Companies create websites to establish their presence on the Internet. According to We Are Social, there are about 4.39 billion users who have used the Internet in 2019. That is more than half — about 58% of the entire world population. That, indeed, is a huge number.
Now, imagine what that number can do to your business. With that many people accessing the Internet, you can expect that there will be lots of users who will visit different websites every day. Thus, through the Internet, companies can widen their audience reach. Company websites allow businesses to showcase their offerings to their target audiences. Putting products and services on the websites is like putting them out there for everyone to see.
Just Having a Website Is Never Enough
A website is where your target market visits. They can get certain company information from the website. At the same time, potential customers can also order and buy products online. They may set appointments online to take advantage of the company’s services.
But, just putting the website out there is not enough. You need it to attract attention. The website needs to get online traffic. By doing so, it entices potential customers to your products and services. In the end, this may lead to sales conversions. As per Hosting Facts, around 80% of Internet users in the United States will most likely buy a product online.
The Use and Importance of Search Engines
A lot of Internet users use search engines like Google and Bing to get information about products and services that interest them. For instance, when they want to buy shoes online but do not know where to get them, they can do a query on a search engine. In turn, the search engine will give a list of websites that offer shoes for sale. Users can then click on the links of those websites.
According to a compilation on HubSpot, about 75% of Internet users do not go past the second page of any Google search. This means that only those websites that users can see on the first page have higher chances of gaining interests and engagements of potential customers.
So, how do you get your website up there? How do you make your website one of the top results in the Google search engine results page?
Attracting Your Target Market via SEO
SEO plays a huge part in this situation. SEO or search engine optimization uses several techniques that can help improve your website’s search engine ranking. To optimize the search engine, you need to know how it works. Artificial intelligence is the root of the process.
The Role of Artificial Intelligence in SEO
Artificial intelligence enables computers, both their software and hardware components, to mimic how the human brain works. It tackles different functions including data storage capacity and even logical reasoning.
With artificial intelligence, analysis of large chunks of data is possible. At the same time, obtaining precise information about certain topics is also a possibility. Furthermore, artificial intelligence can process data faster and deeper than the human mind.
Google uses AI to power its search engine. With AI, Google can determine which websites should be at the top of the search engine results page for a particular query. Several factors contribute to how AI determines the Google rankings. These factors include the relevance of content, the freshness of the website, its credibility, and more.
AI and Content Marketing
Of course, Google puts a lot of consideration into the content of websites. They place a lot of importance on quality content when ranking websites. This means that the higher the quality of your website’s content, the higher the chances of Google listing it as one of the top results in their search engine results pages.
Content, specifically language can be a difficult thing to come around for both humans and robots. Various words have the same spellings yet different meanings. It can be hard for robots to determine what the query is all about.
A specific search query can send Googlebots to start crawling the Internet for relevant terms and index them accordingly. When the query becomes a generic term, the same task can be difficult for Googlebots. This is where Artificial Intelligence comes in.
With a generic term, there are various specific things that the users may be looking for. For instance, if they are searching for “shoes,” they may be looking for the following:
- Stores that sell shoes, both online and brick-and-mortar ones
- Prices of shoes
- New designs of shoes available in the market
There is no way for Google to understand, at this point, what the users are looking for. As such, artificial intelligence works its magic by helping the Googlebots better understand the search intention of the users. Thus, users get better and more valuable results.
AI and Machine Learning for a Better User Experience
As a subset of artificial intelligence, machine learning involves learning from experience. This means that machine learning uses historical data to learn the trends and tendencies of Internet users. As a result, it leads to a better user experience.
Google is one of the companies that take advantage of machine learning. Through machine learning, they can refine search queries. This results in providing more relevant search results for the users. When users get more relevant search results for their queries, their user experience becomes much better.
AI for Better Analytics and Reporting
Analytics and reporting are important components that SEO teams need to use to track the performance of their digital marketing or online marketing efforts. Upon knowing their performance, they can make the necessary changes to their marketing efforts. They will also know which aspects work well and how they can improve their overall SEO methods.
Artificial intelligence can impact these components due to its powerful function. AI can unearth detailed information. Since this is the case, SEO teams can have better analytical data, which they can use to change their SEO strategies for better and more efficient results.
With the help of AI, businesses will better understand what their target market’s preferences are. When you have a deeper understanding of what your customers want, you can provide contents that are more engaging and with better quality. Ultimately, this will lead to an increase in your ROI from SEO.
AI for Personalized Customer Service
Any customer would want to have their preferences already on display on their browsers. Users expect to have the things they need after searching for them via search engine queries. With artificial intelligence, personalized customer service is indeed a possibility. AI can make search engines like Google understand the intent of the users’ search queries. Due to such understanding, the search engines can provide results pages that rank websites with the most relevant results at the top.
AI for Speed and Efficiency in SEO
Automation enables businesses to save time in their digital marketing efforts. Businesses can automate data analysis or article publications, among others. This way, they will not have to exert a lot of effort to complete the tasks.
Artificial intelligence is at work in this case. AI can help automate different SEO tasks daily. These tasks can range from publishing posts on a schedule or conducting an analysis of available SEO data. As a result, businesses can get the results they need at an efficient and faster way.
Conclusion
Indeed, artificial intelligence has a huge impact on search engine optimization or SEO. It is the backbone of how search engines work and operate. Understanding artificial intelligence and how it functions in search engines will also help you put your digital marketing efforts at a much better place. Incorporate this knowledge into your SEO strategy to help maintain the relevance of your business online.
