Google gives website design & development companies the bird How the Hummingbird algorithm is changing search

First, website design & development companies had to deal with Panda. Next, there was Penguin. Now, there is Hummingbird. With each of these new algorithms, Google gets closer to actually understanding the context and meaning of the searches it retrieves. At the same time, website design & development companies have to figure out how it affects the search landscape. Unlike Panda and Penguin, which were updates to Google's search Algorithm, Hummingbird is an entirely new search engine algorithm.

At Kirk website design & development we've come to understand that one of the biggest changes with Hummingbird is "conversational search" wherein Google, in many cases, can discern what you need, rather than the keywords you type or speak.

For example, there is grease, the oil-based lubricant and there is grease the musical. Type or speak, "I want tickets to grease" and Google (thanks to Hummingbird) knows you want to see the show, not buy the lube."

Hummingbird goes even further by being able to link your searches together into more of a digital "conversation." For example, if you type in, "How hot is the sun? Google is likely to remember you asked "sun" in your first query and then determine that when you ask, "How large is it?" the algorithm will recognize the pronoun "it" and realize you are simply continuing the conversation by asking again about the sun. On top of that, Google might use other information such as location and certain other things it knows about you to provide you with what you're looking for.

The ability to recognize conversational search is a huge change in the search world. This is mostly because it is the first tentative step toward understanding what sentence actually means. (It is also a clear shot across the bow to website design & development companies that they better start figuring out how to write good copy rather than keyword laden drivel.)

Think of it, the population has been conditioned to type in single keywords or short keyword phrases knowing that Google is looking to pick out words and return sites with those same words.

But more and more people are using search with mobile devices and use the spoken word to do it. It's only naturally that Google would want to give these people what they want: The ability to answer the naturally spoken questions they are asking.

How does this affect SEO? At Kirk website design & development company, we see Hummingbird as an opportunity. The more Google knows about understanding language, the more prized, legitimate, high-quality content will become. Many have said that Hummingbird would spell the demise of SEO. What it has actually done is made honest SEO efforts along with good content, the best way to rise quickly on Google's search pages.

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