How is Google Hummingbird Different?
Have you ever searched for something on Google with what you think are very relevant key words and ended up in a very bizarre place? Yup, so have we.
The problem with searching by keywords is that the results often reflect just that, the keywords, and not the meaning of the complete sentence or story. This then delivers a high proportion of results that are not really relevant to the searcher.
Enter Google Hummingbird, Google’s first major algorithm update in years. Take note of the heading of this post. It is a question you would genuinely ask out loud. You wouldn’t just stand in a room and say Google Hummingbird and expect people to know what you wanted would you? This is the key to the Hummingbird update. It’s all about the conversational search. Don’t ask Suri, ask Google.
Like it or not we have all been using Hummingbird for the last four or five weeks. The emphasis is no longer on keywords and delivering results but asking Google questions and getting answers.
What this means for a business is that in order to be held in high regard by the almighty Google, your website needs to have great quality, original and engaging content which is up to date. This is sweet music to any wordsmith’s ears, including ours. Updating a blog on a weekly basis with just any old blurb may no longer be enough; other pages across your site will also need to be regularly updated in order to attract the affections of Hummingbird. Driving searches to several different pages of your website is key, it seems. Writing content for the sake of it, just to make your site appear up to date, just won’t cut it any more. Content is king, even more so now and has to offer value and provide answers. A content strategy is now even more important than before.
Other changes you might notice are the search results. In addition to the recognisable list of search results you will begin to see a column on the right hand side of the page as a preview of content right there without you having to go anywhere else. Go on try it! Type in Made in Chelsea to a Google search. There you have it on the right hand side of the page, pretty much everything you did (or didn’t) want to know. Great news for the searcher as it helps them quickly find the information they were looking for.
If you need help in creating a content strategy and original, engaging, quality content for your site please get in touch for an informal chat to see how we can help.
