Houston Content Marketing: Information On Linking Entities To Content
Entities have become a major positive for search engines. What are entities? These can vary and are often spotted in the “Knowledge Graph” as being concepts, things, places, ideas, or people. However, there is more to it with search engines because each search term can be a unique entity. A good example would be the word “Apple” because it can be the fruit or the largest tech company in Silicon Valley. Both are separate entities but share the same search term. Therefore, it is the context that plays an important role in what the search engine puts in front of its users once the search is made. This is where linking entities becomes vital.
Defining or applying “context” to each word is what semantics involves. For example, one could write about Apple and never once bring up the word. Even if the word isn’t present, a reader can still understand what it is talking about and that’s where the context matters. It can often be seen with commonly used words. Continuing with the example of Apple as an entity, we can assess the semantics of a search.
Let’s assume you pop into Google and search “Apple,” what is the first thing you are going to see? You are going to see the tech company pop up. However, why is that happening? Why does the tech company show up and not the actual fruit? What about other things that are listed as “Apple” including candies? Why are they not at the top of the rankings? It has to do with Google using your search history to determine what is best suited for your search. If you are searching tech topics and companies all the time, it’s a good guess to assume you were searching the tech company named Apple. Google can even start to look at co-occurring synonyms/phrases/keywords as a means to filter out pages you aren’t looking for.
What are Co-occurring Phrases?
These are phrases that are often seen being used to describe a specific entity. For example, Apple (tech company) might have phrases involving keywords such as tech, macs, computers, hardware. While co-occurring terms or phrases for apple (the fruit) would include things such as pies, farms, farmers, supermarkets, and recipes. Of course, this can be expanded with more and more terms that Google can pick up on.
All of these words can pop up under the label of “co-occurring phrases.” The goal is to semantically link up these entities with the content that is showing up even if the main keyword isn’t present (i.e. Apple). It is more finding synonyms and linking them to the main keyword but about related terms that would be used in the same sentence based on the context you’re using it in. If done right, this will ensure the right page is being indexed every single time a search is made. Search engines will use spiders/bots to go through these related terms to figure out what you could be searching.
Optimization of Phrase-Based Indexing
Google has taken a liking to phrase-based indexing over time and continues to apply for new patents as a way to enhance its present systems. The goal is to look at the value of co-occurrence and make sure it is applied the right way. This makes it easier to manage the plethora of topics that use the same search terms or phrases. Phrase-based indexing is reliant on making sure the retrieval of information is spot on and can be organized rapidly. As the context is assessed, the phrases can be indexed along with the entity as they related to each other. This helps Google recognize what the content has to offer and which entity it is connecting back to. Yes, it is one of the more complicated systems Google has been working on but the goal is to optimize everything. Most websites will be optimizing their content along these lines anyway (i.e. researching keywords and building content around them).
For those who write their content, you will often take the keyword and build content around it.The goal should always be to write content with purpose and make sure it is as relevant as possible. This is how the search engine will know what is being written about as soon as possible. It ensures there is no doubt about the content and what it is saying.
For example, if you are still talking about Apple (tech company), you want to make sure you are assessing various sources such as the Knowledge Graph, Wikipedia, and other relevant sources. You want to start looking for those co-occurring phrases or keywords that are going to work well with your content and its main keyword. You want to make sure the context is apparent. The best way to do this is to run a search of the term you want to rank for and look at the words they have used in their content. This is how you can start to link to the entity.
No LSI Keywords
Don’t look for LSI keywords because they don’t work out well with Google’s algorithm. You are not going to b providing context by using them. This has never worked and never will be based on the direction Google is going in. It doesn’t play a role in SEO.
With the help of a good Internet marketing company Houston has to offer, it’s possible to rank well and link entities properly.