At Search Control, we work daily to help small businesses rank higher in search engine results. Search engine optimization is constantly changing and about a week ago Google announced “Hummingbird” as its new algorithm, which will affect about 90 percent of all searches. This new algorithm will ultimately change the way people approach SEO and content marketing for online search results. Today we would like to share with you a few different ways that online marketing agencies will need to help small businesses achieve results with ‘Hummingbird’.
How Hummingbird Will Change SEO
Mobile Phones
The majority of people today use their mobile phones to search for things online today. Hummingbird will launch more optimized search results for mobile Internet surfers. Content must support mobile search results, because Google understands the importance of mobile searches that are now optimized by touch. Also Google recognizes the importance of people wanting to search through voice activation (i.e. Siri), which will also affect SEO in the future. Voice search queries will be longer and more complex, like for the answer to a question. Hummingbird is designed to deliver better results, so content marketers need to understand exactly what answers mobile users and voice activators are searching for to help lead them to the their content for the proper answer.
Content Is Key
The main focus of ‘Hummingbird’ is Google’s attempt to help people find accurate results when searching for information of any kind online. Long tail content will be important for online marketing as opposed to keywords, because Google expects queries to be more complex in the future. Search engines are going to start processing concepts to help online searches rather than just words, so keyword optimization for websites is a dying trend in SEO. The content you provide must be able to answer questions and you will need to know what questions your brand will answer in order to help boost your Google search power. Addressing the needs and interests of your audience through quality written content will help you rank higher in the Hummingbird era.
Links May Harm Your Rankings
Adding a multitude of links to a page may start to lower your rankings in Google searches now. If you share links on Google Plus or Facebook and your followers share the link multiple times you will gain authority through positive interaction. If you start to share your own links over and over again without interaction, then the post will adversely be seen as negative in search results. Hummingbird wants to see interaction online and it sees the sharing of a link hundreds of times as a way of your content receiving kudos from the online world. When people “like” your content, Google will grant you positive authority and see your content as valuable for online search results. Dumping links to your content on every social network online will not help you in the future, which is another reason content value is so important today.
SEO Is Constantly Changing
Hummingbird is a prime example of how SEO is constantly changing. There is still a lot to learn about this new algorithm, but at Search Control we are constantly changing our approach to help our clients with the always-changing strategies of search results. Overall the new online market is looking for quality, likeable content that creates positive interaction among Internet surfers. Keywords are out and long-tails are in, and answering questions for your audience is key to keep the Hummingbird happy.
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