The importance of sentiment analysis for SEO and content marketing

Just as user intent is an essential factor that helps search engines provide the most appropriate answers to queries, it is equally vital for marketers to create attractive and relevant content that pleases the audience. Similarly, another factor that is gaining prominence in the SEO domain is the sentiment expressed by the audience towards the business in general as well as other aspects of life. The sentiment analysis helps search engines to understand the audience reaction to content and websites in a better way that is helpful to ascertain the value of content or site. As marketers and search engines both use sentiment analysis, it is going to have a growing impact on the SEO industry.

Today, algorithms can analyze billions of messages – text, images, and videos on the internet to tell you the kind of sentiment people have about you and your business or for that matter anything that people feel sentimental about. It provides enough hints about content creation that would have good acceptance among the audience. However, the technology is not for all as it is expensive, but you can jolly well create a content marketing strategy for creating content that exudes positive sentiment.

What is sentiment analysis?

Sentiment analysis is a process undertaken with the help of algorithmic tools that are capable of understanding written content as well as other communications to determine the general sentiments that emanate from the content.  The algorithmic tool is capable of understanding sentiments that are finer than positive or negative expressions. The tool can drill into the feelings so precisely that it can even go beyond analyzing text and interpret sarcasm by looking at the emojis that people use on social media when describing their experience with brands.  Brand sentiments are fundamental to read the mind of the audience and get a feel for what is going on in their minds.

Google has been using the technology in a different garb

Although the term sentiment analysis is relatively new, Bing is already using it, and Google is contemplating to start using it too. However, if you look at the way Google presents Featured Snippets you can make out that the technology is at already at work without pronouncing the term explicitly, feels the SEO experts at Vision Smash SEO York.

If you look at the modality of showing Featured Snippets, you will observe that it hinges on user intent of the search query and then goes through the indexed content to bring out the portions that match exactly with the search query. The action is the result of interpretation of sentiment. However, the limitation of the Featured Snippet is that it provides a single perspective only. For example, if the search query asks ‘Is alcohol good for health’ the result would only show content that talks about good only.

Again, for search query ‘Is alcohol bad for health’ the result would be different. However, search engine experts feel that the answer to both queries should be the same because the questions are almost the same because it wants to know whether alcohol is good or bad for health. And this is what you would find in the snippet shown by Bing that captures both perspectives and display it side by side.

Sentiment analysis in the context of SEO and content marketing

To make use of sentiment analysis in content marketing, you have to use online tools for analyzing various pieces of written content across different websites besides your website to gauge the sentiments that people express about your business.  Sentiment analysis reveals different nuances of sentiments that come between good and evil. It captures the subtle emotional tones that people use when talking about your business. These subtle tones can make a huge difference that influences the decision that people take about doing or not doing business with you.

To gather the data for sentiment analysis, you need not only rely on emails that you receive from clients or customers. Data is available from the chat transcriptions that you may have saved, and even from the reviews and comments.  To widen the net of data collection, you can use trends, hashtags, keyword strings and your brand name for gathering data from all over the internet and then use the sentiment analysis software to determine the pattern.

How sentiment analysis affects SEO

Sentiment analysis is already at work in some of Google’s activities.  Google uses RankBrain, a technology to monitor the online behavior of searchers after they find the content in search results. The tool tracks the bounce rate which shows how soon the searcher quits the site after having a look at the content and if it happens that after leaving the page the searcher undertakes the same search again, it signals that the earlier content was not appropriate. It did not solve the purpose of searching, and hence the searcher had to repeat the search. Naturally, the content would lose its ranking.

On the contrary, if a searcher spends more time on a link that appears on the second or third page of the search result, but does not repeat the search, then Google understands that the content is of good quality even though it did not rank well. Google assumes that the content solved the purpose of the searcher and rewarded it by improving its rank.

It boils down to good content

Creating good content that attracts the audience is all that you have to do for ensuring that the content generates positive sentiments. It requires a good understanding of the likes and dislikes of the target audience and then serving them with content that meets their expectations. When people like your content there are high chances that they will like your brand too. However, liking the brand is most important for business.

In addition to creating great content, you have to provide exceptional products and services too because this would enhance the scope of generating positive sentiments all across the web. The combination of good content and useful products or services can work wonders for business.