Vector icon of a knowledge graph put behind a white background.

Imagine life without Google. Almost impossible, right? The world’s most-accessed search engine has jaw-dropping statistics that prove its mettle. Google boasts tens of thousands of searches per second amounting to billions of searches per day. The world’s most-wanted search engine is always one step ahead, developing and launching useful technology for its trillion users worldwide.

Our article takes an up-close look into Google’s Knowledge Graph and Knowledge Panel- two important search APIs (Application Programming Interface) that play an important role in your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

An Introduction to Knowledge Graph & Knowledge Panel

Google’s Knowledge Graph- What is it?

Let’s explain this in the simplest possible way. We all know that Google’s core purpose is to provide answers for all its searches. To do so, it presents all the possible results that closely match a search term. And that’s not all. Google goes one step ahead to harness and collects massive amounts of data to build a knowledge base of entities and their relationships. This is Google’s Knowledge Graph, a database of countless information about people, places, and things.

The Knowledge Graph is hard to see, but the results are tangible. It is indispensable in enabling the search engine to understand search queries and deliver more relevant results for users.

So, What is Knowledge Panel?

Try this. Type a search query in Google’s search box and hit the search button. Along with your results, you will find an information box on the right side of your screen. This box is called the Knowledge Panel and contains context-specific information generated from the Knowledge Graph-based on your query.

Google’s Knowledge Panel has distinctive features like:

  • A short title.
  • A small summary of the topic.
  • A picture of the place, person, or thing.
  • A list of key facts.
  • Links to social media profiles and other related websites.

Google’s Knowledge Graph was launched in 2012. The Graph has over 5 billion entities and over 500 billion facts to support search queries. To better understand the Graph, picture it like a mind map that can understand each entity and connect similar entities with each other.

Knowledge Panel, on the other hand, is a good way to gain visibility in Google search results and also an entry point to voice search.

Knowledge Panel: The Bigger Details

Generally, there are two types of Knowledge Panels:

Local Panels

Local Panels are information boxes that Google displays for search queries with local intent. Local panels typically contain business-related information such as:

  • Location
  • Working hours
  • Contact details
  • Images of products or services
  • Reviews

Google allows businesses to display a local panel for related search queries. To get a local panel to be displayed on Google search for your business, you should:

  • Open an account on Google My Business.
  • Edit relevant information about your business.
  • Verify the site with Google Search Console
  • Add structured data markup

Local panels are extremely useful for people to find business-related information that facilitates their decisions. They can directly call the business, visit the store, check for product availability, and gain additional information through reviews.

2. Brand panels

Also known as personal panels, brand panels are awarded by Google to acknowledge a person or brand. It is not possible to apply for a brand panel. Rather, it will automatically appear if your brand, business, or name has enough authority. Generally, brands and people who have Wikipedia pages dedicated to them have brand panels.

Knowledge panels are great assets, especially for businesses. Of course, you have to be quite fortunate and famous to earn a brand panel. Whether you have a local or brand panel, you should make sure you manage the right to make the most of them. In short, what you need is good Knowledge Panel Management.

How to manage your Knowledge Panel

Whatever you do to optimise and influence the contents of your knowledge panel will impact how it influences your business, brand, or name. Generally, all Knowledge Panels are triggered by Google’s Knowledge Graph. However, it will also contain information from the search results that appear on the left-hand side of the page.

Managing a Knowledge Panel requires two approaches:

  • Optimising the entity using strategies based on the Entity Home.
  • Boosting the content rankings in the blue links with SEO strategies.

What’s the Difference Between Knowledge Panel and Knowledge Graph?

People often confuse Knowledge Graph with Knowledge Panel. While both are related, they are distinctively different in their features and purposes.

Knowledge Panel is the informative box you see on the right-hand side of your search page. Of the two, the Panel is the only tangible, visible aspect anyone can see. The knowledge Graph, on the other hand, is the invisible engine that powers the Panel.

Think of the Graph as a massive virtual encyclopedia of facts shared across the vast Web, licensed databases, and open sources. Knowledge panels are displayed to the right of search results to display the information that Google believes is most relevant based on what it understands about semantic search and the relationships between entities.

