Rankbrain: Leveraging The Third Most Important Google Signal

5 minutes read

According to Google, there are more than 200 major ranking signals used to evaluate the quality of websites. Algorithms such as Panda and Penguin are implemented on a wide scale to drive improvement in the quality of results Google provides to the billions queries it handles every day.

Google Panda was implemented to improve the onsite content quality of websites, discouraging spammy, low-quality content, and encouraging the production and use of fresh, high quality, original content. Google Penguin, on the other hand, was deployed to curb unethical linking tactics, particularly link buying and link farming.

Rankbrain is one such algorithm, although it works differently from the other ranking signals. Rankbrain is a machine-learning artificial intelligence that is developed to enhance the search engine’s understanding of first-time search queries. Per Google, this query type accounts for approximately 15 per cent of searches on a daily basis. Through RankBrain, irrelevant web pages are purged from search results, replaced by web pages with high quality, fresh, content relevant to the user query.

Given its importance within the search mechanism of Google, it is important for businesses and organisations to understand how to leverage Rankbrain in their overall online visibility strategy. In this blog, we try to discuss the ways in which you can incorporate this ranking signal into your marketing plan.

Create blogs that cover multiple interest points within your target niche, include multiple keywords

When creating blogs for your business or organisation, try a multi-pronged approach and cover a range of related topics instead of focussing on just one. This allows you to provide answers to multiple potential search queries, thus expanding the reach of web page. To this end, try incorporating multiple related keywords and phrases into your content as well, particularly in the blog post title and the sub headings.

To ensure that you target the most related keywords, try searching your main keyphrase on Google. Scroll down to the bottom of the first page, and you will see related searches to your main keyphrase. Use this information to create a comprehensive content strategy for your blog. Finally, remember to avoid stuffing the content with keywords and phrases. Organic integration is key, so make sure your content is targeted to cater to the main end user – never forget readability.

Measure content performance

Set aside the rankings of your website for now, and try analysing the performance of your content – is your content answering the questions of users? Are your digital assets getting interaction on social media? How much traction are you getting from your socially distributed assets? Are you converting leads, or are people leaving you emptyhanded? Closely analyse these technical factors, as these will indicate the value of your content to your audience.

Boost your click-through rates through remarketing and social advertising

Build your visibility and branding by remarketing through social media and the Google Display Network. Remarketing allows you to reach out to people who have already taken specific actions that indicate interest in your brand. This increases conversion rates significantly. It also makes you more visible, and visibility can lead to trust over time, which means translates to higher click-through rate potential.

In the end, creating a strategy for leveraging RankBrain should focus on creating a better user experience for the users. Tactics and techniques that aim to game the system always end up getting beat by Google. As such, instead of trying to outdo the system, just try to provide the best kind of service to your audience, and you will slowly but surely rise your way to the top.Facebook