21 Aug 2016
Google has been, over the years, in the quest to make information easily accessible. And to meet this purpose, various algorithms and updates are being rolled out from time to time.
This is where RankBrain or the fascinating new Artificial Intelligence comes into the picture. This system works by catering to the users’ need for information in a way that the searches are predicted beforehand and several connections or synonymous links are established to previous searches. This helps make the whole system much more efficient. The advantage here is that RankBrain works on its own and teaches itself instead of relying on human forces for programmed information. But there is a lot more to Google RankBrain.
Here are five things you ought to know:
RankBrain is Google’s machine-learning AI technology. To understand RankBrain, we first need to have a clear idea of what each of the terms in this statement means. First of all, let us look into Artificial Intelligence or AI. This basically revolves around the computer doing the job of a human in two aspects: obtaining information and acquiring knowledge and then bringing that information to good use. This leads to newer ideas, developments and creations. Even though the concept is more popular in science fiction novels, in the real world, it basically refers to a computer that can exchange information and build connections. Programming is the only way we can teach the computer to do something. Machine learning is one way in which the computer can teach itself on how to do things instead of humans feeding the instructions and information. In the case of RankBrain, artificial intelligence and machine learning turn out to be synonymous. This basically helps Google to filter out its options and optimize the search engine results. The whole process of getting the search results is carried out by RankBrain. This is why RankBrain is Google’s machine learning AI technology.
In order to shed light on this aspect of RankBrain, let us bring in an example and focus on it. The example in question here is a car. It has one definite engine. The engine is what drives the car. But if we look closely, it is made from a number of components. For instance, it has a fuel pump, an oil filter and even a radiator and many more such things. Each of these components actually contributes to the functioning of the engine. This is exactly the role RankBrain plays in Hummingbird. Now, the question may arise as to what exactly is Hummingbird? It is Google’s Search engine algorithm. What it does is basically going through millions of pages of information in order to bring the most appropriate ones to the users. RankBrain has become the most important part of the Hummingbird just like a fuel pump for an engine.
First of all, let us understand what factors are. These are basically measures to aide Google to rank the web pages which contain relevant information. And to our surprise, RankBrain has rather made its way into the top 3 factors for Google. This means that RankBrain has a pretty important role in ranking the websites. This basically helps Google decide what information should be displayed for a particular search. So who else accompanies RankBrain in the top 3 of this list? ‘Content’ remains the most important factor, followed by ‘links’, both of which have strong influences in the website rankings.
How RankBrain helps Google refine queries is one rather interesting topic. Previously and sometimes even now, what Google does is create links between searches or synonymous searches by some human activities. In spite of there being an automated database, the whole process mainly rests on human actions. Let us also give you some stats in this aspect. Close to a decade back, it was reported that there were approximately three billion searches made per day. A quarter of those searches had never been witnessed before. This number dropped to 13% in 2013. But it is still a high number considering the huge number of searches made. This is where RankBrain can swoop in and bring the number down. It can improve the search engine results by interpreting queries made by the users. A pattern can be formed from the seemingly complicated and complex searches, to understand the details and make connections with searches that were dealt with before. The key here is to hire SEO experts to convert those unknown searches into something that can be connected to previously searched information. This refines the whole process.
So RankBrain is encountering huge progress over the last few days and rightfully so. Does it affect your SEO or search engine optimization? Yes, it does! This brings us to the changes that one should make in SEO in order to get accustomed to the rise of RankBrain. First and foremost, this system works by optimizing the AdWords. This is the first mode of action for RankBrain. It aims to keep the organic click through rates at a level which is above the industry average. It is best to target long-term complex SEO optimization plans instead of the short term ones. This is because RankBrain focuses on knowing which particular results will benefit the users more. Overall, the idea is to find a keyword and write the content relevant to it in an in-depth manner to optimize the search results.
Let us give you a few examples demonstrating RankBrain effect on Google searches.
‘Can you get a 100% score on Super Mario without walk through?’
If this is a query put up by a user on Google, the search engines typically tend to ignore the negative or the underlined word here. This gives rise to results that are inappropriate to the user.
‘What is the label of a consumer at the highest level of a food chain?’
This question can be asked in a number of ways that would lead to differing search engine results. For instance, ‘highest level’ refers to ‘top’, ‘label’ can be replaced by ‘name’ and the likes.
In a survey conducted recently, it was found that close to 55% of the search engine results were improved by including the likes of RankBrain and this number consists of queries that are difficult to comprehend and execute.
RankBrain has thus shown a lot of potential to improve Google’s search engine results. It has brought in immediate results over the last few months and is likely to continue. Making use of such an AI system ensures that human efforts do not need to punch in the information. This definitely is going to benefit your website. According to statistics, this new algorithm has already reached the top 3 of the most important ranking factors, behind links and content. RankBrain can give Google better control of search engine results and is likely to be an important aspect in the years to come