For the past few years, the engineers at Google have remained busy! Want to know the reason?
Not only they had the Panda and Penguin updates to discuss, but the new and biggest update from Google has also added on their responsibilities. It is because this update was not just another set of rules and guidelines. Rather it is a massive innovation in terms of how the search business would work.
I know, you would be now curious to know about this update.
This is the Google Hummingbird Update!
The update was announced on September 2013. It is more than just focusing on words and basic SEO tactics. There are numerous practices involved in the Hummingbird update. Hence, this might you make you experience different complexities.
So, read this about Google Hummingbird update and how you can recover through its penalties.
What is Google Hummingbird?
The Google Hummingbird update is a codename of a major algorithm update in Google. It got its name from the accuracy and speed of the hummingbird. This update emphasis on queries related to the natural language and focuses on each word and the meaning behind it. It considers individual context and meaning over keywords.
The Hummingbird update looks deeper at words and content on each page of a site. It enhances the potential to direct users to most relevant pages rather than the homepage of the website. This upgrade marked numerous major changes to the search process of Google. It focuses more on human-based search interactions and heavily on meaning and conversion.
Hence, the writers and developers are needed to optimize the websites with natural writing and not on the basis of including forced keywords. The main purpose to introduce such an update is to make efficient use of technical web development for enhanced on-site navigation. It is mainly about Google being able to detect the search intent of the users and identify content that best matches the intent.
How Google Hummingbird Update Works?
Google Hummingbird is more accurate and swift than previous updates of Google.
One major change that makes Hummingbird different than other previous versions of the Google algorithm is that its emphasis more on conversational search. As per Google, very few people search for short-term keywords and are focused more on searching longer-tail keyword searches. They ask for numerous data points at the same time.
This implies that Google is eventually focusing less on the meaning of each word in your query and more on the entire query. So rather than working in a way that seeks for individual words, this update works in a way that it can better comprehend a question. For example, ‘where can I search a pizza takeaway in Toronto?’ The Hummingbird update focuses on the meaning behind the words and not on the words themselves. It is concerned about the entire phrase to identify the relevant meaning.
Having a look at some of the core aspects of the Hummingbird update will help you have a better idea of
it’s working and impact on SEO!
Hummingbird Update and Semantic Search
The core of Hummingbird is based on all imperative concepts of semantics or their meaning. Though it is simpler for humans to differentiate between distinct yet similar concepts, it is difficult for the computers to the same, unless they are made explicitly aware of it.
The concept of semantic search is related to enhancing search results. This is done by emphasizing on the intent and relevancy of search subject to other information. The semantic search is more focused to determine the actual meaning a user wants to portray rather than a range of keywords and then describing appropriate results.
In most of the cases, the algorithms of Google are unsure of what their users are exactly looking for. To rest on a safer side, it delivers a range of results for a particular search.
What is the Semantic Web?
While the semantic search is the urge to showcase relevant results on the basis of context and intent of users,
the semantic web is an unrealized vision of online results on the basis of common standards.
When every website features structured information like schema and develops new technologies to publish, retrieve, and read data on the basis of common data models, this results in a semantic web. The result would be when it is possible to perform all heavy lifting things with the search after comprehension and responding to the queries of the user.
Hummingbird Update and Knowledge Graph:
When you research a post then there are numerous Google searches performed on a daily basis. Before the Hummingbird update, there were search results presented that contain links to distinct pages to present the relevant answer.
But the process was a little slow. The Google Hummingbird update made the process much easier, quicker, and intuitive. With the Hummingbird update, it is not the keyword that is highlighted but the answer to the question. It is because the Hummingbird ensures that the user intends for a concise and clear answer. There is no more need to link the blog to numerous links and information, which is even not required. It just relates to delivering an answer.
This makes the Knowledge Graph highly powerful. This implies that the users no more have to click through multiple top-ranked websites. It is because Google is helpful to offer the answer to users without forcing them to SERP.
Hummingbird Update and Voice Search:
The Hummingbird update can be considered as a step towards mastery of Google’s path for the unbeatable upsurge of voice search. During the release of hummingbird in 2013, there was an increased influence of conversational search in the SEO community. After a few years and with the introduction of voice search Google was obliged to be equipped to comprehend completely the basic language with the spoken word for voice searches.
Hence, the technology that is constrained to understand the search language by every keyword is not up to gauging event. In such a case, semantic search developments and a Hummingbird update help to operate efficiently the natural language.
