SEO marketers were quietly perplexed towards the end of 2013 and throughout 2014 whenGoogle quietly started rolling out its new algorithm, which we now know to be called Hummingbird.
As 2014 made way to 2015 many thought that the changes we were seeing were refreshes of the Panda update, but as we know now, what was released was far more significant for ‘search’.
When you consider Google searches 30 trillion web pages, 100 billion times a month, to release a new algorithm is a vast undertaking and throughout 2014 and 2015, you could see that the same Google searches mere seconds apart were returning different results if the subsequent searches were routed via a different data centre. Now we know that the update was done likely from data centre to data centre it makes sense but at the time, there was some uncertainty.
So then whats changed? Here is a few commonly asked questions about Hummingbird and how it might affect ‘search’ and the SEO on your site.
What’s “Hummingbird?”
Hummingbird is the name of the new search algorithm that Google is using, and one that Google says should return better results.
Whilst there are some 200+ major “ingredients” that go into the Hummingbird algorithm the emphasis on how the new algorithm operates is one that Google believes will make significant steps to addressing its core aim of delivering the best ‘quality’ and most ‘relevant’ content.
What about all the Penguin, Panda updates
Whilst the Panda, Penguin and other updates were changes that had long lasting and far reaching effects on web sites it is important to note that they were changes to parts of the old algorithm.
With the Hummingbird update, rather than an update to the old algorithm, it is essentially is a brand new search engine algorithm although it continues to use some of the old elements (code) that saw Penguin and Panda come to life.
What type of “new” search activity does Hummingbird improve?
With Hummingbird, and Google’s advancement of A.I. one area of significant development is “Conversational search”.
You only have to look at how iPhone users interact with Siri to see the power of vocal and conversational search. People, when speaking searches, may find it more useful to have a conversation as this follows their natural train of thought and is therefore easier to convey, especially when multitasking.
For example, “What’s the closest place to buy the new iPhone?” is a typical type of query that the old Google would bring up links to online shops thus ignoring the locational aspect of the query.
The goal for Google is that with Hummingbird, a significant shift in qualitative search has been made and pages matching the meaning do better, rather than pages matching just a few words. No longer are only globally relevant pages are served (with little local relevance) as the locality connotation to the query is now just as relevant as the word “iPhone” is. Context has taken a huge leap forward.
Does this mean SEO is dead, or just different?
In a word NO. As long as there are search engines, there will be a need for SEO to optimise your website to the constantly updating parameters that the likes gf Google implement to improve ‘search’.
In fact, Google has repeated that there is nothing new or substantially different that SEOs or publishers need to worry about as the guidance remains the same.
If you try and trick or short cut Google then yes there is something to worry about, but if you are trying to serve Google and your future visitors the best and most relevant content you can possibly offer, all things being equal you should see gains not losses as Google strives to improve ‘search’ and weed out the chaff.
Google says: have original, high-quality content. Signals that have been important in the past remain important; Hummingbird just allows Google to process them in new and hopefully better ways.
Does this mean I’m going to lose traffic from Google? If you haven’t lost traffic in the last 18-24 months, since Hummingbird was well routed and fully rolled out then you came through Hummingbird unscathed.
Unlike Panda and Penguin, with Hummingbird there’s been no major outcry among publishers that they’ve lost rankings. This seems to support Google saying this is very much a query-by-query effect, one that may improve particular searches over time — particularly complex ones — rather than something that can cause major traffic shifts.
What Next?
As with SEO in general updates to your website should be continuous and proactive rather than reactive to updates and upheavals such as Hummingbird so its always good practice to regularly take stock of how your website is performing, not just in terms of SEO but user engagement.
Edible is a Liverpool based Content Marketing and SEO business working with a broad base of clients from sectors such as business to business and business to consumer retail and services, hospitality, manufacturing, research and also financial and professional services.
For SEO Liverpool, or further afield simply get in touch for a non obligation evaluation of your website and its potential.
