In our recent articles we discussed how to make the web work better for you when you’re searching for products or services. As I explained, it is going to be necessary to make some changes in how you present information to Google due to their use of a new algorithm called “Hummingbird.”
Years ago when I first started developing websites, I learned that the most crucial element of any website is having it perform well in search engines. After all, a website is practically useless unless it works to attain new customers and teach them about your products and services. A website has to rank well in order for it to be effective. Today I am going to provide some insight into how your business website can rank better by making it Hummingbird friendly.
As a business owner, Hummingbird is critical to how Google serves up your business in search results. Because geographical location is but one tiny factor as to how Google’s new algorithm analyzes your business, it would be worth your time to grab a cup of coffee or a latte and read the following to learn some of the basics.
The Hummingbird algorithm was launched in August of 2013 and it affects every single search performed on Google today. This new algorithm has many facets of specificity that help provide the best results in online search. Geographical location now falls second to “conversational queries,” and conversation is the main component at the heart of Google’s new algorithm. As such, it helps to understand how and why Hummingbird’s conversation component works to better serve up your business on a silver platter.
Conversational Queries
Hummingbird is primarily directed towards the ever increasing number of people who use smart phones to search the internet. As a direct result, Google had to adopt a manner to discern these long search queries that are being initiated via mobile devises. Like a three year old child learns how to listen and learn what parents are teaching, Hummingbird has been processing and learning voice commands entered on mobile devises since late 2013.
Hummingbird discerns sentences that are more like long-tail keywords than singular keywords, and searching for a product or service in 2014 is much different than typing a few words into your desktop PC in 2011. Essentially, voice searches are longer and more elaborate, so Hummingbird gives more accurate search results when longer phrases are entered. As such, it is important that your website content be written to take this new algorithm into account.
Making Content Adjustments
While the old method of utilizing singular keywords was effective, it is going to be important to adjust website content in order to provide relevant long-tail terms that Hummingbird will recognize. Does this mean that you will have to re-write all of the content on your entire website? Not necessarily. It may only be necessary to adjust the content to fit in relevant sentences and queries that appease the search giant. This should be analyzed by a professional Internet Marketing Consultant.
Changes in search ranking have been subtle. The search giant has been learning like a child to understand what people really want, and finding that information on websites that provide rich, conversational content.
Stay updated on our posts, and watch for our next article on mastering search.