want more information on LSI I recommend reading through that patent up above. There’s a crap load of information in it.

Enough is enough, there are tons of SEOs, affiliate marketers, and online gurus talking the talk but there are few who walk the walk in this industry. Through various lists I have put together the best entrepreneurs on Twitter. Personal views need not apply, these people made this list because they know their shit, and most likely will be able to teach you something. 

1. Guy Kawasaki- Has authored numerous books and he contributes a
   monthly column to Entrepreneur Magazine. Guy is also a top entrepreneur, blogger, and venture capitalist.
2. Rand Fishkin – CEO of SEOmoz, a Seattle based Internet marketing and search engine optimization firm. At 29 years old, Rand is a great example to young entrepreneurs.
3. Dave Snyder- A leading expert in search and social media marketing. He is a Co-Founder of Search and Social.
4. Jay Neely- Boston-based entrepreneur working on a news-related startup.
5. Rajesh Pancholi- Owner and operator of R27 Creativelab—a creative UK studio.
6. Sean Lindsay- Technologist, Entrepreneur, Builder, Creator, Connector.
7. Marcelo Calbucci- Founder and CTO of Sampa. Moved to the US in 1998, and now runs his own business.
8. Beverly Davis- Runs a cosmetic company with uplifting, motivating, and inspiring products.
9. Chris Pund- A young entrepreneur running 2 web-based companies. Also, manages a blog for young entrepreneurs.
10. Jeremy Schooley- Internet marketer and young entrepreneur. COO at Digital Labz.
11. Thomson Chemmanoor- A social media marketing expert from Houston,TX. Founder of Digital Labz.
12. Maiken Jepsen- Designer, work-at-home-mom, and owner of custom boutique clothing shop.
13. Blaine Moore- Operates a coaching and publishing business in the running and fitness niche.
14. Daniel McClintock- Graphic designer, entrepreneur, internet marketer, and business owner.
15. Wes Wilson- Founder of IncSpring, a social marketplace for designers and entrepreneurs.
16. Sumaya Kazi- Founding and Executive Director of The Cultural Connect. Recognized by Business Week as one of the top young entrepreneurs.
17. Joann Sondy- Entrepreneur since 2000. Owner of Creative Aces, a design and digital imaging studio.
18. Daniel Kehoe- Consultant for entrepreneurs that need a temporary/freelance CTO and blog.
19. Rick Myers- Founder/CEO of Talent Zoo, an online database where marketing and communications firms connect with talent.
20. JeanAnnVK- Entrepreneur, blogger, author, and social media consultant, among other things. The “Edgy Entrepreneur.”

Are you an entrepreneur on Twitter and think you belong on this list? Post a quick comment about yourself, your background, and your Tiwtter user name and if you fit the mold (or break it…) you can join the list.