Understanding Google’s Passage Ranking and How to Benefit from It
Google introduced Passage Ranking in the late 2020s, changing how search results are displayed. Rather than ranking an entire web page, Google has the ability to rank specific sections within the longer content, known as “passages.”
The update affects around seven percent of search queries globally. It's important to understand Google's Passage Ranking in order to ensure your SEO strategy is a success.
This is a feature that enables Google to rank specific passages of your web page, rather than the entire page. It is used in certain queries. This means that even if your content isn't fully optimised for the query, a relevant section within your content can still display in results.
The focus is to enable Google to secure precise answers form long-form content, used in highly specific or detailed searches. It is not a separate ranking system, it is an enhancement of the existing algorithm, impacting how it provides information to users.
Google is constantly focused on improving user experience, with the implementation of Passage Ranking, Google has improved search accuracy, providing users with the most relevant results.
The most valuable content can be hidden inside longer articles, which may not be optimised for SEO. When the search engine crawlers analyse and rank individual passages within a web page, Google can extract the most relevant sections and display them in results, even when the rest of the page is not related to the query.
Google's Passage Ranking can provide numerous SEO benefits:
Yes, Passage Ranking offers some wonderful benefits, but it also comes with a number of challenges you need to be aware of:
Google's Passage Ranking can improve your online visibility, especially in detailed or specific queries. When you optimise your content structure, focus on long-tail keywords, and provide answers to your audiences questions, you can increase your changes of ranking certain passages within your content. Do you need help optimising your content for Google's Passage Ranking? The Genie Crawl team are standing by to assist you without delay. Get in touch to secure your free evaluation and quote today.
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