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All You Want To Know About Google’s Hummingbird Algorithm

If you have heard of Hummingbird, but are not sure what it is and how will it affect your online business, you have come to the right place. Here, you will get answers to all your queries regarding Hummingbird in an easy-to-understand language.

What is “Hummingbird”?

Google has a new search algorithm, called “Hummingbird” to offer better search results. This system is used to sort through all the information it has when it search.

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What are the major improvements in Hummingbird?

Hummingbird algorithm involves longer search queries. Rather than just examining each word in a search, Google is now focusing on the query as a whole and processing the meaning behind it. Previously, the search results were based on the individual words in a search and providing results that matched those words. But now, with Google’s Hummingbird, the search is more “human-friendly” as Google has become better at understanding language and how people communicate.

How is Hummingbird a mind-reading algorithm?

Google wants to understand what is on your mind and tries to provide you with the most relevant search results. For example, you’re signed in to Google and have provided them your office address in Google Maps. Now, you search for “Italian restaurants near my office.” Prior to this update, you might get a Wikipedia article about Italian restaurants, or office décor websites titled “my office” or might get some map results based on your current location. With Hummingbird, Google understands what’re you looking for and provides you with a list of Italian restaurants near your office. The search results have been improved in terms of meaning behind the search.

What is the purpose of Google’s Hummingbird?

Google’s hummingbird has been designed with the purpose of delivering enhanced search results to the users especially with voice queries. It is an attempt to providing more accurate results by understanding the intent of the search and then refining those results on specific contexts such as location. Hummingbird tries to understand the entire query rather than just the keywords.

Does this mean SEO is dead?

If the idea that comes to your mind is that SEO is dead, dismiss it. Everything that worked before will continue to moving forward. This covers:

Original and quality content
Keywords need to be carefully placed
Understanding of your prospect’s possible intents
Use of long tail keyword defined by human desires, not keyword strings

How are the search results affected with Hummingbird?

Hummingbird better understands the meaning of query by recognizing and then connecting entities and attributes contained within search queries to the knowledge data. The important factors that are considered while providing search results include the location of query, the time of day or seasonality, and who is searching based on personalization. Also, it considers the device on which the search is being conducted such as desktop, mobile or tablet.

How does it relate to online marketing?

There’s a direct correlation between ranking high in search results and resulting traffic to a website. The latest update is a continuing effort by Google to clean up their search results by cutting back on IT and marketing tricks that lessened the value of an average search. Those sites that do not follow Google’s new guidelines and continue to focus on keyword stuffing without usage of relevant content have seen a significant drop in the traffic. Legitimate online businesses are making efforts to develop and distribute content that is informative and can be easily shared across social media platforms.

How can I benefit from Hummingbird algorithm?

Hummingbird is essentially beneficial for businesses who are trying to leverage the local events and news to update their websites. Hummingbird offers enhanced search results and finds relevant content that aligns with search made by the users. You will benefit from the long-tail keyword generation tools to make relevant keywords and optimize website for those. So, focus on:

• Creating human-focused content
• Identify entities and connections in content for search engines to take notice on.
• Content is of high quality and sharable.

In essence, Google’s hummingbird focuses on providing relevant and high quality search results that match with the user search. In a simple language, it filters content in an effective way. How is the new Hummingbird algorithm affecting your business search results? Share your views with us via our comments section.