What is Google's RankBrain?

RankBrain is an algorithm learning artificial intelligence system. In an interview, Google commented that RankBrain was the third most important factor in the ranking algorithm along with links and content.

If RankBrain sees a word or phrase it isn’t familiar with, the machine can make a guess as to what words or phrases might have a similar meaning and filter the result accordingly.

RankBrain attempts to guess what people mean when they search.

Is there are RankBrain score?

Google uses an internal PageRank score to judge the quality of the links that point to a site. There also is an internal quality score that judges the quality of the content of a web page. Does Google also use such a score with RankBrain?

Google's Gary Illyes said on SMX Advanced 2016 that there is no RankBrain score. He also said that you cannot optimize your website for RankBrain. Google's John Mueller confirmed this last week:

So you cannot optimize your website for RankBrain?

Although Google says that RankBrain is a ranking signal, it is not really a signal such as links and contents. However, there are some things that you can do to make sure that RankBrain will work in your favor:

1. The content of your pages is more important than ever before

Google wants to show the best results on the results pages. It's not enough that a page of your website is somehow related to a specific keyword. Your website must be relevant to a particular topic.

Without good content, it will be very difficult to get high rankings. Take your time to develop good content for your website.

2. Your website needs a clear focus

Websites that deal with many different topics are more likely to be flagged as spam (for example 'How to' websites with thousands of topics). The easier it is to find out what your website is about, the more likely it is that your website will get good rankings.

Do not focus on individual keywords, focus on topics. The pages of your website should contain many different keywords that are all related to the topic of your website.

3. A clear website structure helps a lot

Google wants to find out what your website is about. If your website structure helps Google to understand your pages, it is more likely that your pages will get good rankings.

Use categories and sub-categories, use folders and an easy to understand website navigation menu. Breadcrumb navigation also makes it easier to understand the structure of your website: Homepage > Category > Sub category > Tag > Page viewed

Optimize your pages for high rankings

While it is not possible to optimize your website for Google's RankBrain, you still can optimize your web pages for high rankings on Google. The tips above can help you with that.

If you want to further improve the rankings of your web pages on Google, check your website with the website audit tool in SEOprofiler and optimize your pages with the Top 10 Optimizer. If you haven't done it yet, create your SEOprofiler account now.

Article by Axandra
SEO software