There has definitely been a buzz on the internet lately that you may or may not have heard. If you listen closely, it is the hum of a hummingbird. Google's latest algorithm "Hummingbird" has created quite a commotion, even a panic to some in the world of SEO.
Hummingbird was announced on Google's 15th Birthday, September 27th, 2013, but has been in place since August 30th. We haven't personally noticed a drop off in our site traffic since the algorithm change, but we don't necessarily monitor our site traffic to the point of obsessing over it. For years our philosophy has been "Quality vs Quantity" and we focus on relevant, quality searchers who are likely to hire us. However with any algorithm change we must be mindful of our own rankings as well as our clients. From everything I have read, I really think this update is a good thing, especially since it is really focused on location, context, voice and the mobile user. If I had to describe this change in layman's terms I would say, "Google's robot is becoming a little more human and a lot less "robot-y", it's not ignoring all of your words and just focusing on a keyword. It is keying in on what you are really asking. Google wants to understand and help you find the most relevant information because it cares about what you are really asking. This is a big change for Google, it is a blend of old and new, with more of a focus on the new, meaning the way people are searching today. Remember, the algorithm changes aren't made to make our lives miserable, rather they are made to improve google SERPs and to keep delighting the users. Essentially Google makes these changes to be the best search engine so you will continue to use it. My advice to make the most of Hummingbird is to shift your focus from keywords to your content; provide quality answers and solutions to what people are likely to use to find a company like yours. Establish yourself as an industry expert, by blogging, and using social media to engage in conversations. Embrace inbound marketing.
And...last but not least we were all wondering when Google+ was going to come into play, how about with a hashtag in front of your keyword? Thats right, just throw a hashtag in front of your keyword on google+ and people can search google for results pertaining to the hashtag. Pretty cool right? I myself feel a little bit like the name Hummingbird is making a little more sense since the blue bird we all know as Twitter has been doing this for a few years. I wonder if Twitter is feeling flattered? I think Hummingbird is just the beginning for Google search 3.0, I think it is taking flight and still learning to fly and it will improve over time. Companies need to shift away from the old way of doing things in order to be recognized by the new. I also think this shift will move more companies to use Google Adwords for their business, especially if your business relies on local traffic.
As a side note, along with the release of Hummingbird, Google also pulled the plug on their Keyword Tool that our industry has used for keyword intelligence. Not having access to this historical keyword data is making it much more difficult, but not impossible to find opportunities and track results and traffic based on "keywords" in search terms. If you use Google Analytics, or even marketing automation software like HubSpot, you will see that there is a sudden increase in "unknown keyword (SSL)". Definitely making it a bit more tricky to figure out what term exactly a person searched for to get to your site. Well of course, unless you have a Google Adwords account then you can use the new Keyword Planner Tool, which Google describes on their website "The Keyword Planner combines the functionality of the Keyword Tool and Traffic Estimator into a smooth, integrated workflow. You can use Keyword Planner to find new keyword and ad group ideas, get performance estimates for them to find the bid and budget that are right for you, and then add them to your campaigns." Interesting, isn't it? I thought so too. :)
