Monday, September 03, 2018

What are Semantic Footprints ?

Semantic footprints are a relatively new concept where search engines and other online  snooping sites use the traces thst one leaves behind in the #InterWebs to identify and monitor activities of spe ific digital entities

Digital entities are quite strange things too, and there are a few supprises within the interwebs, as there are many offline entities which have an online existence, as discussed in Wikipedia here  

Things like web pages, blog posts, social media posts and the likes are also digital entities, and as such they also leave #SemanticFootPrints.  The initial semantic footprints of your online digital assets  ( read web pages, blog posts, social media posts and the like ) consists purely of the HTML CODE , which is expanded on by links to and from each specific digital entity.

Semantic footprints can be likened to your fingerprints as a method of identifying you, or any other digital entity within the Interwebs. Besides identifying any specific digital entity, semantic footprints also describe and interpret the purpose, aims, objectives  and intent of every digital entity.

Semantic footorints are used by search engines to match the intent of web pages with the intent of search queries, and then add this info into the mix of things when supplying a #SERP or Search Engine Results Page.  

It thus follows that the SEO or Search Engine Optimisation industry needs to catch a small  wake up, and take cognisance of SEMANTIC FOOTPRINTS and how search engines are  using semantics to improve search results.