Knowledge panels have been instrumental in enabling marketers to boost their visibility in the SERPs since their introduction in 2012. Until now there has been no ability to actually edit them, but now for the first time, Google is allowing individuals and organisations to suggest edits to their own panels. You can read more about this here.
What is a Knowledge Panel?
Your own business information in the knowledge panel shows in a box to the right of the search result when someone has searched for the business specifically. The information in the box, called the knowledge panel, can help customers discover and contact your business.
The Knowledge Graph is an intelligent system that taps into Google’s huge database of information and seeks to understand and learn the real-world connections between them. This is what feeds into your knowledge panel and works on a latent semantic indexing basis – Google understands that there are many words associated with a theme. So instead of interpreting every keyword and query literally, Google infers and makes its own conclusion of what people are looking for.
As an example, if I search for ‘England Football Team’, here is the knowledge panel which contains links to Harry Kane, other team members, Wikipedia information and relevant YouTube videos:
In its early days, these panels were static, but today you can book movie tickets, check flights and train times, watch YouTube videos, and even listen to your favourite tunes on Spotify through these panels.
How are knowledge Panels useful for my Business?
Knowledge panels are especially useful for brands. They’re great for visibility and reinforcing brand authority. If you are a restaurant for example, your panel will show images, reviews, opening times, popular or busy times, links to your menus and questions and answers.
How do I Suggest Edits to my Panel?
By taking ownership of your Knowledge panel, you’ll be able to suggest changes and influence things such as the displayed logo, featured image, contact information, and social profiles.
Firstly you will need to be verified as an official representative of the entity or business. To get yourself verified follow the instructions here.
After you are verified you can follow the instructions here to suggest your edits.
Can we Help?
Here at All Things Web®, we help businesses with all aspects of their online marketing and often that includes helping them with processes like this which can seem complicated and frustrating. We work in a very flexible way and can offer training, so that you can learn for yourself, we also offer local seo services if you would rather it was all taken care of for you. Why not give us a call on 01285 50 55 50 to find out more about our services.