In the past, you might have gotten by on keywords and link-building alone—but, these days, you have to help semantic search engine bots understand your content by optimizing for entity search. But what does that really mean?

entity (n.): a name, place, object, event, concept, or numerical expression that a search engine can understand without ambiguity.

For example, in the query “what is the cheapest price for a hotel in the San Francisco Bay Area,” the following are considered entities:

• “What” — concept
• “Cheapest” — numerical expression
• “Price” — numerical expression
• “Hotel” — organization
• “San Francisco” — location
• “Bay Area” — location

By connecting these entities, search engines can understand both the query and the intent behind the query. Search engines use Knowledge Graphs, citations, Wikipedia, reviews, and various digital content to provide the most accurate and relevant results. This retrieval process is called entity search.

So how do you leverage entity-focused SEO to give your content a competitve advantage in search?

1. What: Provide the most comprehensive source of information on a topic by covering as many related topics as relevant to the searcher.
2. Why: Understand user intent. Are they seeking info, evaluating options, looking for directions, or ready to make a decision? Your content should cater to every need of your audience across their buying journey.
3. How: Employ video, images, headings, bulleted and numbered lists, hours of operation, and Q+A to create the most holistic semantic SEO strategy.

Dig into the details over at Search Engine Land to get started on your strategy.

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