Google is constantly improving its algorithm for search results. Their latest improvement effort, Knowledge Graph, is a tool that helps people find what they’re looking for by using machine learning and queries to create images of the answers in an easy-to-read format. There are many benefits to this new feature, but if you want your website or blog included in these searches, there are some steps you can take today. On May 16, 2012, Google launched the Knowledge Graph, which stirred in the search world. According to accounts, Google entered the artificial intelligence field and became a thousand times smarter. Although the Knowledge Graph has been there for two years, relatively few SEOs understand the importance of Knowledge Graph Optimization (KGO). The fact that Google is smarter implies that you must be as well. I don’t mean smarter in the sense of gaming the system; instead, I mean more innovative in the sense of better understanding how consumers may find what they’re looking for when they search. The objective of Google is to provide consumers with the most accurate search results in the quickest time possible. As a marketer, your aim is the same: to provide consumers with exactly what they’re looking for. You want your results to be unique, which is why you should optimize your website for the Knowledge Graph. However, before we get started, let’s define the Knowledge Graph:
What is a Knowledge Graph, and how does it work?
The Knowledge Graph is Google’s method of directly answering inquiries and giving information. To learn more about it, type “what is the knowledge graph?” into Google. The outcome will be a Knowledge Graph product, placed at the top of the SERP in giant letters and framed by a gray box.
According to Search Engine Land, the Knowledge Graph (KG) “understands information about people, places, and things, and how these entities are all related.” It’s easier to comprehend how KG works if you see it in action. Here are a few instances. This Google SERP appears when you search for “renowned actors.” A Knowledge Graph result is the photo carousel at the top:
The SERP for “Colorado Rockies” below is dominated almost entirely by Knowledge Graph results:
When you search for “best sandwich shop in San Francisco,” you’ll get another carousel result as well as a map result, both of which are KG goods.
Individual person-related results will vary depending on how you phrase your inquiry. For example, if I Google “who is the CEO of Google,” I get the following results:
When I Google “who is Larry Page,” however, I get the following results:
This is because the Knowledge Graph gives you customized results based on your location and other characteristics, as well as results from your Google+ profile. Here’s an example of the customized results it’ll return:
In addition, there are numerous intriguing computational aspects hidden behind the hood of the Knowledge Graph. Here are several examples:
- Semantic search – Semantic search is the driving force behind Knowledge Graph’s input comprehension. To give more precise results, KG evaluates a range of data elements, including word variation, synonyms, idea matching, natural language, and IP. The potential of semantic search has been pushed even farther by Google’s latest algorithm upgrades.
- Entity indexation and disambiguation to give more precise results– The Knowledge Graph is a massive effort to catalog everything — nouns, objects, and entities — and relate them to everything else. Entities are the precise term for these “things.” Entity Recognition and Disambiguation, or ERD, is the process of entity mapping. Understanding the power of entities is a vital component of KGO, as we’ll see later.
- User activity – I find it intriguing that the Knowledge Graph is strongly dependent on user behavior. For example, although “knowledge graph” is a Google-branded word, the graphed SERP for the query “what is the knowledge graph” comes from Wikipedia, not Google. This fact alone demonstrates that Google favors Wikipedia results above its page (as far as we can discern), in part because Wikipedia is the go-to resource for most people. In addition, Wikipedia has the best response to a user’s question based on search traffic, including CTR, organic, and direct.
Increasing traffic through Google’s Knowledge Graph:
1. Continue to use entity keywords in your content marketing.
Use keywords at the most basic level. As an entity identification and disambiguation system, the Knowledge Graph considers your keywords to be “entities.” It tries to identify a sure thing, decipher it, and then link it to the database’s millions of other entities. It would be challenging for Google to relate pages on your website to particular search queries if you didn’t utilize keywords.
2. Wherever feasible, use schema markup.
The most straightforward and most efficient approach to assist the Knowledge Graph to deliver your results in graph boxes is to use schema markup. It appears in 36% of all Google search results, as we already know. It’s safe to assume that Google favors sites with schema markup. As a result, you should use it whenever possible. For hundreds of entities on your website, markup possibilities are available. It would be best to use this markup for your site entities since the Knowledge Graph relies significantly on it to provide valuable results. You’ve undoubtedly heard about markup in the context of movies:
You may, however, use a variety of alternative schemas on your site. For example, do you have a recipe? A markup schema may be used to define the cooking technique, the cuisine, the time it takes to produce the food, and the items utilized.
