Since it’s original emergence in 2015, RankBrain has appeared multiple times within SEO news and has become a significant consideration in the world of SEO. Recently, Google announced that RankBrain had become Google’s third-biggest ranking signal, meaning it has now become even more important than ever before.
Previously Google has always been tightlipped about its algorithms and their updates, so for Google to make this claim about the importance of RankBrain, it’s definitely worth taking note.
What Is RankBrain?
RankBrain is the AI (machine learning) algorithm that Google uses to sort through and understand search engine results. Google’s goal is to give it’s users only the most useful results for their search queries, offering them the most appropriate and relevant content.
What makes RankBrain unique is that it learns from users rather than just following a set of rules that have been programmed into it. Basically, RankBrain uses AI to find phrases and terms that are similar to what a user has typed in order to better understand what the intent is, returning results that feel related to what the searcher is looking for.
As an AI system, RankBrain is constantly teaching itself by paying attention to certain metrics such as bounce rates and time on page, allowing Google to understand phrases it may not have dealt with before. These days searchers are using much longer and more complex search queries and terms, often typing whole sentences or using long tail keywords to find an answer, RankBrain can interpret these requests in a way which humans could not.
What Does This Mean For Businesses?
If your content is genuinely useful then it’s likely that RankBrain will favour your content within search engine results, for example, if it applies to a number of relevant search terms and is written to suit our natural language. For example, writing your content in a way similar to how people tend to speak means it’s much more likely that RankBrain will understand what you’re saying and will rank it higher.
Google announcing that RankBrain is so important, shows a dramatic shift away from more old school SEO techniques and more towards rewarding content that is seen as valuable for searchers.
One of the reasons why RankBrain is so important is because it directly links to page rankings. While we might never truly understand exactly how RankBrain works it’s great that we have an understanding of the significance which can allow us to optimise our content to generate the best results.
It’s clear that RankBrain has broken new ground for SEO specialists and businesses alike, indicating a huge change and setting a new precedent for SEO. In order to keep up it’s important that your content stays optimised and committed to reaching high standards, allowing your business to stay relevant where others might have fallen behind.
