Google Knowledge Panels 101: How to Claim, Edit and Feed your info
Has your Google Knowledge Panel been a source of frustration? If you can’t claim it, don’t know how to edit it or don’t know how to feed your information in, don’t worry, WordPlay T. Jay has the answers you need.
For starters, you do not need a Google+ activated to claim or edit a Knowledge Panel, but you do need a Google account, such as a Gmail. Google Chrome is also the preferred browser when doing anything with a Knowledge Panel.
To claim a panel, you must log into your Google account, search your name, then below the Knowledge Panel, hit the “Claim This Knowledge Panel” button. If that button is not there, you need more information about yourself fed into the Google index, which will be addressed later in this article.
Once you click the “Claim This Knowledge Panel” button, follow the instructions and prompts provided by Google.
After claiming the Knowledge Panel, you will now be able to make your own edits. You can suggest an edit, but the easier way is to hit the “Post Updates on Google” at the top of the Knowledge Panel. This sends you to a settings area where you can do things like create stories, post articles, post videos, change your image or logo, add users (such as managers) to edit your panel, submit name change requests add social media accounts promote events and more.
To update your info, like to add social media sites or adjust images, go to the settings and hit the pencil icon next to “Update your info on search.” You should also add your website, as any blog post, new music post, video or image will be automatically indexed by Google.
If at any point you need help, Google offers a quick start guide available after you’ve claimed your Knowledge Panel.
There are a number of key things to remember going forward to make sure your Knowledge Panel is up to snuff. To do so, you want to make sure Google is indexing as much information about you from as many relevant websites as possible.
Most importantly, YouTube is the first thing to feed into the Google index. For this reason, if you do not already have a YouTube channel, create one, then make sure to post videos and use YouTube as a branding tool. To streamline this, go to YouTube and log in. Click your picture at the top right, then go to Creator Studio. Once there, click your image again and hit the settings icon, and click the “See all my channels or create new channel” link. From there, click the Create New Channel box and create your brand. You can also integrate any existing original YouTube content under this brand.
Another key to branding and filling out a Knowledge Panel is to distribute your content through CDBaby, TuneCore, DistroKid or any other online distribution service. Each website is indexed by Google and will beef up your Knowledge Panel.
To further help Google index your brand, stay active on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, SoundCloud, Genius and Instagram. Doing so will give Google an abundance of information to build your Knowledge Panel. Also be sure to have a strong bio and links to other social media sites on each of your individual social media accounts. Help people access your content across as many platforms as possible.
Finally, get a MusicBrainz account. This is essentially Wikipedia for music and will allow you to add your albums, singles and other information, which will in turn be added to your Knowledge Panel. Getting your own Wikipedia page is also important, but can be a big hurdle. To do this, take the time to post blog articles about who you are, do media interviews and build on your pages. The key factor for getting a Wikipedia page is to have verifiable links to information about you.
All this will help you build your brand and make you easier to find on Google! For a visual of what the menu’s look like, check out WordPlay T. Jay’s video below.
