What is an entity, and why does it matter for SEO

What exactly is entity SEO?

Author: Ryan Walsh

Table of Contents

What is an entity?
How does Google treat entities?
How you should weave entities into your SEO strategy
How AI and entities work together
Table of contents:

 

Can you tell me what an entity is?

In its most general form, an entity is something singular, a thing, a place, or a concept that search engines such as Google can define as something. Whether it’s a breed of dog or a famous landmark, it’s simply something which exists.

But aren’t entities and keywords the same thing?

 

Understanding the search string

Natural language is very complicated when you think about it. For example, somebody could say, “I am going to get an apple”.
This could mean they will get a nice golden delicious apple for lunch. Alternatively, it could mean they prefer an Apple phone over another model.

This is why Google must use NLP, which is natural language processing and its wealth of knowledge around entities, to understand objects in the real world better.

Therefore, Google can better understand the search string by presenting the correct answer by looking at the context of the question.
Suppose you were to wander into any good SEO agency globally. In that case, they will say that Google now uses a blend of AI, RankBrain,

NLP, and significant Google updates, such as the Google Hummingbird update, to answer a query.

Now, what does that all mean?

To the lay person, it simply means that Google has gone to incredible lengths to produce quality answers to the queries that Google’s algorithms are asked.

In our example, if you were to ask, “Is the latest Apple any good?”, Google would know that you are not discussing an Apple, as in the fruit.

They will know that from this short question, you want to learn expert reviews on the latest Apple phone, or perhaps a MacBook has just been released, for example.

Therefore, Google now uses Google Hummingbird to answer a query more precisely.

 

Google Cloud Natural Language Processing API

You can try the Google Cloud Natural Language Processing API to see if Google understands your content marketing.

So, why not give it a try, please copy and paste in your latest blog post, to ensure that, let’s say, you’re writing a helpful DIY article promoting a hammer drill, you use Google Cloud Natural Language Processing API to make sure that Google understands that you are writing a helpful DIY related article.

 

People, brand names, places

As we mentioned a little bit earlier, if you write an article where you mention places, famous people, or let’s say brand names, what’s important to note is that Google’s algorithms use these mentions, these “entities” to understand the context of the article better.
For example, if you’re talking about a car brand, an oil brand, and mentioning specific tools, mechanics use, Google will use these to understand the article’s purpose better.

Therefore, this allows Google to understand better what the text is about. When a superb and good SEO company like ours complements this with effective on-page SEO techniques, it can help drive that page up Google’s results. Also, remember that you should always aim to produce a perfect Google EEAT score on every page and blog post you add.

 

How does entity SEO work?

Google’s Helpful Content Update and entities

So, now that you know what entities are and how they work, how do you use this understanding to improve your business’s search engine optimisation?

Well, that’s a fantastic question.

Allow us to elaborate.

What you shouldn’t do is just cram in mentions of entities because you think it’s going to boost your page’s ranking on Google.

It doesn’t work like that.

So, for example, if you’re selling ski boots, talking about famous skiing destinations, famous skiing champions, and other skiing-related items like helmets is not going to work. That approach will not cut the mustard.

However, instead, this is what you should do.

If you’re answering a question, whether it be “what’s SEO” or “where’s the best restaurant in Dubai”, you must try to offer the best possible answer you can. The question should be comprehensive, well-researched, and provide a brilliant UX.

So by UX, we mean user experience; therefore, keep your readers and audience interested in the page. You do this by answering their question as best as you possibly can. This will improve the Google EEAT score, as you should clearly show Google algorithms that you are the expert and have real-life experience of what you are talking about.

500, 600, and 700-word blog posts don’t cut it any more.

You must push the boat out in a world of semantic SEO, AI, and using Google’s Knowledge Graph and Google EEAT.

Aim to write about 2000 words, but don’t send the reader to sleep. It’s not just about reaching a high word count; you must make the written work interesting and engaging.

Content relevance

If you were to go to a large digital marketing agency, they often have a team of copywriters.
Now, the good copywriters, the ones writing copy for large international brands that need powerful SEO to deliver more sales, know that keyword stuffing is a dead tactic.

What do we mean by that?

Well, if you’re selling fireworks and keep writing the keyword “fireworks” excessively into your content marketing, this is a surefire way of obtaining a Google Panda penalty.