Although Google may not provide Knowledge Graph data for every schema data point you provide, it will give some. As semantic search and markup grow more crucial to the algorithm, it will most likely produce more results over time. Notice how markup provides Knowledge Graph results in the results below. Even in the lack of markup, Google interprets them as recipes. However, it also presents KG results for the item, including prep time, calories, ratings, and reviews.
This is only one markup that may be used to generate Knowledge Graph results. There are a plethora of additional schema alternatives available. Schema.org has a large number of schemas.
3. Improve the quality of your Google+ pages.
Much of the data in the Knowledge Graph comes straight. In addition, from Google+. KGO gives businesses and organizations that have optimized Google+ pages an edge. Optimizing for Google+ entails optimizing for the Knowledge Graph as well. Here’s an illustration. You may search for “eatery in san Jose” if you’re searching for an excellent spot to dine in San Jose, California. The Knowledge Graph carousel pulls photographs, ratings, and instructions from the appropriate food places’ Google+ sites.
The query form changes immediately (note the search box) when you click on a particular company, such as Flames Eatery, and the SERP is now updated with even more Google+ data. You may “follow” this restaurant by adding it to your Google circles if you are signed in to Google when searching, or you can leave a review if you are logged in to Google while searching.
You may put up your business’s hours of operation, menu, and other crucial data on Google+. This will be seen in the Knowledge Graph results for users.
4. Invite customers to provide feedback.
The reviews are one of the most prevalent KG outcomes. Google uses the review text to produce graph displays in search and map search results. For example, in Google Maps, you can see how user input changes Knowledge Graph data:
The most valuable results come from extensive assessments. For example, in a lot of information. Although the art and science of soliciting business evaluations are outside the subject of this article, bear in mind that they do influence search relevance and, more importantly, Knowledge Graph results.
5. Make use of Freebase MIDs.
Freebase is an entity database that gives millions of entities a MID (Machine Identification). Anything that is somewhat well-known is likely to have a Freebase ID.
The Freebase database was purchased by Google in 2010 when it bought Metaweb. Although Freebase is still a Creative Commons-licensed organization, all its data has been absorbed into Google’s Knowledge Graph database. Consequently, integrating your brand entity to Freebase allows you to correlate structured data with Freebase data, allowing for easier entity disambiguation and faster KG results. One of the ways that this verification works is via the same attribute. It’s an “entity canonical,” according to AJ Kohn. When you use the itemprop=” sameAs” markup, you’ll get the disambiguation you need to create a simple Knowledge Graph display. If it isn’t already there, you can quickly add your entity (person, item, company, etc.) to the Freebase database.
6. Wikipedia could use your help.
Wikipedia is one of the most apparent data sources for the Knowledge Graph. You may add to Wikipedia’s accurate, dependable, and valuable content by editing it. On the other hand, Wikipedia is a data source for the Knowledge Graph, which is a component of a successful online presence rather than a route to SEO/KGO. KGO is not the same as search engine optimization, as I previously said. It necessitates a more objective and information-driven approach to internet marketing.
7. Assist Google
Finally, by classifying Knowledge GrapInstead, results as “not useful,” “helpful,” or “amazing,” you may help Google improve them. This is probably the least effective method of influencing the outcome, but I wanted to mention it at the end. Here’s how to let Google know what you think. You may locate the phrase “Feedback” inside a Knowledge Graph box, generally towards the bottom, and click it to tell Google what you think about the findings.
You may sometimes get a pop-up asking for your response:
I’m not convinced that my replies have much of an influence on the larger scheme of things. But, hey, why not? If I can assist Google in improving its search capabilities, why not?
Conclusion
Knowledge Graph Optimization is more about high-level, trustworthy marketing initiatives than it is about fast victories and slick tactics. The foundation of KGO is providing users with helpful information and allowing them to make the best choice possible.
Frequently Asked Question
How does Google’s knowledge graph work?
A: The knowledge graph is a part of the search engine that allows Google to obtain information based on what you type in. For example, if you typed ‘What is a song?’ into your browser’s query bar and hit enter, Google would be able to find out the album title for this question by going through their database of songs and music titles.
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