A Business’s Guide to Google’s Knowledge Graph

Contents

• What is Google’s Knowledge Graph?. 2
• Why Does Google Use It?. 3
• Industrial Relevance. 3
• Benefits of the Google Knowledge Graph. 4
• User Insight 4
• Relevant Searches. 5
• Efficiency. 5
• Connections. 5
• SEO Benefits. 5
• Clear Optimizing. 6
• Making Things Simple. 6
• Is It Useful for Small Businesses?. 6
• How to Create a Knowledge Card for Your Business. 7
• Tips for Optimization and Recognition. 8
• Schema Markups. 8
• Wiki Entry. 8
• Wiki Data. 9
• Google My Business. 9
• Additional Local Listings. 9
• Press Releases. 9
• Reviews and Testimonials. 10
• Articles and Blogs. 10
• Backlinks and Sources. 10
• Winding Down. 11
• Need Assistance?. 11
• What is Google’s Knowledge Graph?. 2
• Why Does Google Use It?. 3
• Industrial Relevance. 3
• Benefits of the Google Knowledge Graph. 4
• User Insight 4
• Relevant Searches. 5
• Efficiency. 5
• Connections. 5
• SEO Benefits. 5
• Clear Optimizing. 6
• Making Things Simple. 6
• Is It Useful for Small Businesses?. 6
• How to Create a Knowledge Card for Your Business. 7
• Tips for Optimization and Recognition. 8
• Schema Markups. 8
• Wiki Entry. 8
• Wiki Data. 9
• Google My Business. 9
• Additional Local Listings. 9
• Press Releases. 9
• Reviews and Testimonials. 10
• Articles and Blogs. 10
• Backlinks and Sources. 10
• Winding Down. 11
• Need Assistance?. 11

What if we told you that you could use Google to create a professional business page for your company or organization that gets displayed on the first page for your branded keyword? And that you—as a business—could leverage this page to effortlessly market your brand and strategically strengthen your online presence and visibility.

They call it The Knowledge Graph.

What is Google’s Knowledge Graph?

The knowledge graph was introduced by Google back in 2012. It operates using semantic networks, or, more simply put, interconnected caches of data and information.

The idea here was to make Google more efficient for users. Data is linked by way of both description and relationship. In other words, your searches show not just what you searched for but relevant and related information as well.

Simply put, the knowledge graph is the box that shows up on the right corner of your search page which contains information about a company, individual, service provider or anything/anyone that Google recognizes as an entity.

Here’s an example:

Why Does Google Use It?

What this allows for is broader and more extensive searches when using the Google engine. Users are able to explore, find answers regardless of what they search for, and zero in on relevant information faster.

The semantic database Google is continuously building is possibly the biggest in the world! The Google Knowledge Graph’s capabilities include knowledge storage, representation, reasoning, engineering and learning.

This being said, what does Google’s Knowledge Graph have to do with businesses? How does the Google Knowledge Graph impact businesses?

In order to understand this, we’re going to begin by further dissecting the Google Knowledge Graph as well as related functions to better understand how to use Google Knowledge Graph for business.

Industrial Relevance

There are two ways the Google Knowledge Graph is relevant to industries.

One is the obvious availability of large amounts of information. This information is useful in determining user and customer behavior. This, in turn, allows industries to place and market themselves better.

The second way in which the Google Knowledge Graph is relevant to industries is related to searching. It’s a known fact that over 80% of traffic on websites originates and is directed from search engine results.

A foundational understanding of how the knowledge graph works helps industries modify their websites and SEO in a manner that they are recognized as entities by Google. Needless to say, SEO is highly crucial for any business wishing to compete in today’s competitive world. With T.V. and Radio advertising slowly reaching a point of redundancy, it stands to reason that SEO is a forerunner when it comes to putting the word out about your business.

Let’s now discuss how the Knowledge Graph is beneficial.

Benefits of the Google Knowledge Graph

The Google Knowledge Graph is clearly a step in the right direction and is beneficial in a number of ways. Here are a few of the more relevant ones:

User Insight

Data accumulated is extremely useful in understanding and determining customer and consumer behavior.

Relevant Searches

Semantic data organization allows searches to produce more relevant results and information. This makes it a lot simpler for those on the user end to locate sites hosting the services or products they desire among others.

Efficiency

The use of meta-content and keyword relevance allows basic information to be provided immediately without users having to skip from website to website. They can simply scroll through search results till they locate what they need under the descriptions provided.

 

SEO Benefits

The Google Knowledge Graph benefits search engine optimization in a rather specific manner. It makes things easier for business owners and companies in two ways.

Here they are:

Clear Optimizing

The Google Knowledge Graph acquires data and information from particular sources such as Wikipedia. This, in turn, allows companies, organizations, and business owners to moderate and influence information about them on such sources. As a result, they’re able to put up the right information and hence present themselves better to potential users and clients.

Making Things Simple

Algorithms in the past dictated that most companies had to have two websites. One for usable user information and the other for keyword-driven searches. Since the Google Knowledge Graph operates through interconnected information, it takes away the need for an additional keyword-driven webpage. This, in turn, reduces online clutter and halves the work needed to be done by companies and businesses to have their web pages show up on searches!

