The Google Knowledge Graph was introduced in 2012, bringing a revolution in the way search had been conducted until that time. Today, three years on, much more emphasis is being placed on the Knowledge Graph, and the importance of offering not only relevant, but also factual content to users in response to queries.
When you type a query on Google, usually that query can be interpreted in more than one way. The Knowledge Graph is the tool that Google algorithms use to try and decipher what meaning could be most suited for the query. For instance, if you search for the word “Ford”, are you referring to ‘a shallow crossing in water’ or ‘the motor company’?
Using the Knowledge Graph (K.G.), Google attaches semantic meaning according to the phrasing of the query – to understand that a user is looking for something with real-life connotations and connections, rather than just a string of words in their dictionary form. Essentially, the K.G. was intended to transform Google into a knowledge engine, rather than just an information engine.
Reduction in spamming
Perhaps the most important contribution of the K.G. so far has been to nab and de-index spam sites. Previously, some sites were set up for the sole purpose of spammy link building, such that one site would have hundreds of outgoing unrelated links, joined together by content that makes no sense.
While the introduction of Penguin dealt with the bulk of these, the K.G. takes analysis a step further by enabling the algorithm to be able to carry out relationship analysis for all content related to and in your site, to determine relevance for any query posted on the search engine.
Last year, Google patented another search criterion known as the “Knowledge Based Trust” factor. This weighs the factuality of content on any site by weighing known facts within the site against the known facts in the K.G. and other accepted sources like Wikipedia. The criterion attaches a higher score to sites with fewer false facts.
Going forward, it seems that sites will have to pay extra attention to the truth of SEO, content associated with their sites i.e. content in the site, in guest forums as well as related sites that link back to one’s site. Offering high quality, relevant and factual content, which offers the highest user value, will be pivotal to staying on top of SERPs.
Information building
Aside from having related content, all information should be geared towards establishing relationships between what you do/sell and the content that you post. These should logically make sense. Google populates its SERPs based on the relevance of relationships between content on specific pages, content in a site as a whole and the semantic meaning of a query.
Search marketers would therefore do well to ensure consistency in the content published both on-site and off-site, as well as for links associated with each site – with emphasis on relevance, quality and truthfulness/factuality.