Hummingbird Update and Local Search:
On the initial basis, the hummingbird update seems to populate multiple local results in an unsatisfactory single box. For instance, a search such as Denver attorney would reap only one answer set apart in the box rather of the usual set of local businesses. Before the update, Google was unable to deliver relevant experiences to the users.
Moreover, it was deemed by local SEO experts that the Hummingbird update would offer the following results
on local organic search:
A bigger localization of organic results obtained for queries related to local users
An increased and lasting presence of results based on directory in the local searches
Though there were some temporary problems experienced by local business owners with spammy inboxes resulting in decreased visibility of the local search engine. It is unlikely that most of the websites experience negative results with the update.
So, if your website has witnessed a drop in the rankings or traffic that you believe is because of Hummingbird, then you need to check ways to recover from the hummingbird issues.
How to Recover from Google Hummingbird Penalty?
It is very simple to optimize site and webpages for Google Hummingbird. The process is straightforward. You just have to generate great content that is useful and valuable to your audience. Ultimately, it must enrich the overall experience.
Though there are no penalties as such to devoid Hummingbird rules, yes if you fail to do so then this would affect your overall rankings and site optimization process. Hence, if you have not been able to make as per the regulations of Hummingbird or want to optimize your new site according to this new update, then here are check some best practices!
1. Publish Contents in Diversified Lengths:
This is a known fact that long-length content can offer you exceptional results. Even it is a great part of your content strategy. But if you are posting all the contents in a length of 3,000 words or equivalent then this would not meet the diversified needs of all your readers out there.
For this reason, a feasible solution is to mix your content’s length. Post shorter as well as longer articles and don’t be too fussy about the word count. Just remember, there is nothing like a perfect post length. The length of the article depends on the amount of rich information you can include in it.
2. Generate Visual Content as well:
It’s true that most people like to go through in-depth long articles that can provide them with rich information and easy solutions to complex subjects in one go. But sometimes, readers would not prefer reading through a long post. In fact, there are situations when they don’t want to read anything, even a bit of information.
So, what you can do?
The solution is to outshine your visual content!
Videos, infographics, and even simple visual aspects like graphs and charts are great to add the needed spice and flavors to your content. The best thing is that they can be conveniently skimmed. Use different visual elements to present complex ideas in an effective manner. This would also bring visual zeal and color to your website. If you are confused which visual element to start with it, then start with infographics. They are easier to create, can be combined with textual content and are great to let the audience get relevant information in just a couple of minutes.
3. Use Language Apt to the Topic:
Most of the times, websites fail to impress the audiences as they are not able to present content language, which is as per the industry it intends to serve. This is especially the case when website owners fear or alienating the readers who might not be aware of a certain area or topic. But it is extremely vital to write content that is valuable to the audience and as per the industry language. So, if you want to recover from Hummingbird recovery or intend to optimize your website then it is of utmost importance that you generate content with the subject – appropriate language.
4. Incorporate Schema Microdata:
Remember one thing that according to Google, the schema is not a ranking notification. Though this might seem a partitioning line, you can implement schema markup as well as another microdata format, which will only add good stuff to your content. This is true, particularly with the Hummingbird update from Google that intends to focus on semantics.
It might be slightly tricky to implement schema markup post, but it is worthwhile and will generate ideal results in the long run. It would not just make your website a little more optimized for the search engine process, but it would also help you to secure better snippets in the Search Engine Ranking Process.
The Futuristic Drive of Hummingbird Update:
Definitely, you would want to know what are these efforts really worth investing? Will hummingbird update bring you gains in the future?
According to most of the experts, Google has become more precise about the introduction of its natural language processing. Undoubtedly, this would remain an important part of Google’s search engine ranking plans. In the futuristic field, it would be worth investing to focus natural language combined with other advancements, such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of things. While semantic search will help us to identify exactly what we require with minimal efforts and the next logically accurate step must be, it is also important to take into consideration the world around us, which is mostly about the Internet of Things.
Till date, most of the users have become experts to use the new and enhanced search made by Google Hummingbird update. But the applications of voice recognition and semantic search are highly impressive. As a result, most individuals would even not notice developments made in such fields. All they will expect is that Google will continue monitoring to improve the rankings and thereby making the lives of the readers and users much easier.
Hence, if you are looking for an indicator to Google’s track record then this is what we can expect to be the starting!