SEO Lesson: Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence has been predicted to change our future for some time now. Movies ranging from “Terminator” to Steven Spielberg’s “AI” have offered us contrasting visions of the future with artificial intelligence – at times terrifying and at times pushing us to new frontiers.

We don’t have to contend with robots that look and act just like humans yet, but we are already taking advantage of AI technology to improve the way we do business online.

Here’s your latest SEO lesson: artificial intelligence:

AI’s Role in SEO

Google has traditionally run a match game when delivering content to users. It searches for web pages and articles that have keywords that match the user’s search terms or that are similar to them.

Google has improved its algorithm over time, but it still relies on keywords and other indicators in the text to match up content with search terms.

Artificial intelligence looks beyond search terms and tries to figure out the why behind the search. AI aims to figure out what your intent is when you are searching – do you want to find out more about a subject? Or are you looking to buy a product? Or are you unclear of the search terms you need to use to find what you want?

To determine the answers to these and other questions, AI software looks at your search history, what sites you have bookmarked, what content you are clicking on, what time of day it is, where you are located, and much more.

Trying to optimize for SEO goes beyond just using the right keywords or creating topical relevance for your site. Following are some of the ways that you can improve your SEO with artificial intelligence programming in mind.

Optimize Video

Video has a prominent position in search, so it is important that your videos are getting seen and ranked.

AI software will be looking at what the video is actually about, so you need to give it as many indicators as possible. Fill out the title, the description, all the tags, and anything else you can.

Take into account what each of the elements of your video will be telling the software. For example, a shorter video is going to read as something funny or astonishing, so AI will only show that to people who are browsing for entertainment. Those who are browsing for information will typically be delivered longer videos that suggest they have some meat to them.

Make sure all the elements of your video are working to get you the audience you want.

Improve Content Quality

The better your content, the easier it will be for AI algorithms to understand what it has to offer and the more engaging it will be for audiences.

You will still need to use keywords in your content, but it is important that you are using the right keywords. Look beyond basic search traffic and competition to determine which keywords to use. Research extensively to get a complete understanding of your audience profile and use the results to inform your keyword research.

Then create content that not only includes those keywords but that also explores the topic extensively. Back everything up with facts and citations. Use video, images, and graphics to illustrate concepts. The more you can do to flesh out the content, the more signals you are creating for AI programs and the more value you are offering for readers.

Solicit Links Carefully

Links aren’t very good for your site if the people who click on the link don’t actually stick around and read your content.

You might get a link on a good site, but is it a site that your desired audience actually visits? Is it a link that will attract the kind of readers who will be interested in your content? If not, then it’s not a good link.

You need to get links on high-quality sites, of course, but you also need to get links on sites that will send you the right audience members. And you need to get link placement in a location that’s naturally going to encourage action. For example, you may run a family site and get a link on another great family site, but if your link to an article on bed-wetting is place in another article about teenage hormonal changes, it’s unlikely that the readers funneled to your site are going to be interested.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to help you get a better ROI on your paid advertising and your SEO efforts because it sends you visitors who are more likely to be interested in what you have to say (or sell). Make sure you are making the most of this opportunity by getting your site ready for AI programming. These are just a few of the things you can do to start seeing results now.

This article originally appeared in CodeFuel.