What exactly is Google Rankbrain?
Google Rankbrain is an AI algorithm that Google uses to sort search results and understand search queries. It tweaks the algorithm by ranking the keywords, increasing or decreasing the importance of backlinks, content freshness, length, domain authority, etc. And then it displays the results according to its performance and user’s satisfaction with the page.
And then it displays the results according to its performance and user’s satisfaction with the page.
Google recently announced that Rankbrain is their third most important ranking signal.
So let’s get to know what it is.
So how does that work?
Rankbrain has two main goals, understanding search queries and measuring user satisfaction. Google gets a lot of keywords which aren’t been seen before, so what it does is, it looks at the Keywords as concepts and tries to find pages that match the concepts.
Rankbrain actually understands what you’re searching for and provides accurate results for that.
So how does Google Rankbrain measure User satisfaction?
It shows you a bunch of results that it thinks you’ll like. If lots of people like that result, it’ll give the page a ranking boost. And if not enough people like it, the page gets downgraded.
It measures some specific ranking signals. Organic Click-Through-Rate, Dwell Time, Bounce Rate, Pogo-sticking. These are known as user experience signals. Pogo sticking is when people leave a site to quickly go to another result, it gives Google a strong signal that people don’t like that page and it immediately gets downvoted. Let’s see how keyword research works in the Rankbrain world.
The first step is to ignore the long-tailed keyword. Now we know that long tail keywords are being talked about a lot, but they are obsolete now. Since Rankbrain can understand the search intent behind your keywords, it groups the results into concepts. Therefore optimizing for different long-tailed Keywords is not a good choice anymore. Instead, aim for the medium-tailed keywords.
Medium tail keywords are not insanely competitive and get a decent search volume. When you use a medium-tailed keyword, you can rank for that keyword and also similar other keywords.
The next topic is How to Optimize Titles and Description Tags for CTR. Organic CTR, as we know, is a key Rankbrain signal.
So how can you increase the CTR of your site?
- Number one is, Pack Your Title Tags With Emotion.
Emotional title tags get more clicks. That’s the beauty of copywriting.
CoSchedule found a direct correlation between emotional headlines and social shares. - The second is to Add Brackets and Parentheses to the End Of Your Titles. This is a really good Copywriting hack and can substantially increase your CTR.
- The third is to Use Numbers. Number Improves CTR.
These are all good practices to do with your title tag optimization. But also, Don’t Forget to Optimize Your Description Tag for CTR!
Yes, description tags don’t directly help with SEO anymore. That said, I’ve found that an optimized description can significantly boost your CTR. Here’s how to create a description tag that gets results:
Click on the image to read a nice artikel on Yoast.
Your description tags don’t directly help your SEO rankings. However, they can help to increase CTR if optimized well. Make your descriptions emotional, and pack them with powerful words. Tell the people why they need to click on your result. List your Unique Selling Proposition.
Finally, include your target keyword. Google makes your target keyword bold, which makes your result stand out. That’s all there is to it.
Okay now that your website is getting traffic, people are visiting your website. Now what? Now you’re gonna have to let Google make sure that your website is making users happy. And that means
optimizing your dwell time.
Google uses some user experience signals to rank your content and dwell time is one of them.
Dwell time is the amount of time a Google searcher spends on your site after clicking on your result.
The more time you spend on a site, Google thinks that you like that result and gives the site a ranking boost.
And the less time you spend on a site, the more Google thinks that the site isn’t good enough and downgrades it.
When people click on your site and leave in a short time, it’s called the bounce rate. So How to Reduce Bounce Rate and Boost Dwell Time?
Number one, Push Your Content Above the Fold.
People want their results fast, and a huge image at the start can make them leave the site. So it’s highly recommended that you put your content above the fold and hook them up at the start only.
The second step is to Use Short Intros
Your introduction should be short and catchy. Not more than ten sentences. Your introduction can make or break your content, it can either capture readers or make them leave. Therefore put short sentences so that they can easily read and skim through the content.
The third step is to Publish Long, In-Depth Content.
Long content means better dwell time. It takes more time to read longer content, but another reason is that your query answers the question of the user. A comprehensive guide can help the users get all the information they want and more on a single page, which increases dwell time, and reduces bounce rate and pogo sticking.
The next step is to Break Up Your Content Into Bite Size Chunks.
Reading longer content can be a tough task. And it can be even harder if it’s presented as a big block of text. Therefore content should be divided into bite-sized chunks to improve readability. Use subheadings to better present your content. And make them pack an emotional punch by using power words.
Let’s talk about some bonus Rankbrain Optimization strategies.
The first is to Increase Brand Awareness and Improve CTR. If someone knows your brand, they’re more likely to click on your site on a search result page. So how can you increase it?
First, try Facebook ads. Facebook ads can help your brand be more visible and put your brand in front of more people.
The next step is to Create an insanely valuable email newsletter.
Sending good content allows you to gain a loyal audience and increase brand awareness and click-through rate. Nothing increases brand awareness more than sending valuable content to people’s
inboxes.
Content blitz. When you release lots of content in a short amount of time, that’s called a content blitz. Podcasts, Guest posting, etc can help your site get the required visibility in search engines.
Optimize your underperforming posts by adding multimedia, improving content, title tags and meta descriptions, and good copywriting.
Use LSI keywords.
LSI keywords give Rankbrain more context to better be able to understand what the page is about. And when it sees a bunch of related topics to a keyword, it gets confidence about the page’s
topic. Here is a nice video that explains the LSI keywords;