Is It Useful for Small Businesses?

Regardless of how big or small your business may be, if understood and navigated correctly, the Google Knowledge Graph can work greatly to your advantage.

One feature that should be understood here is the Google Knowledge Panel or Card. This little box or section contains highly relevant information pertaining to your business.

It allows those interested to:

• Find links to your main website
• Read customer reviews and access ratings
• Access your contact details if provided
• Access comprehensive and relevant information

In addition, it also:

• Makes searches user-friendly and efficient so more people can access your company
• Presents you as a primary or ideal option in searches
• Presents the company in a good light
• Gives potential customers and users a sense of legitimacy

How to Create a Knowledge Card for Your Business

Though there is no way for any business big or small to reserve a Google knowledge card, there are steps that can be taken to ensure recognition by the Google Knowledge Graph system. Recognition also means that your business will likely show up when users search for products/services you offer. For small businesses, local SEO development is key. We’ll go over a few tips and pointers with regard to how to achieve this in the next section.

In a nutshell, however, knowledge graphs are auto generated. This is only done if the system picks up on an adequate online presence. The following tips are meant to help you give that presence a boost.

Tips for Optimization and Recognition

Though there are numerous steps that can be taken to align your SEO with the Google Knowledge Graph parameters, we’re going to focus on those we feel are most relevant.

Schema Markups

Schema Markups, in layperson terms (well, almost), are known as HTML codes. Though these are not visible to everyday users performing searches, they’re visible to programs such as search engines. Schema Markups help clarify what your company, organization or services are about on a data level. This clarification increases the likelihood of display generation in the Google Knowledge Graph.

Wiki Entry

As we mentioned earlier, Wikipedia is one of the main info feeds for the Google Knowledge Graph. Understand the pros and cons of creating a Wikipedia page for your company or business. If you feel it works, the creation of a Wikipedia page will greatly increase your presence. Just remember, any content on Wikipedia should be from a neutral standpoint.

Wiki Data

That being said, it can also be used by humans and is one of the main info feeds for the Google Knowledge Graph.

Google My Business

If you don’t already have a Google My Business page, it makes sense to go get one. As the most popular tool for businesses, Google My Business helps your business climb SERPs and attract high-quality local traffic. Here are some Google My Business optimization strategies to help you rank higher and boost sales!

Additional Local Listings

Local listings are extremely helpful to your business on their own. We also mentioned how local SEO was key for small businesses. Local listings are very much a part of that. Having your company, products, or services listed under certain categories increases relevance. This, in turn, increases the chance of your company or business showing up when relevant services and locations are looked up.

Press Releases

If published by a reputed news site, press releases are an extremely solid source of credibility. Further, they also help validate your business or company when looking to create a Wikipedia page. Press releases are picked up by the Knowledge Graph and are one more link to your network of relevant info that leads back to you.

Reviews and Testimonials

Reviews and testimonials serve to validate your services as well as your company or business capabilities and professional prowess. Reviews are also known to show up very often on Knowledge Graph driven searches. In a nutshell, a good review showing up post a relevant search is probably good for your business!

Articles and Blogs

Articles and blogs don’t just provide your clients and customers with useful information. They also serve to create more links to your business within the Knowledge Graph matrix. The best blogs and articles are ones with “How” or “What” titles that address a particular query. Similarly, instructional articles and blogs work very well too.

Remember, the more consumer-oriented or centric your content is, the better your chances of the information culminating in your own business knowledge card.

Backlinks and Sources

Articles and blogs are great. Articles with links to statistics and other neutral sources are even better. Links enhance article and blog credibility as read by both humans and machines. They also create more connections between your business and other related searches. Here are 10 advanced link building tips and tricks to help you boost your SEO.

Winding Down

It’s quite obvious that the Google Knowledge Graph is an extremely effective mechanism for both large and small businesses. In short, the system allows for more relevant and accurate searching, smart, descriptive and extensive search options, and data and info storage.

Being recognized by the system is what’s important here and we have elaborated on how you may go about that above. There is no way you can purchase space or exposure from Google which, arguably, at least for smaller businesses looking to get out there, evens the playing field.

The best way to enhance your online and search engine presence is by putting out more clear and relevant information with regard to your company. This should be done through as many available channels as possible in order to raise the probability of your business or company being recognized by the system.

Need Assistance?

At Search Berg, we can help make things a lot simpler. As one of the leading digital marketing service providers in the United States, we employ a highly experienced and skilled SEO team. Professionals working in our team are up to date with the latest in technological and industrial development and adhere to the highest standards by way of service quality. What we guarantee is molding your public business image into one that Google will pick up on, recognize, and facilitate!

If you want to get started right away, discuss your project with us and let’s build something together! We offer expert GMB optimization services and local SEO services. We’ll help create a knowledge card for your business so you can climb SERPs and make it to Google’s Local 3-Pack. Give us a call at 855-444-4777 and we’ll take it from there!