{"id":825051,"date":"2018-04-23T12:00:23","date_gmt":"2018-04-23T12:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lafactory.com\/blog\/testing-the-wordlift-artificial-intelligence-seo-plugin\/"},"modified":"2022-12-10T03:10:52","modified_gmt":"2022-12-10T03:10:52","slug":"testing-the-wordlift-artificial-intelligence-seo-plugin-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lafactory.com\/blog\/en\/testing-the-wordlift-artificial-intelligence-seo-plugin\/","title":{"rendered":"Testing the WordLift Artificial Intelligence SEO Plugin"},"content":{"rendered":"
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a complex topic. There are several things you can do to improve your site\u2019s chances of ranking better, but they involve a decent amount of work. It goes to show when it comes to SEO, there are no shortcuts.<\/p>\n
However, some tools enable you to pawn off a bit of the legwork. For example, some SEO plugins purport to use machine learning to help you format your content more efficiently. In this article, we\u2019ll talk about how machine learning is impacting SEO, and then show you how you can use the WordLift plugin<\/a> to take advantage of these developments in WordPress.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s get to it!<\/p>\n First off, let\u2019s discuss the difference between artificial intelligence and machine learning. Artificial intelligence refers to the broad concept of systems that are capable of mimicking cognitive functions, such as learning and problem solving. Most of us are familiar with the concept due to its portrayal in popular media, but for the most part true artificial intelligence is still relegated to realm of science fiction.<\/p>\n In most cases, when people talk about artificial intelligence, they\u2019re actually referring to machine learning. This is a subset of the field of artificial intelligence research that deals with self-improving algorithms that improve as they\u2019re given more information to process.<\/p>\n It sounds <\/em>like artificial intelligence, but machine learning algorithms only work in very narrow fields. For example, online retailers such as Amazon use machine learning<\/a> to figure out what products they should recommend you:<\/p>\n As good as those algorithms can get, they can\u2019t replicate true intelligence. They\u2019re far better at processing massive amounts of data than a single person could ever be, which is exactly what makes computers so awesome. Other interesting uses of machine learning include personal assistants, such as Siri<\/a>, and the algorithms Facebook uses to recognize faces<\/a>.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s now move on to the topic of SEO. A lot of the work we do to optimize content for search engines comes down to technical details. For example, we make an effort to include keywords in headings and near the start of articles. You also have to keep keyword density in mind and pay attention to the way you use external and internal links. Even if you nail all those tasks, your content might still flounder if you don\u2019t pick the right keywords to begin with.<\/p>\n Theoretically, machine learning could help you tackle all these tasks more efficiently. This would help you produce content that is more search-engine friendly<\/a> without requiring a background in SEO. However, the brunt of the work, which is creating interesting content will still fall upon you.<\/p>\n Machine learning isn\u2019t yet at the stage where it can take care of all the grunt work for you. However, there are some tools that claim to be able to help you structure your content more efficiently, which is important from an SEO standpoint. We\u2019re now going to look at one of them and see what it can do for you.<\/p>\n The WordLift Artificial Intelligence<\/a> plugin is an ambitious project that aims to help you enrich your WordPress content with contextual information. For example, the plugin can analyze your content to find related information, such as persons, locations, and that are mentioned. It can then use that information to pull contextual data from external sites, such as Wikipedia, and display it to your visitors.<\/p>\n Moreover, the plugin can help you add Schema markup to your content, making it easier for search engines to understand what it\u2019s about. Those two features alone are interesting enough, but the plugin goes a step further. It can also help you enrich content with relevant open-source images, links to other related pieces, and visualization widgets.<\/p>\n In most cases, these are all tasks you\u2019d need to perform on your own, without the aid of any tools. WordLift doesn\u2019t do the work for you automatically, but it can provide you with the data and tools you need to do it more efficiently.