When you think of SEO, you might think of trying to drive traffic from search engine results pages (SERPs). Believe it or not, there’s more to optimize on a SERP than just the organic results – Google also includes a ton of rich information to the right of the search results, in knowledge panels. Google’s knowledge panel is an eye-catching snapshot of your brand that appears in the right-hand side of the results page with your logo, photos, summary of services, background, company information, and other details.
Google, in typical fashion, decides what information is displayed on your knowledge panel as well as whether or not a knowledge panel shows up for your brand. You can’t command Google to publish a knowledge panel for you, or instruct them on exactly what information to put in it, but we have a solid idea of where Google looks to find information to create and fill knowledge panels. We’ll show you where to set up profiles and place data about your brand so Google, when it’s good and ready, can create a knowledge panel for you.
What Goes Into a Google Knowledge Panel?
When you Google a particular brand that has a knowledge panel in Google, whether it’s a business or a person, you’ll see a breakdown of the brand’s details so you can quickly learn about them without putting in much effort.
There are two types of knowledge panels: local business, and business/personal brand panels. The difference between the two is that local business knowledge panels provide information such as location and opening hours, while branded knowledge panels give more of an overview of the company or person.
What Are the Benefits of a Knowledge Panel?
A knowledge panel conveys your trustworthiness as a brand and authority in your space, which are widely considered to be contributors to website traffic and conversions. From a more search-focused standpoint, the presence of a knowledge panel is an indicator that Google understands your brand and is able to extract and assemble data related to that brand. That deep understanding of your brand by Google is a major factor in your brand’s rankings on the results page.
How To Get A Local Business Knowledge Panel
If you’re marketing a local business such as a restaurant, car dealership, law office, or something similar, the first step is to create and verify a Google My Business account. This is generally good practice for local SEO, as you’re able to get your business listed on Google Maps, and let users leave reviews. Most of the time, this is all the information Google needs to create a knowledge panel for your local business. Be sure to keep your Google My Business account updated with your opening hours, address, and phone number, as users will likely use the information straight from your knowledge panel.
If you have had a Google My Business account for some time and still are not seeing a knowledge panel for your business, try implementing the steps below for how to get a branded knowledge panel.
How To Get A Branded Knowledge Panel
Compared to local business knowledge panels, it takes considerably more groundwork for a branded knowledge panel to show. Here are a few things you can do to increase your chances of getting one:
Google My Business
Similar to local business knowledge panels, it’s a good idea to start by setting up a Google My Business account.
Wikipedia
Creating a page for your brand on Wikipedia isn’t quite as simple as creating, say, a Facebook page, but it can be done by following these steps. You’ll notice that almost every branded knowledge panel cites Wikipedia for the description and some other data, so it’s safe to assume that it plays a large role in Google’s decision to add a knowledge panel to your relevant search results.
Wikidata
Wikidata is a large database of structured data that coincides with Wikipedia. Google calls upon these data to fill in some of the data fields in your knowledge panel. Create an account on Wikidata to see if any information is available on your brand. If so, ensure that it is accurate, and if not, you can start adding in information such as the company headquarters, executives & founder(s), founded date, and more.
Structured Data
Structured data is another highly-recommended strategy, not just to prompt a knowledge panel, but for search engine optimization in general. Structured data can be added to your website’s pages to summarize the most important information on that page. Through structured data, you give Google easy access to your social links, logo, and brand information. Visit www.schema.org for more information about structured data.
Time To Get To Work!
As you can see, impressing Google enough that they’ll publish a knowledge panel for you requires going the extra mile. However, doing so will be very useful to search users and could give you a major leg-up on your search competitors. It should also be reinforced that applying the steps above do not guarantee a knowledge panel on a search results page, but individually, these steps are all worth the effort as they all contribute to healthy SEO. Good luck!
