A decade has passed since the introduction of Google Knowledge Graph in the SERP, and now we’re absolutely used to it.
What is Google Knowledge Graph?
Google Knowledge Graph is a knowledge graph which is a collection of structured knowledge about entities.
[Entity: single information object that can be uniquely defined. For example, places, companies, people, things…]
It contains facts about entities from a wide variety of knowledge sources, including Wikipedia, Amazon, Bing, Wolfram Alpha, Open Knowledge, Yelp, and others under a Creative Commons license. Images can come from anywhere on the web.
This data help to populate the SERP. Google Knowledge Graph shows up in its Search Results, Google Knowledge Panel, Google Knowledge Search, and other places in the “big G” ecosystem.
Every time we submit a query on Google, a lot happens behind the scenes. You may think your request is compared to an extensive repository of queries, each one linked to a certain number of results; that would be almost easy (but perhaps impossible). Well, that’s not the case.
What happens after you google something
When you hit that little magnifying glass, you start a complicated process that involves all the web pages that could be relevant to your query (thousands or millions, who knows…). It takes just a fraction of a second for Google to sort them out, starting from the most relevant.
Google will show you the Knowledge Graph too if there are enough data to display in an organized matter.
When Google is able to fetch and display the top results in the Google Knowledge Graph, you’ll see that a box full of relevant info appears on the right (on top for mobile search).
Each fact has an associated web page related to the fact itself in the main Google Knowledge Graph. On this page, you’ll directly access relevant and accurate information about entities using Google Knowledge Graph, and other related organic results.
Google Knowledge Graph is an important part of the Google search engine.
It makes the results more relevant and useful for users.
To use Google Knowledge Graph, for example, say if you are looking for a movie; you can type a “Movie title”.
Google Knowledge Search will provide you with the exact name of the movie along with related information, like the cast, year, story, related images and titles… You then click on one piece of information and land on its dedicated page, made by Google.
Is it possible for you to occupy places in the Graph?
Yes, indeed.
Is it difficult? Maybe not, sometimes it could be hard… But, for sure, it won’t happen by chance, unless you do what you need to without even realizing it… And in business, it’s better to take luck out of the equation!
In the screenshot below, after my search for “profiteroles”, I clicked on “more images” and reached this page full of pictures. You can see that Google takes them from a variety of websites that will receive traffic.
The various knowledge panels that Google generates can be obtained, even by a small or medium business. That’s because businesses have a special kind of panel dedicated to them, with all the relevant facts gathered. It can be managed from a claimed and verified Google Business Profile. If you don’t claim and verify your Business Profile, you won’t have any control over it.
A mandatory step for having decent results in Local SEO
If you provide Google with verified information and your web assets have valuable content, users will likely see a card or a panel about your business, when performing a related query.
It will contain a lot of useful information, like:
- link to your website,
- images,
- customer reviews,
- opening hours,
- popular times,
- if applicable, reservation options,
- telephone numbers
- directions…
Apart from local SEO, if Google finds out that you are offering a valuable piece of content or information, it could even present it in the Knowledge Graph, together with other relevant facts about a certain entity. As a result, this would increase a lot your website traffic, and (most important) it would be traffic made of targeted people.
Various kinds of entities show up on the panels so, for this reason, they obtain a huge amount of traffic. Some categories that can benefit more are:
For instance, entities already present can also suggest edits to the Knowledge Graph; Google itself provides the How-to procedure: https://support.google.com/knowledgepanel/answer/7534842
- websites of famous or influential people, along with their social media profiles, playlists, and podcasts;
- companies (less easy for smaller, non-local businesses);
- associations and non-profit organizations;
- food-related businesses or websites (it’s quite common to see recipes and nutrition facts in the panel).
A small or medium business can obtain spots in panels displaying images and resources that often show up, as you can see.
As an SEO consultant, I appreciate how far Google goes in understanding users’ search intent. We’re provided with a SERP full of information, to answer our requests from several angles. But I have to say that this is another challenge for me and my clients: every business and professional would love to appear there!
