Does Google Understand The Way You Write Your Content?

Check how Google understand the way you write your content, determine text quality, readability, writing skills & how it affects SEO strategy

By Claudio Pires
Updated on June 12, 2023
Does Google Understand The Way You Write Your Content?

Yes, Google understands the way you write your content, so it matters for SEO. As a result, readability and your writing skills are important for your page rank and search engine results. Check how Google understand the way you write your content, determine text quality, readability, and writing skills & how it affects SEO strategy.

How does Google understand The Texts You Write?

We know that Google understands the text of some metrics. Think about it: one of the most important things Google has to do is match what the user types into the search bar to a search result. User signals alone won’t help Google to do this.

Moreover, we also know that it is possible to rank for a phrase that you don’t use in your text (although it’s still good practice to identify and use one or more specific keyphrases). So clearly, Google does something to read and assess the texts you write in some way or another.

Honestly. We don’t know how Google understands the contents you write. The information isn’t freely available. And we also know, judging from the search results, that a lot of work is still to be done. But there are some clues here and there that we can draw conclusions from. We know that Google has taken big steps in understanding context.

We also know that it tries to determine how words and concepts are related to each other. How do we know this? On the one hand, by analyzing some of the patents Google has filed over the years. On the other hand, by considering how actual search results pages have changed when you got how Google understand the text.

One exciting technique Google has filed patents for and worked on is word embedding. I’ll save the details for another post, but the goal is to find out what words are closely related to other words. This happens: a computer program is fed a certain amount of text.

It then analyzes the words in that text and determines what words tend to occur together. Then, it translates every word into a series of numbers.

This allows the words to represent as a point in space in a diagram, a scatter plot, for example. This diagram shows what words are related in what ways. More accurately, it shows the distance between words, sort of like a galaxy made up of words.

So for example, a word like “keywords” would be much closer to “copywriting” in this space than it would be to “kitchen utensils”.

Interestingly, you can do this not only for words but for phrases, sentences, and paragraphs as well. The bigger the data set you feed the program, the better it will be able to categorize and understand words and work out their use and meaning.

And, what do you know, Google has a database of the entire internet. How’s that for a dataset? With a dataset like that, it’s possible to create reliable models that predict and assess the value of text and context.

From word embeddings, it’s only a small step to the concept of related entities (see what I did there?). Let’s look at the search results to illustrate what related entities are. If you type in “types of pasta,” this is what you’ll see right at the top of the SERP: a heading called “pasta varieties,” with several rich cards that include a ton of different types of pasta.

These pasta varieties are even subcategorized into “ribbon pasta”, “tubular pasta”, and several other subtypes of pasta.

And lots and lots of similar SERPs reflect how words and concepts are related to each other. After typing [types of pasta], Google now shows this entity-based rich result

The related entities patent that Google has filed mentions the related entities index database. This is a database that stores concepts or entities, like pasta. These entities also have characteristics. Lasagna, for example, is a pasta. It’s also made of dough.

And it’s food. Now, by analyzing the characteristics of entities, they can be grouped and categorized in all kinds of different ways. This allows Google to understand better how words are related and, therefore, to understand the context better.

How To Make Your Texts Easier To Read?

Actually, all of this leads us to 2 essential topics. Keep reading how Google understands the way you write your content, determine text quality, readability, and writing skills & how it affects SEO strategy.

The Content Itself

If Google understands the context you write in some way or another, it’s likely to assess and judge context. The better your copy matches Google’s notion of the context, the better its chances. So thin content with limited scope is going to be at a disadvantage.

You’ll need to cover your topics exhaustively. And on a larger scale, covering related concepts and presenting a full body of work on your site will reinforce your authority on the topic you specialize in.

Writing Skills: How Google Determine Content Quality?

More accessible texts which clearly reflect relationships between concepts don’t just benefit your readers, they help Google as well to understand the quality of the text.

Complex, inconsistent, and writing with poor structure is more difficult for humans and machines to understand. You can help the search engine (Google) understand your content & texts by focusing on what you write on.

Readability (that is to say, making your text as easy to read as possible without compromising your message). Structure (that is to say, adding clear subheadings and transitions). Context (that is to say, adding clear explanations that show how what you’re saying relates to what is already known about a topic).

Final Thoughts

The better you do, the easier your users and Google alike will understand your text and what it tries to achieve. Check how Google understand the way you write your content, determinate quality, readability, and writing skills & how it affects SEO strategy.

Mainly because Google seems to be trying to create a model that mimics the way we humans process language and information. And yes, adding your keyphrase to your text still helps Google to match your page to a query.

Claudio Pires

Claudio Pires is the co-founder of Visualmodo, a renowned company in web development and design. With over 15 years of experience, Claudio has honed his skills in content creation, web development support, and senior web designer. A trilingual expert fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, he brings a global perspective to his work. Beyond his professional endeavors, Claudio is an active YouTuber, sharing his insights and expertise with a broader audience. Based in Brazil, Claudio continues to push the boundaries of web design and digital content, making him a pivotal figure in the industry.