If you are an online marketer, and, more specifically, and SEO (search engine optimization professional), you need to start paying more attention to Freebase, which is a part of the Knowledge Graph. The search engines, including Google, and now Bing, are now using information from the Knowledge Graph to learn more about the relationships between things. And Freebase, as well as Wikipedia and a host of other sources, make up the Knowledge Graph.
Let’s take, for example, a search for my name, Bill Hartzer, over at Bing.com:
Click on the image above to see a larger version of it. Or, just go on over to Bing.com and search for my name, Bill Hartzer. You’ll see why you need to pay more attention to Freebase. Information from Freebase is being actively used RIGHT NOW in Bing. So, if the companies or the related subjects you help market on the web are in Freebase, then you will have the opportunity to help control the content that appears about that company or subject.
It just so happens that a while back I was put into Freebase and ended up with my very own Freebase page. And this page allows the search engines to understand more about me: that I am associated with Standing Dog Interactive, an agency in Dallas, and one of the original founders of the Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association. It is these associations or “links” or the “relationships” between these topics that allows the search engines to be better at what they do: provide us more relevant search results.
I recently participated in Google+ Hangout all about Freebase, and offered up some additional information about Freebase and it use. Among other things, it’s much easier (at least for now) to contribute to Freebase than it is to contribute to Wikipedia. Most likely, because of the Wikipedia requirements of citations, etc., many companies and individuals are left out of Wikipedia (rightfully so). But, there are opportunities within Freebase to contribute and properly list companies and individuals. Learn more about Freebase by watching this 80+ minute Google+ Hangout.
One final reason to start participating in Freebase? Back in 2010, Google acquired Metaweb, the makers of Freebase.
