Search Results Analysis: The Latent Question

Google doesn’t just use keywords to match your search with a website. It looks at your site for relevance signals, and analysing search results can help improve your content writing.

A common approach is to stop thinking about keywords, and instead think about all the different topics you can write about. A good source for ideas is Google’s “related searches” and “people also as” suggestions.

The webpages that Google shows in search results tend to read like they are an answer to a question. This is what can be called the “latent question”. Almost every search usually has a latent question. If I search for “fried ribs”, the latent question might be “How do I cook fried ribs”, or “Show me fried rib recipes”. The question is implicit, but hidden in the search query — it’s a latent question. It’s more explicit than the general understanding of what a searcher is looking for (the search intent). And if you know the questions, you can make sure to provide the answers to those question on your website.

Google has identified six latent need states when people do searches: help me; educate me; thrill me; surprise me; impress me; and reassure me.

Key Takeaways:

• Researching keywords still matters, but we are in a post-keyword ranking era.
• Instead of using obvious keywords and associated phrases ask yourself “what is the question that the searcher is asking?” Their question is rarely overt — it is hidden (or latent).
• This technique is called latent question seeking. The question is rarely overt, rather hidden.

“Understanding the latent question…is simply a way to better understand what users want when they use a particular search query and then to create content that meets those needs.”

Read more: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/latent-question/346866/