Hummingbird spawns new search canon

Google’s fifteenth anniversary brought us the Hummingbird update, which is the biggest change to Google search since 2001 and impacts more than 90 percent of worldwide searches.

Hummingbird algorithm determines the user’s various search pattern using parameters like location, product features, availability etc. For example, if the user is typing a query like “The best dining spots in Dubai”, Google can now interpret it and give the relevant result on ‘best restaurants in Dubai’, based on the current location of the user. Useful information is the name of the game. Websites with more and improved quality content will win.

As key points we can summarize as these key shifts from the past:
1. Focus on Semantic search (intent, questions of consumer) rather than keyword phrases
2. Focus on content for your audience profile/ Demographic profile & not Keywords (nor keyword density)
3. Focus on conversational style instead of typical typed search

The name Hummingbird comes from being ‘precise and fast’. Hummingbird delivers an improvement in semantic search. It gives priority to the contextual meaning of the terms used in a query. This means delivering the users with the most engaging, most useful, best quality page for a query, with appropriate keywords on the page.

Long tailed keywords are now gaining its importance. So it is a good time to build your website with qualitative data or content or video or images- which is of interest to the users. Monitoring conversations on social and talking face to face with your customers will help you identify the topics. We could say, page rank is one of over 200 major ingredients that go into Hummingbird recipe. MORE content, greater is the number of search queries your site answers. This increases the chances of your website appearing in search results.

The new Hummingbird update works in two ways;

• Conventional searches instead of traditional keyword searches
• Displays search content right on the search pages which makes it easier for users to pick out the right website

The Hummingbird update will definitely impact your business. Business websites need to understand the fact that, it’s now time to take care of market research rather than keyword research. Nowadays, customers tend to make their queries in the form of questions! This means, businesses should re-think how customers are using the internet to find products and services.

Content marketing is not complicated. It is to know your audience and cater to their needs. Emotionally charged headlines will persuade the users to read deeper into the content. Content should be in context, relevant and useful to consumer. Regular update of new content will ensure the website is transformed into a trusted information hub which gets shared more often.

An ideal example for the content marketing is the presence of articles in the Nestle Family website in addition to a variety of recipes.
For instance, the article ‘Pregnancy month four: Eat iron-rich foods for a healthier pregnancy’, deals with strong content in easily understandable language. Before the launch of Hummingbird update, the above mentioned article was not ranking in Google search. But now as Google has given more importance to the content with its latest update, the article ranks at the top of search results! The article explains matters which are asked by typical category of users. There is a link at the bottom of the article which points to the article on ‘Pregnancy month five’. This brings satisfaction to the users who visit the Nestle Family article section as they get more and more information. Nestle Family has a huge collection of nutrition related articles which make the website the top pick on Google search results. Google makes it pretty sure with its latest Hummingbird update that content is going to rule the search marketing domain.

Hummingbird continues to focus on Google search where “Content is King”. The best way to be on the top of Google search is by identifying your target audience and their needs, when developing a new website strategy.

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