Google makes numerous updates on their algorithm yearly, but most of them are not noticed by webmasters and marketers. But with the recent Hummingbird update, the biggest in 12 years, about 90% of searches across the world have been affected. With such dramatic change, you cannot help but notice it. in fact, most of us are asking: Does this mark an end to an area? Is SEO dead? Well, not exactly. Danny Sullivan from SearchEngineLand.com has this to say about this question.
No, SEO is not yet again dead. In fact, Google’s saying there’s nothing new or different SEOs or publishers need to worry about. Guidance remains the same, it says: have original, high-quality content. Signals that have been important in the past remain important; Hummingbird just allows Google to process them in new and hopefully better ways.
So what exactly are these “new and hopefully better ways” for Google hummingbird to process our questions? And how will it change the way that we approach SEO? CrazyEgg.com gives up a closer look at these changes.
- The web is increasingly mobile and conversational
- It’s all about mobile “conversational search” or “hot wording”
- Intent, more than texts, matter now!
- Enter Knowledge Graph
After the last updates, many websites were penalized because of black hat SEO practices. The best off-page advice would be to stay away from any black hat or grey hat SEO. Assist-Software.et gives us a list of great off-page practices after the latest Google update.
- Social media – profit from the popularity of Google +, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter, Linkedin.
- Local business – create profiles on Google Local, Bing Local, Yelp or YellowPages.
- Document sharing – create quality documents, presentations, videos and distribute on Slideshare, Youtube, Scribd, etc.
- Guest blogging – find relevant blogs, write and publish quality content.
Knowledge is power, and the ability to predict the future changes of search algorithm is a real advantage. Perhaps, next year, webmasters should focus on more intense mobile, social media and structured data.
But whatever the future search engine updates may be, online success will be associated with quality content. having 70% search engine marked share, Google is now improving constantly. The last update has made Google smarter and faster which is exactly what the search engine expects from websites, to constantly improve. Being a webmaster, you need to understand one simple rule: make people love your website.