Google wants businesses, pages, and blog posts on its first page, which answer the customer’s question as well as a company possibly can.

Therefore, to offer a good UX, you must have a high Google EEAT score to achieve that.

Therefore, if someone asks Google what the best fireworks display is, I can obtain it for less than £100.00.

Then you should offer a comprehensive article explaining some of your firework displays. The benefits, and perhaps embedded YouTube videos, so the person can see how good your fireworks are.

However, alternatively, if you write a poorly written slab of text, just with the aim of excessively mentioning “fireworks” throughout, then this will just be deemed poorly written content marketing. Suppose you make a sustained effort to keep saying “fireworks” or any other keyword, and you do so excessively. In that case, this will trigger a Google algorithmic or manual penalty.

This means that Google knows the written work is spammy and of low quality; therefore, it’s likely that the websites will incur a penalty.

 

So, how should we use entities when writing a piece of content marketing?

Don’t aim for quantity, aim for quality.

If you are hard pressed for time, it’s a far better marketing strategy to write fewer quality articles, where you pour your knowledge into the article, rather than just aiming for quantity.

Now, when writing your article, think about the following:

– What questions would I most want us to write about?
– How can we comprehensively answer that question
– What areas should we include, such as essential milestones and aspects that must be discussed?

Now, when you take this approach to writing detailed, helpful content marketing, you will find that you will naturally write into the work many entities, such as places, brand names, and people.

 

What is Google’s Knowledge Graph and Vault?

So, Google has something called a Google Knowledge Vault.

This is the term that SEO consultants use, and we also believe in Google when describing its vault of knowledge on all entities.

So, whether it’s facts regarding the Eiffel Tower in Paris or about Tom Cruise, this is where Google holds its facts on real things.
Imagine for a second, an entity, as a bubble in the middle, let’s say it’s on “Noel Gallagher” from Oasis, then imagine a load of bubbles connected by strings, with facts on Noel, such as date of birth, the famous songs he’s written, awards he’s won, etc.

You get the picture.

Well, this is how entity SEO and Google’s Knowledge Vault work. Google knows, well, pretty much everything.

Therefore, whatever you Google, it will know about it. So, as you add facts and entities into the article, you also allow Google’s algorithm to cross-check those facts.

For example, if all of those facts are spot on accurate, well, it’s clear to Google you have put research into writing your article.

Plus, you have expertise on what you’re writing about, so that aspect of Google EEAT will also improve.

Now, for those who haven’t the foggiest clue about what Google EEAT means, it also stands for experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness.

So, one way many SEO agencies believe, including ours, is that to elevate the author’s trustworthiness, expertise, and experience, Google uses entities.

 

For example, is the content marketing content thin?

Or has it been written in such a way that it is clear as can be that the author is an expert on what they are writing about?
An expert, a real one, will have an incredible amount of knowledge on that subject. This is what Google uses to cross-check with its Google Knowledge Vault to evaluate whether you are an expert on what you are writing about.

If you are the bee’s knees.

If you can demonstrate, when writing content marketing, that you are a genius in what you are writing about, by writing an in-depth and well-written article, these are the pages that rank higher in Google’s SERP.

 

Can you tell me more about Google’s Knowledge Graph?

Google’s Knowledge Graph is simply an extensive database that allows Google to maintain an intense level of understanding of various things, places, and events. Not just that, but I also need a good sense of how these things all interconnect in the real world.

So, for example, if you research a famous actor, Google will know the films they started in and their real-life partners, and, as mentioned earlier, say whether they have won a Bafta award for their films. All of this helps Google answer any question you may have on that celebrity, such as what films they starred in in 2025.

Schema and structured data

So, when you think of most blog posts or a typical page on most websites, that page could easily have over 1000 words.

Unless good on-page SEO tactics are used, combined with Schema or another form of structured data, it can be difficult for search engines, such as Google, to fathom what that page is about.

However, your top SEO agencies know this; it’s not just about writing high-quality content marketing. It’s also about making it clear what that makes is about to Google using white hat methods of optimisation.

Therefore, it’s a delicate balancing act to clarify the products or the services you sell as a company. However, please do not overdo it so you end up keyword stuffing on that page.