Google RankBrain

THE RISE OF MACHINE-LEARNING,& THE FUTURE OF SEARCH

The past six months have seen a spike in interest in artificial intelligence (AI). Most of this

has been focused on the increasingly widespread application of the technology behind

what makes AI work: machine-learning.

The web has become such a part of everyday existence that we barely question it. Part of

this reliance has to do with the success of Google supplying us not only with the answers

to all kinds of queries, but also with providing us a globally accessible portal for business

and commerce.

The essence of this success, if you had to sum up it up in one word, is relevance.

Google’s algorithm updates are designed to help the search

engine giant realize their mission to be the best search engine

in the world by being the most relevant. Of course, in order to

achieve this, Google has to collect and collate data on virtually

every topic imaginable. This task is tantamount to scaling an

ever-expanding Everest of information, while at the same time

managing billions of requests for directions to extremely specific

locations on this mountain of growing data.

THE ANSWER?Enter Google RankBrain.

WHAT IS GOOGLE RANKBRAIN?

Very simply, Google RankBrain a machine-leaning AI system that

forms part of Google’s Hummingbird algorithm update.

of which 15% (or 450 million) the

search engine has never seen before.

GOOGLE HANDLES OVER

SEARCHES EVERY DAY,15% 2 BILLION

RankBrain sorts these unique queries into

contextual “entities”, chunks of language tha

have meaning, rather than simply returning

results based on keywords.

RankBrain translates unique queries, ambiguous

sentences, and more obscure “long-tail” keyword

phrases into mathematical vectors, which it then

uses to search for patterns in the gigantic pool of

data that is the web, in order to sort and return the

most relevant pages and results for the searcher.

It essentially searches for common queries and

relates the more complex ones to them, based on

context, and then refining its abilities to make

similar connections in the future.

This aspect of RankBrain that makes is so powerful.

Each search is an opportunity to for it to learn. After

processing each query, the machine-learning

engine makes slight adjustments to itself, updating

its part of the algorithm automatically as it makes

connections and relates complex searches to data

about similar or related searches is has collected in

the past. It then revises search results based on this

new information.

HOW GOOGLE RANKBRAIN AFFECTS SEO

RankBrain is primarily designed to handle the

15% OF GOOGLEsearches that are uncommon, so the impact on SEOis minimal.

What is crucial to understand, however, is that RankBrain represents a significant step forward in

Google’s use of machine-learning and AI to sift, sort and filter search results.

What this means in practice is that SEOs and marketers looking to rank highly in search results need to

pay attention to where Google is going.

In 2015, Rand Fishkin declared that Google is a

“TWO ALGORITHM WORLD”

and that the major impact of the future of Google

on SEO was the fact that optimization had to

account for ranking inputs for machines, as well

as user outputs for humans.

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Sticking to SEO best practices means that

RankBrain won’t a�ect you too much.

Instead of being concerned with the e�ects of an

algorithm update on your SEO, you should focus

on building your page and creating content for

search engines and human users.

Here’s what #2 means according to the wizard of Moz:

Fishkin also talks about creating “10x content,” defined by::

Onsite SEO has to be optimized for more for

clicks, less for keywordsGo for better engagement by:

Fill content gaps in your visitors’ knowledge

Earn more links and social shares, and

encourage visitors to return

Create content based on user task fulfillment

Making sure your site is as fast as possible

Providing content that satisfies searcher needs

Having excellent UX across all devices

Including features that draw users deeper intoyour site

Leaving out features like pop-ups and auto-play videos that tend to annoy visitors

1 Content that delivers an exceptional user experience

through visuals, layouts, and general design

2 The content should be “meaty”, unique, authoritative,

and trustworthy

3 Content should evoke a positive emotional response

4 The content has a viral quality about it, or at least has

been shared enough to make it part of the wider

conversation in a market

5 Content that solves a problem or provides an answer in

a way that is complete, comprehensive and actionable

These criteria are already being held up as the gold standard for content marketing success, and users are

being trained to expect this higher quality of content from online businesses and marketers

Don’t approach anything related to content marketing online today without a well-developed strategy.

Anything less than a professional, committed approach is going to deliver mediocre results.

WHAT ALL OF THIS MEANS TO THE ONLINE

CONTENT CREATOR

Here are our top 5 suggestions for creating content that will help you win in 2017:

1 GET SPECIFICGoogle wants the most relevant, accurate and content rich results to

be delivered to searchers. One of the best ways to do this is to get

specific. The major problem with most content out there today is that

it is too broad, which is the result of not knowing your audience well

enough. Find out what their most pressing concerns are and create

ultra-targeted content pieces that address those very specific

problems. Take a specific angle or perspective on an issue, make it

your own and deliver a unique solution for your market.

2GET VISUALIt’s a given these days that you need great design for your website.

But as the web becomes more visual and users get used to having

a multimedia experience, no only should you start including more

images in your blog posts, because online video is more popular

than ever you should also look to post video content and repurpose

your most popular written content as videos.

3 BE ORIGINALThis means not only having a unique perspective, angle or opinion

on your industry or topic, it also means being able to deliver original

research as part of your content. Talk to your audience, survey your

email list, and mine insights from influencers in your niche. Then

create stellar content around it.

4GO SOCIALThis goes without saying in 2017, but to maximize shares and earn

quality, natural links you need to be proactive about promotion.

Instead of focusing on pumping out reams of “good” content all the

time, pour that energy into creating fewer, more valuable content

assets and promote them it relentlessly. Start and join a Twitter chat,

or go live on your Facebook public page.

5 BE INFLUENTIALThis means not only having a unique perspective, angle or opinion

on your industry or topic, it also means being able to deliver original

research as part of your content. Talk to your audience, survey your

email list, and mine insights from influencers in your niche. Then

create stellar content around it.

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TAKEAWAY DON’T TRY TO TRICKTHE BRAIN: IMPROVE YOUR STANDARDS

1While Google RankBrain represents a breakthrough in the application of machine-learning, what we

have seen up to now is just the beginning of a new way the algorithm behind search is operating.

2What this intelligent algorithm will evolve into remains to be seen, which means the best we can do

for now is to keep a close eye on Google in 2017.

3As far as SEO goes, the best advice from top SEOs is this: stop trying to trick Google and follow

where the search giant is going by optimizing for the future, because the future of search belongs to

the machines.

4Ultimately, what ranking highly comes down to is simply what Google has always wanted – fresh,

natural, relevant content that solves searchers’ problems and gives them comprehensive answers to

their questions.

5If you haven’t been doing this, well, here’s your opportunity to up your game. If anything, RankBrain

is a wakeup call to us as marketers that the web has finally grown up and now is simply time to

get serious.