Content marketing is largely dependent upon having search engines drive visitors to the website. Many domain owners consider Google search engine placement as the hallmark of this aspect of marketing. Out of the thousands of signals and sub-signals that Google uses for search engine placement algorithm, RankBrain is one that seems the most intriguing for many domain owners. The thing that sets RankBrain apart from many other components of the algorithm is that there isn’t a way that domain owners can trick the program into ranking a website higher.
What exactly is RankBrain?
RankBrain is an artificial intelligence program that teaches itself what it needs to know. That doesn’t mean that it is a true AI program like what you see in the movies. Instead, it simply adapts to updates in real time instead of having to be told when and how to adapt by changes in the program.
How does RankBrain play into Google’s algorithm?
RankBrain is one of the newer signals in the Hummingbird algorithm. It is considered one of the core signals, which number around 200 in total. RankBrain isn’t a signal that plays a part in every webpage placement. Instead, it is only used in some of the searches that are performed.
What does RankBrain do?
This program gauges the overall usefulness of specific pages for searches. As the program crawls pages, it sets a ranking for the relevance of the information provided on the page based on the purpose or subject of the page. The program sends that information to Google, and it is then used as part of the overall search engine placement algorithm.
How important is RankBrain’s information for search engine placement?
RankBrain is the third most important signal that Google considers for search engine placement. Google won’t reveal what the top two signals are, but some speculate that they are other “named” signals. Even without knowing what the top two signals are, it is safe to assume that RankBrain’s information could make or break a website.
What are some of the “named” signals?
Two of the most commonly cited named signals are Penguin and Panda, both of which help Google to spot spam and devalue pages that are too spammy. Mobile Friendly helps to add more value for search engine placement to pages that have mobile formats, including Accelerated Mobile Pages. Top Heavy moves pages that are ad-heavy down in the rankings. Pigeon helps to improve local search results, and Pirate helps to combat copyright infringement. PageRank helps to assign credibility to pages that have high-quality inbound links.
What can I do to please RankBrain?
The most important thing that you can do for RankBrain is to make sure that each page of your website has accurate information that is presented in a user-friendly format. Don’t stuff keywords into the content on a webpage just to have them on the page. RankBrain is bypassing keywords because it helps Google to categorize webpages based on content so that searchers who search for related terms, even if they aren’t included on the webpage, could find the page.
RankBrain is just one more reason for domain owners to ensure they have well-written content that is informative. It is also a signal to domain owners that trying to game the system isn’t going to work like it did in the past.
