Do you remember those online infoboxes with general information about the organization or person? Perhaps, it implies that you have experienced the broad advantages of the Google Knowledge Graph. By the way, what is the knowledge graph? How does it work? Can we use it to build your brand awareness and empower your SEO? It is time to find answers.
What is the knowledge panel?
The Knowledge Graph or knowledge panel is Google’s Infobase of units (entities). What are the units? These are any objects or concepts that can be identified by some features. Here we are talking about both tangible (places, people, companies) and intangible (colors, ideas, feelings) units. They are connected by links that show the relations between them. By using this data about the world, the search engine better understands the meaning of queries to provide the client with the best results.
How the knowledge graph affects search and SEO
In general, the Knowledge Panel (KP) is a nice thing for both clients and SEO-specialists. Clients get more relevant search results and webpage owners receive more traffic to the top-quality content. But not everything is so smooth. There is also the reverse side of the coin. Here are four aspects of the KP’s influence on the search process:
- Robots understand the query better
Links are good for defining the quality of the content, but not its relevance to the search query. There is no difference if the requests match the text in the content. Engines may use quality signals such as links to extract optimal content from their index. However, clients do not always search that way. This is when the KP is helpful since it allows Google to better identify keyword matches, and to make a more correct response.
- It improves the capabilities of voice queries
Nowadays, Google Assistant is installed on more than one bln gadgets, and over 70% of queries are entered in the native language, so the search engine must extract meanings from the speech. How does the KP help you cope with it? It helps robots recognize the entities and attributes in real speech. Just think and compare how you do it in the text or voice form – the difference is significant.
- More popularity and credibility for companies
Google displays KP data in the search results in infoboxes or knowledge cards. What does it mean for you? It means that whether the company is included in the Knowledge Graph, you will receive all the benefits of being displayed in search results, increased popularity, and perhaps even the trust of those people who are looking for relevant information. Also, you will be able to find your logo in search results for queries without specifying a company.
- Clients are unlikely to go to search results, so the bounce rate decreases
We hope, that there is no need to explain what is bounce rate and how it affects your SEO (otherwise, click on the link to get the relevant answer). According to a recent study by Rand Fishkin, more than half of all searches end up with a person not clicking on any link. A part of the responsibility for this lies on the Knowledge Graph, which helps search engines answer many queries right on the results page.
For example, let’s take the query “what is SEO.” Google shows a block of knowledge with data taken from the KP. For SEO, it can be a challenge. If people don’t click on your links in results, you’re not getting natural traffic – even if your link is at the top in the search. How to solve this problem? The best solution will be adding to the KP.
How to get into the knowledge panel?
Now, it has to be clear that the pros of using a Knowledge Panel outweigh the disadvantages, but how do you get into this database? There is no 100% reliable way, however, there are several things you can do to improve your chances.
- Boost your advertising and link building activities:
It is much easier to get to the number of units in the KP if there is a lot of mentions of your company on the Internet. Mentions on popular websites – Forbes, Vogue, and others tell robots that you can represent a noteworthy entity. Of course, we all understand that it can be quite difficult for most small and medium-sized businesses, but you should not give up ahead of time.
- Use the correct semantic markup on your website:
Schema.org and JSON-LD are the recommended markup tools for structured data. Here are a few points that can help your enterprise get into the KP.
- Use the markup for organizations;
- Make sure to use at least the name, logo, URL, and sameAs;
- Add links to all your social media profiles and Wikipedia pages to the sameAs;
- Check if the markup is correct.
- Register in Google My Business:
If you do business in the real world, then creating an account in My Business is a must. This will give you a summary of information on Google Maps and search engines, which will increase your brand’s popularity and credibility. However, having a My Business profile does not guarantee that it will be added to the KP.
- Make a Wikidata profile:
Wikidata keeps structured data for Wikipedia and other web-resources. In case you are not represented on Wikimedia websites yet, we highly advise starting by making a Wikidata profile. An impressive amount of KP info comes from Wikidata, so having a profile there is more important than Wikipedia articles.
In conclusion
Be consistent about your presence on the Internet. This applies not only to the five tips given above but to all your actions online. We believe that such an approach will allow you to get into the Google Knowledge Graph and make sure that your bounce rate will be low. Good luck!
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