Google’s latest named algorithm update – Hummingbird – was announced in late September, although it has been in action for over a month. In light of Google’s latest algorithm updates, most online marketing agencies and business owners have come to associate an update with potential ranking penalties and loss of traffic. Do you need to be worried about Hummingbird?
What is Hummingbird?
Unlike the infamous algorithm updates of the last two years – Panda and Penguin – Hummingbird is a core change to the function of the algorithm. Whereas Panda and Penguin were designed to improve specific parts of the algorithm, Hummingbird is focused on improving the algorithm as a whole to keep up with the demands of today’s Internet searchers.
One of the main goals of the Hummingbird update is to improve Google search results for complex queries and conversational searches.
How will Hummingbird impact inbound traffic from Google searches?
Unlike the aftermath of the Panda and Penguin updates, which saw many sites losing significant amounts of traffic stemming from penalties and drops in rankings, the Hummingbird update is predicted to have little effect on traffic. While Penguin and Panda were focused on eliminating spammy websites from the search results, Hummingbird is focused on overall faster and more accurate processing of searches. And because this launched over a month ago, chances are if you haven’t noticed an impact on traffic yet, you will be OK.
What are the benefits of Hummingbird?
Both searchers and businesses alike should enjoy some benefits from Hummingbird. The increased accuracy for long tail, conversational-style searches will provide better results for people looking for an answer to a specific question.
Instead of simply matching searches to pages with matching keywords, Google will now analyze the entire search query. With this update, Google should be better at reading supporting documents on the web, which will help drive search traffic to specific pages to better match the search intent.
Has your website traffic been impacted by a Google algorithm update? Contact our search engine optimization experts today. With over 13 years of experience in SEO, our healthcare marketing agency has helped companies recover from search penalties and have kept countless others out of trouble while achieving excellent results.
Call 877-887-7611 today to request a quote, or contact Clarity Quest Marketing online.