Google has always been geared towards bringing end users the most accurate and most relevant information in the shortest time possible. On Google’s 15th anniversary, the search giant announced the release of yet another algorithm update. This is surely good news for students who are constantly required to do Internet research, but what does it mean for the SEOs? What are its implications to the industry? What is this new algorithm exactly? And how is it different from the last update?
What is Hummingbird?
The Hummingbird is an entirely new algorithm. It approaches search engine queries in a brand new and intelligent way utilizing new technology combined with older features of the existing algorithms. It is named for the speed and accuracy of the tiny bird.
Google Hummingbird
The name of Google’s new search algorithm is called “Hummingbird”. Derived from being “precise and fast”, it’s been the biggest change in Google’s search algorithm since the Caffeine update in 2010.There were also some major changes before like Penguin and Panda, but what sets Hummingbird apart from them is that two previous ones were just changes done to some parts of the old algorithm, while Hummingbird is an entire replacement of the old one.
One of the new search activities Google features is “Conversational Search”, which is meant for smart phone users who may find having conversations more convenient when doing research.
For example, you could ask, “What’s the nearest taco store from my home?” The traditional search engine will most probably focus on finding matches for your keywords like “taco” or “store”, and then lead you to a website owned by a restaurant that sells tacos but may not be necessarily close to your home.
Hummingbird makes Google almost human with the way it responds to queries. Instead of looking at keywords, Hummingbird makes Google look deeper and focus on the whole statement or question.
In relation to the example above, the new update helps the search engine understand that you’re looking for a physical store near your area of residence that sells tacos, provided that you use the Google domain based in your country.
In a nutshell, Google responds to whole statements and questions in a way similar to how a human being would by looking at the query as a whole, and not segmenting its keywords. This then makes the results to match the query better since it looks for concepts, not words.
How Hummingbird Affects SEO
SEOs have long dreaded Google’s updates since they believe that these would mess with the ranks they’ve worked so hard for.
But Google said that as long as you have been following their age-old rule to make original and high quality content, then there’s nothing really to worry about since the Hummingbird was just meant to process information in a different way.
In a recent blog post, Krystian Włodarczyk suggests that Google is intent on reducing the importance of keywords. What will always matter is the quality of the content that an author produces. Hence, the new algorithm only has massive effect on those sites which use dirty tactics in order to achieve their ends.
Although SEO’s purpose is to get traffic, it’s not about manipulating search engines in devious ways, sending out spams, or killing web design. It’s all about making quality content that’s friendly with search engines and people alike, in a way that both would have legitimate reasons to rank it high and share it.
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