How to Fix: LSI keywords used

LSI keywords used lives in the On-Page SEO Essentials group of the audit, and it is a medium-priority item. I want to be straight with you from the first line: the label is a bit of an SEO misnomer, but the thing it is pointing at — covering a topic with its genuinely related language instead of repeating one keyword — is real, important, and worth doing well.

What this check is really asking (and a myth to clear up)

“LSI” stands for Latent Semantic Indexing, a decades-old information-retrieval technique. Google has said it does not use LSI in the way the SEO industry means when it says “LSI keywords,” so let me not pretend otherwise. But the popular term became shorthand for something genuine: the semantically related words and phrases that naturally appear when you actually cover a subject in depth. Write a real article about espresso and words like crema, grind, tamping, and portafilter show up on their own. This check is asking whether your content demonstrates that kind of topical coverage — or whether it just repeats the target keyword and little else.

So read “LSI keywords” as “related and supporting terms,” and the check makes perfect sense. The failure it flags is thin content that mentions its keyword but never develops the surrounding topic the way genuine expertise would.

Why it matters for SEO

Modern search engines understand topics, not just strings. Google’s language models read your page and assess whether it comprehensively covers the subject a searcher cares about, and related terminology is one of the strongest signals of that depth. A page that uses the full natural vocabulary of its topic reads as authoritative and can rank for a much wider set of related queries, not just the exact keyword. It is also, not coincidentally, a page that serves the reader better. This is one of those checks where the SEO benefit and the “just write genuinely good content” benefit point in exactly the same direction.

How I would fix it

Difficulty Level: MEDIUM – This fix requires some technical knowledge or familiarity with WordPress settings and plugins.

Estimated Time: varies

1. Cover the topic, do not chase the term. The reliable way to include related vocabulary is to actually answer the questions a reader has. Write to genuinely exhaust the subject and the related language follows naturally.
2. Mine the real questions. Look at “People also ask,” related searches, and the subheadings on the pages already ranking. They map the subtopics your content should address — and each subtopic brings its own vocabulary.
3. Add the sections you are missing. If competing content covers angles you skipped, that is usually why your coverage reads thin. Fill the genuine gaps rather than sprinkling in synonyms.
4. Use structure to prompt depth. Descriptive headings, examples, and a short FAQ push you to introduce the related terms a shallow draft would miss. Your SEO plugin’s content analysis can flag where you are repeating yourself.
5. Do not stuff a keyword list. Pasting a block of “related keywords” from a tool is the wrong instinct and reads as manipulation. Integrate terms because the topic calls for them, never because a list told you to.

The trap of gaming a real signal

Because “LSI keywords” sounds like a lever, people reach for the shortcut: generate a list of related terms and jam them in. I would not. Google’s language understanding is good enough now that stuffing related vocabulary reads as artificial, the same way keyword stuffing did a decade ago — just one abstraction layer up. The durable move is unglamorous and it is the same one it has always been: know your subject, write about it thoroughly, and let the related language arrive because you earned it. Aim at coverage, and this check turns green as a side effect. Aim at the check, and you write worse content that fools no one.

Recommended Tools & Plugins

• Yoast SEO – Comprehensive SEO plugin with content and readability analysis that surfaces thin coverage
• Rank Math – Feature-rich SEO plugin with content analysis and related-keyword suggestions to guide, not dictate
• Google Search Console – Free tool whose query report shows the related terms you already rank for and the gaps
• SEO Roadmap – Complete SEO audit and action plan tool to keep your on-page essentials strong

This guide is part of the SEO Roadmap knowledge base – your complete resource for WordPress SEO optimization.