Since its introduction a decade ago, Google’s Knowledge Graph has been growing in popularity amongst users worldwide. Besides, SEO experts swear by Knowledge Graph as an indispensable weapon to boost SEO rankings. Web design firms and digital marketers with the best SEO services can implement Knowledge Graph to improve their website rankings like never before.

4 Ways Knowledge Graph Influences SEO

1. Helps Google understand the search intent

SEO experts believe that articles enriched with semantic information have a better chance of getting found since they add to the amount of information extracted.
Annotations and links within articles provide Google’s search engines with key indicators of why a piece of content may be relevant to given search intent.

Knowledge Graph allows Google to:

  • Search beyond keyword matchings.
  • Find more relevant results.
  • Highlight the connection in the Knowledge Graph.
  • Provide entities to answer the query.

2. Helps Google accommodate voice searches

For those who find typing a chore or an inconvenience, Google Assistant has become the more reliable way to initiate a search query. Thanks to Google, Assistant is built into more devices; people are now conducting search queries in their local languages. Therefore, it only makes sense for Google to prioritise voice searches in local languages.

Improving semantic searches with Google Assistant is an easier way to make the search engine understand the content relevancy with specific intent.

3. Improves brand visibility and authority

A knowledge graph linked with your website’s metadata carries more value than snippets or Google Assistant. When your brand or business is listed in Knowledge Graph, they get more visibility, authority, and trust from the searchers. Moreover, your company logo may also appear for non-branded queries.

4. Improves SEO with Featured Snippets

Featured Snippets use images, styling and other features to highlight text excerpts that appear on top of Google SERPs in a position called Position 0. A proper Featured Snippet is made up of several elements like:

  • Text snippets
  • Table snippets
  • Video snippets
  • List snippets

The Knowledge Graph results, displayed as featured snippets, appear alongside organic search listings at the top of every SERP, so users don’t have to click through many pages to get answers upfront. Everything depends on the data that connects articles and facts in a machine-friendly manner, whether it’s a featured snippet showing up on the SERP of Google or an app giving you an answer via voice commands.

The Downside of Knowledge Graph & Knowledge Panel

The Knowledge Graph allows Google to answer more queries directly in the SERP. Thus, more than half of the search results result in no clicks. Google displays data from the Knowledge Graph in the Knowledge Panel, which does not turn out to be advantageous for SEOs at all times.

Here’s the problem. When Users do not click the results, businesses lose a lot of organic traffic, even if they rank number one. This is one of the main flipsides of relying solely on Knowledge Graph and Panel.

However, there is a solution to tackle this problem. SEO can avoid using keywords with low organic click-through rates. Since all the relevant information is structured in a graph, it is condensed in an easy-to-read, organised format.

Tips to Use Knowledge Graph to Optimise Your SEO & Rankings

The first step to optimising both Knowledge Graph and Knowledge Panel is to add your business to the former to get featured in the latter. This will give Google direct access to your information and assess your brand’s trustworthiness. When Google knows your business and name are trustworthy, it is more likely to highlight your information to users as Featured Snippets and Knowledge Panels.

To bring your business to this coveted position, you must:

  • Use link building to boost your PR
  • Create a page on Wikipedia
  • Create an entry on wikidata.org
  • Refine your web content
  • Stay active and relevant
  • Create an account on Google My Business
  • Use Schema Markup on your website

Knowledge Graph and Knowledge Panel- The Best of Both Words

Ultimately, if you were to ask which one is better, you wouldn’t find an answer because both play significant roles in boosting your SEO. Knowledge Graph is vital for a good search experience, and Knowledge Panel is vital for search results.

The crucial aspect that links the two is this: The information displayed on the Knowledge Panels greatly depends on how much data the Knowledge Graph has on that particular entity. So, eventually, you need a smarter, more intuitive Knowledge Graph to boost your SEO and grab the top rankings!

Rely on Digital SEO Expertise

Complexities like Knowledge Panel and Knowledge Graph are best left to experts at Digital SEO, Chennai. Our team has years of experience rendering exclusive digital marketing services for businesses across various sectors. Connect with us today, and allow us to fulfil your online marketing requirements.

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I’m Eivine Renny, a content marketer who believes that words spell magic and trusts in the power of words above all! As a content marketer in the endless galaxy of contents, I can lend a helping hand in making your contents shine with a sparkle that captures attention!

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