Blog Post
Take Control of the Google Sidebar Panel
- By Alex W
- •
- 21 Sep, 2016
Would you allow someone to redesign your website, online store and unique voice without being involved? If you answered no to this question then read on ... because there's a great opportunity for you to develop the integrity of your brand message prior to Google's Knowledge Graph doing for you.
The Knowledge Graph is Google's big data machine, now matured. It stores more than data points and facts about your company. In fact, the Knowledge Graph is being programmed to recognize relationships between those data points and facts.
In search returns, information from the Knowledge Graph shows up on search Sidebar Panels (see Virgin Atlantic example) and may have the biggest branding implications ... and opportunities for your company.
Sidebar Panels are training searchers to look to the sidebar for quick answers, and to trust the information they find there. As more brands show up in sidebar panels, searchers are increasingly expecting to see your brand there, and when it does they will trust what they see.
Taking Control of Your Sidebar Panel
There are 3 steps to taking control over what is displayed about your brand in your Sidebar Panel.
Step 1 Wikipediais one of the main sources that feeds the Knowledge Graph. For brands, that means displaying basic info and a synopsis of your business model. If you do not know how to optimize Wiki then review the following resources:
Step 2 Google Plus. A lot of marketers and business owners been disappointed with Google+ as a social tool. Listen to their sage advice, but right now you can't afford to not have it since the Knowledge Graph pulls information from Google+. Ensure the brand page you create is kept up to date so your latest changes are displayed in the Sidebar Panel. Resources for optimizing Google+ include:
Step 3 Schematic Markup. Schema language code tells search engines what the words on your page actually mean. They isolate key pieces of data, so that Google knows which words/phrases are your brand name, business hours, founder's name, address, etc. Google is really clever but it doesn't hurt to help it along — especially if there is a piece of data you really want to see in your panel. Resources for Schema include:
Bottom Line: Your brand's Sidebar Panel is your new digital business card, your brand's first impression, so you need to tell Google what content needs to be there. Use search to find examples of Sidebar Panels you like prior to customizing yours. This will save both time and effort when making any structural changes to Wikipedia, etc.
Alex Wozny, is a digital analyst with amazing research skills. Through Concentric, he helps businesses develop, measure and optimize their digital advertising as well as their marketing initiatives.
A growing portion of your customers have moved away from traditional sources of expertise and turned to the web as a vehicle of verification. They trust peers more and look to the recommendations, reviews, and experiences of fellow shoppers to establish trust in a brand.
Advertisers may see more mobile impressions and a lower CTR on Search, Shopping, and Local Ads. Organic search may be deprecated. Google MyBusiness co-location with ads becomes more important.
It’s safe to say that COVID-19 has changed the way we live our daily lives, for now. It’s also changed our perception of risk and vulnerability. And it’s certainly changed the way we and your customers shop.
Many people say their perception of a company changes when they notice that there are grammar mistakes on their digital products, according to recent research from Tidio.
Finding Collaboration in digitalroadmap® strategies that create value and revenue for your business
Video advertising adoption continues to grow. Shorter video ads now perform on par with long promotions in terms of effectiveness for brand lift and purchase intent. Short video services have driven this change together with consumer trust and preference in video.
Learn about categories of keywords, the types of intent and conversion volumes you can expect, as well as suggestions of where/how to use the keywords.
Google’s new page experience ranking factor can be the tiebreaker between sites with similar reputable content. It’s also a ranking factor that can allow “small” sites to compete against larger brands.
Learn about the “ins and outs” of Google Shopping and Merchant Accounts. Understand about the ROI opportunity for your business and the foundation you need to achieve it.
