Why Google’s Hummingbird Matters – and How to Future-proof Your SEO

This is a guest post by SEO expert Joe Williams.

One of the best ways to improve your SEO is to stay up-to-date with Search Engine’s algorithm changes. And in case you didn’t hear Google just had a big one – the biggest in over 10 years!

Google announced on the eve of its 15th birthday (September 26th) that it had completely rewritten its main algorithm, and named it Hummingbird. Interestingly, Google unofficially launched it a month earlier but this largely went unnoticed in SEO circles.

So how come such a big update (rumoured to affect 90% of searches) went undetected by many so-called SEO experts?

Because this is just the beginning. The beginning of something much bigger which I will reveal in this post.

Why You Need to Understand Hummingbird

Hummingbird is Google’s whole search engine and includes smaller pieces like PageRank, Panda and Penguin which are sub-algorithms. The underlying framework has become more powerful, meaning it can better support these parts.

More importantly, Google will develop new enhancements to Hummingbird in the coming months (and years) to provide a much improved experience to its users.

How to Future-Proof Your SEO

Hummingbird is likely to be around for a long time, perhaps another 10 years. And the good news is that Google has left plenty of clues as to what it wants now and in the future.  Here are six that I would like to share:

#1 – Understand Your Customers Better

As a key part of Hummingbird, Google has upped its sophistication in understanding natural language. It now considers every word entered into a search, meaning it can better use natural and conversation searches.

For example, if you search ‘Edinburgh castle’ and ‘show me pictures of Edinburgh castle’ you see very different results:

That’s because the intent of the searcher is better understood. Google is getter smarter and wants you to do the same by creating content that matches up with the intent of its users (and your customers).

Tip: Create customer profiles for your business and provide answers to their questions in all stages of the buying cycle.

#2 – Research Topics and Not Just Keywords

Google’s improved understanding of natural language means it has a deeper understanding of the relationships of keywords that form topics. Keywords still matter but they don’t rank on their own: the context is becoming more important.

Next time you optimise content, research which keywords you wish to target, think about the customer’s search intent and create relevant content that not only sells your products or services but also answers questions your customers might have before they are ready to buy. This helps Google in all stages of the buying cycle and builds trust with your customers.

Tip: Get familiar with the new Google Planner to research both keywords and topics.

#3 – Act Like an Author and Less Like an SEO

It’s no longer just about keywords and webpages: you need to become an authority within your industry. You can do this by having your customer’s interest at heart, through educating and/or entertaining them, and once you have built your trust you can then sell to them too.

Being an authority means becoming an author and an industry expert. Google wants to identify (and reward) the expert authors for each industry. It also wants to know what they look like too:

Tip: Build in-depth expert articles and get setup on Google Authorship.

#4 – Think and Act Like a Brand

People remember brands. People trust brands. And most importantly people have emotional bonds with brands and tell their friends about them.

Google loves brands too:

Brands are the solution, not the problem. Brands are how you sort out the cesspool.

- Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google

Put another way, Eric is saying that brands are for the power of good because they improve the Internet and they are trustworthy for both Search Engines and its users.

And now for the good news: the Internet is a level playing field which means small-time brands can make it big more often than you might think.

Tip: Have a clear purpose and vision and build up your trust through expert content.

#5 – Avoid Gaming or Trying to Trick Google at All Costs

I’ve been a digital marketer since 2005 but after a few years I fell out of love with Google and SEO. I nearly changed career – twice! To dominate in competitive industries you needed take short-cuts and this often meant tricking Google into thinking your site was more relevant or reputable than it actually was.

This all changed firstly in 2011 with the introduction of Google’s Panda algorithm, and then later in 2012 with the Penguin update.

Although this was a tricky time for lots of business owners, this made Google a much fairer referee, and sites which thought and acted like both brands and experts were able to succeed more easily. This made me a much happier SEO.

Tip: Make sure you know rules and respect Google’s SEO guidelines.

#6 – Stay Up-to-Date

It sometimes feels like Google are forever moving the goal posts for SEO. Luckily that’s not really true. The core principles stay the same year after year. Build a search engine friendly site (WordPress is great for this), create relevant content (for your customers) and build your website reputation (by creating remarkable content that people want to share and link to).

What changes more frequently is Google’s view on what it considers trustworthy, particularly when building your reputation. In fact, Google tweaks its algorithm daily. These are mainly minor tweaks but every few months or so it has a major update to its algorithm (think Panda, Penguin or Hummingbird) with the goal of benefiting the trustworthy and relevant sites.

Tip: Check out Moz’s comprehensive and up-to-date changes log on Google’s algorithm. It provides links to further reading and can be great for diagnosing why your site has risen or fallen off Google.

We are in a new and exciting era of Google and SEO. Short-cuts and tricks are risky and usually get you into trouble. If you wish to succeed, you need to play the longer game through building trustworthy content that is both relevant and reputable to your customers and wider industry. 

Hopefully some of the tips above will help you do just this and steer your website into the direction Google is heading, and help grow your business.

If you have any questions about Hummingbird, Google or SEO – please pop them in the comments below.