Hummingbird, meaning “precise and fast” is the name of the new search algorithm in which Google is using. Google says that this algorithm should assist in returning in better results.
This however does not mean that PageRank algorithms are dead. PageRank is one of the major ingredients that has gone into the new Hummingbird recipe. Whilst looking at PageRank Hummingbird is also looking at how important links to pages are along with a number of other factors.
Hummingbird has been in place for around 1 month although Google have only recently announced the changes. There is a high chance that you did not notice the changes but this is simply because they happened so quickly. The last time that Google replaced its algorithm in this enormous way was when the “Caffiene Update” came in to place back in 2010. No we haven’t forgotten about the Panda and Penguin updates, these simply just weren’t the same thing. Whereas Hummingbird is a brand new engine, Panda and Penguin were simply just changes.
What search activity does Hummingbird help?
The answer to this is “conversational search”. When searching it has become apparent that many people find it more useful to have a conversation, asking Google questions like “Where’s the closet DVD rental store to my house?” and “Which park is the nicest in my area?”.
You will be happy to know what Hummingbird should now focus better on the meaning behind all words and have a deeper understanding of your home location, if you have shared it with Google. Google will now be paying more attention to each word of a query rather than select words or phrases. This means that if you are looking for a specific piece of information you will find it much easier to do so.
There is absolutely no questioning that these changes cannot cause any harm, as earlier mentioned it has been in place for around a month and there hasn’t been any major complaints and as an SEO company we know that people generally complain if they think that something isn’t even the slightest bit right.
Does Hummingbird affect SEO?
Looking into Hummingbird it seems like there is nothing for SEO companies or businesses that have SOE in place to worry about. It is still important to have original, high-quality content however as with any other signals in which are important but as long as you are doing everything in the correct manor you should be just fine.
If in the last month you haven’t lost any traffic then it seems as though this update hasn’t affected you. If it was to do you any harm you would have noticed by now.
