SEO is always going to be dictated by what search engines do, Orange County. One is a response to the other, so SEO specialists always pay attention when Google lets them know what changes are being made to the algorithm. There’s no doubt that the implementation of the RankBrain update made for an entirely new set of optimization techniques. That is because RankBrain is the first machine learning algorithm, measuring how users react to the results that are shown on the first page. There are all sorts of diagrams and spreadsheets that have been drawn up which show how this new tool works, but what does it mean for SEO?

Optimizing For RankBrain

If you talk to an SEO company, Orange County businesses, then they will likely tell you that traditional signals like backlinks, keywords, and other tried-and-true methods will always have a place in the optimization game. However, Google explicitly stated not long ago that RankBrain is now one of its top three ranking signals. That means that you need to keep RankBrain happy to keep in Google’s good graces and get those high rankings you desire for your company website. One of the ways to do that is to improve your organic click-through rate as much as you possibly can. RankBrain wants to see that people are clicking on your site when it shows up at the top of the search terms. This shows that people are pleased with the result, and if you minimize your bounce rate, this further reinforces that notion.

One of the ways to get people to click on your site when it shows up as a search result is to add numbers to your description tag and title. Analytics tools have consistently shown that searchers are more likely to click on a site if there are numbers as a descriptor. The reason for this is certainly open to speculation, but that has proven consistently to be the case.

You also want to try and make your landing page as attractive as possible, since another aspect of the user experience for which RankBrain is looking is hover time. This is the opposite of bounce rate; it means how long a person is staying on your page and interacting with it. For more hover time, concentrate on things like bold page schemes, immediate and highly visible calls-to-action, and a statement of who and what your company is and what it does that is inescapable.

Though RankBrain is the first machine learning algorithm, it seems unlikely that it will be the last. That means that these techniques should be standard practice for some time to come, and Orange County businesses should get used to using them for SEO purposes. Keep RankBrain happy, and you’re more likely to rank. It’s that simple.