<\/p>\n Key Features:<\/strong><\/p>\n Price: <\/strong>$19 per month | More Information<\/a><\/p>\n As you may imagine, all the features we mentioned don\u2019t come for free. To use the plugin<\/a>, you\u2019ll need to subscribe to the WordLift service<\/a>. The plugin does offer a 14 day free trial, giving you the chance to test it out first. This is exactly what we decided to do. Once you install it, the plugin will walk you through a brief introduction of what it offers:<\/p>\n Right away, you\u2019ll need to enter your license key, which is needed for the plugin to work:<\/p>\n Next, the plugin will ask you under which directory it should add contextual data to your website. The default is set to wiki<\/em>, and you\u2019ll also need to choose a language for the plugin to work. While the plugin supports multiple languages, each key can only be associated to one language. Overall, the onboarding process is very smooth, so let\u2019s check out how the plugin does in action by loading a post.<\/p>\n To the right, you\u2019ll notice a new WordLift <\/em>widget. The plugin will automatically highlight content in your articles that it can enrich. Each of those terms will show up under the widget, enabling you to create new \u2018entities\u2019. Those are internal pages explaining what each specific term means, which enables users to learn more without leaving your website:<\/p>\n When you create a new entity, WordLift will try to find any information it can on the subject. You can modify this using a simple editor:<\/p>\n Once you add contextual information, you can also check out how the plugin adds schema markup to your content. Look for the button that says Test Google Rich Snippets <\/em>at the top of the screen and click on it:<\/p>\n During our tests, the plugin did fantastically when it came to adding structured metadata to our posts. Sometimes the schema markup returned a couple of errors. However, overall, the plugin can save you a lot of time in this aspect:<\/p>\n When WordLift adds new entities to your website they won\u2019t appear under your Pages <\/em>tab. Instead, the plugin will store them as custom post types under the Vocabulary <\/em>tab:<\/p>\n The plugin also includes widgets that you can use to lead visitors towards related content you add to your website. Here\u2019s what one such widget looks like in action:<\/p>\n Moving on, one of WordLift\u2019s most promising features is it can help you find images to use alongside your content. The plugin analyzes the entities it can identify in your posts and finds free images for you to use:<\/p>\n All you have to do is drag-and-drop images into the editor, and you\u2019re good to go. It\u2019s a timesaver, to be sure, but it only works well for broad terms. For example, the plugin wasn\u2019t much help with articles that deal with very specific tech terms.<\/p>\n Overall, we walked away pleasantly surprised by what this plugin can achieve with machine learning. It\u2019s a good option if you want to add more contextual information to your posts and improve their metadata structure. Moreover, it\u2019s compatible with other SEO plugins, such as Yoast. However, the one thing it can\u2019t do is help you write better content.<\/p>\n Moreover, right now the plugin is still in its earlier stages, and it doesn\u2019t play nice with plugins such as the Divi Builder or Gutenberg. That means it\u2019s only a valid option if you use the default WordPress editor and you don\u2019t mind paying a relatively hefty subscription fee.<\/p>\n Machine learning might change the way we tackle SEO as more and more services begin to provide such approaches to their users. However, we\u2019re still nowhere close to the point where SEO tools can take care of all the work for you.<\/p>\n Plugins such as WordLift<\/a> can help you by improving your content\u2019s metadata and pointing your readers towards other posts they might be interested in. It can also enrich your posts\u2019 metadata, but even that can\u2019t ensure better search engine rankings if your content isn\u2019t interesting to begin with.<\/p>\n How do you think machine learning is going to impact SEO moving forward? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!<\/strong><\/p>\n Article image thumbnail by Bloomicon \/ shutterstock.com<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Testing the WordLift Artificial Intelligence SEO Plugin<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nHow Machine Learning is Affecting SEO<\/h2>\n
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An Introduction to the WordLift SEO Plugin<\/h2>\n
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Testing the WordLift SEO Plugin<\/h2>\n
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Conclusion<\/h2>\n