Because of all the technological advances that have been made in computing over the past decade or so, it seems amusing, if not a bit frustrating, that we still lack the ability to teach computers something as common as human language. While, admittedly, language can be rather complex, its details aren’t necessarily any more or less intricate than say, forming a proper strategy for a chess match. And yet, although we have the ability to write chess software complex enough to compete with even the best players, we still can’t manage to get a computer to understand words with the fluency of the average fifth grade student.
The inability of computers to understand language creates a bit of a problem for search engine optimization (SEO). Using a search engine, obviously, involves words. And because it involves words, a computer’s capacity to understand them is crucial for returning the most relevant results.
Synonyms are a key example of the importance of this function. Say for example, someone working with search engine optimization (SEO) is using the term, “kitty” as part of a keyword. When a person conducts a search in which that term is one of the words, a search engine has to understand that the same term with the word “kitten” used in its place is still relevant. Although this appears to be a relatively basic understanding, it can be incredibly difficult teaching this symmetry to a computer.
For people involved with search engine optimization (SEO) then, it’s rather fortuitous that Google’s search algorithm has made a number of strides in this regard. As seen in the above example, the company’s search engine already has the ability to make these kinds of simple distinctions. Of note, is the fact that the search engine results page (SERP) bolds the synonymous words, even though it wasn’t the actual term searched for by the user. This allows that user to understand why the result is shown, especially if the original term wasn’t included in the result.
As one would imagine, this has a few implications for search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Because Google’s algorithm has shown that it’s capable enough to understand lingual concepts as complex as synonyms, simpler notions such as pluralized words also display as relevant results. Consequently, it’s often advantageous to use a pluralized version of a word (i.e. computers vs. computer), as the search engine is likely to understand that the two terms are essentially the same thing, and your keyword (computers) will still show as a result in a search for the singular version of the keyword (computer).
It’s important to note, however, that such a strategy isn’t fully reliable. As noted earlier, the subtleties of language can be difficult for software to comprehend, and as such, Google’s algorithm is still occasionally prone to mistakes. Regardless, being aware of such strategies and limitations is key for proper search engine optimization.
Written by Kenny K.