{"id":645,"date":"2013-10-10T11:27:31","date_gmt":"2013-10-10T08:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/?p=645"},"modified":"2024-01-09T14:13:54","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T11:13:54","slug":"how-the-google-hummingbird-update-changes-your-seo-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/how-the-google-hummingbird-update-changes-your-seo-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Google Hummingbird Update Changes Your SEO Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Since Google <a href=\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/seo-news-hummingbird-algorithm-encrypted-search\/\">announced<\/a> the Hummingbird update last week, we&#8217;ve had to answer to callers every day that SEO has not been killed; it&#8217;s just been changed a little. It&#8217;s high time to publish a guide explaining how you should change your SEO strategy to adapt to the new Google algorithm.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_optimize_for_long_tail_keywords\"><\/span>1. Optimize for long tail keywords.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Remember how you searched Google 5 years ago? It was like &#8220;choux pastry recipe.&#8221; Now search queries are much more conversational and sound like &#8220;how to cook choux pastry easily.&#8221;\u00a0 Google wants to understand what the searcher&#8217;s intent is and to show the most relevant results.<\/p>\n<p>All search queries may <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Web_search_query\" rel=\"noopener\">be divided<\/a> into 3 major groups:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Informational \u2013 when a searcher wants to get information on the topic of interest and the search engine should understand that no purchase is intended, only information research. For example, the query &#8220;Who wrote Sherlock Holmes&#8221; is informational.<\/li>\n<li>Navigational \u2013 when the searcher just wants to navigate to the special page of a website.<\/li>\n<li>Transactional \u2013 when a searcher needs to find special locations to perform a real world action. For example, the query &#8220;Where is the nearest Starbucks&#8221; shows that the address and navigational path is needed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What should you do?<\/p>\n<p>Try to detect all conversational phrases your prospects may be using. Use the old Google Analytics reports (that were created before Google moved to encrypted search) and research what sentences searchers used to find your site. Try to target the most common search phrases on your web pages.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_make_your_websites_theme_obvious\"><\/span>2. Make your website&#8217;s theme obvious.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It&#8217;s no secret that search engines want to understand the theme of the website and try to figure the semantic field your site is in. That&#8217;s why Google may show search results not only for the exact phrase the searcher typed in, but for other theme-related terms. This means you can get additional search engine exposure for the synonyms of your target keywords.<\/p>\n<p>What should you do?<\/p>\n<p>Research the synonyms of your targeted keywords and use them more. First of all start with the keywords the users are already using to get to your website. You can use the &#8216;Suggestions from Analytics&#8217; report of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/online-keyword-tool.htm?&amp;utm_source=blog&amp;utm_mediu=blog-post&amp;utm_campaign=blog-oct-2013-how-the-google-hummingbird-update-changes-your-seo-strategy\">WebCEO Online Keyword Tool.<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_mark_you_pages_with_structured_data\"><\/span>3.\u00a0Mark you pages with structured data.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The easiest way for search engines to understand the theme of your website is to listen to what you tell them with meta data. That is why Google pays attention to the structured data. Marking pages with the structured data helps you build <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/start-building-your-google-author-rank-today\/\" rel=\"noopener\">author rank<\/a>, get extra exposure in Google&#8217;s Knowledge graph and get more info displayed from rich snippets.<\/p>\n<p>What should you do?<\/p>\n<p>Help Google to understand your website better \u2013 use the\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/webmasters\/markup-helper\/\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Google Markup Helper\">Google Structured Data Markup Helper<\/a>\u00a0to generate HTML code with microdata markup included; and\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/appearance\/structured-data\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Rich Snippet Testing Tool\">Google&#8217;s Rich Snippet testing tool<\/a>\u00a0to preview your rich snippet.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_be_where_your_competitors_are\"><\/span>4. Be where your competitors are.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Hummingbird uses all signals to understand the theme of a website so it can understand a searcher&#8217;s intent and show the most relevant results. One more way to discover what a site is about is to see who it is mentioned with. This is why it is now more important than ever for you to be seen in lists with your competitors. You should be sure to at least leave a comment about your company in articles about similar companies, if this is at all appropriate \u00a0But even better advice follows.<\/p>\n<p>What should you do?<\/p>\n<p>Use the WebCEO Competitor Backlink Spy to see who links to your competition. Try to get links from those resources too. Keep in mind that anchor texts also help search engines to better understand what your site is about. Use the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/backlink-checker-tool.htm?&amp;utm_source=blog&amp;utm_mediu=blog-post&amp;utm_campaign=blog-oct-2013-how-the-google-hummingbird-update-changes-your-seo-strategy\">WebCEO Backlink Quality Checker<\/a> Tool to investigate what anchor texts are used in your backlinks. You can then diversify this if necessary and possible.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_remember_about_google_universal_search_results_google_places_google_images_etc\"><\/span>5. Remember about Google Universal Search results (Google Places, Google Images, etc).<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We think Google will pay more attention to &#8220;Universal Search&#8221; and show blended results more often (such as Google Shopping, Google Places, Google Images and Organic results all on the first page). Google will now better understand the intent of searchers and, for instance, \u00a0for those asking about the nearest gym in New York, Google will return more local results that feature local addresses.<\/p>\n<p>What should you do?<\/p>\n<p>Check what blended results are already shown for your targeted keywords and get ready to outrank your competition.\u00a0 If your services or products are local, consider <a href=\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/local-search-optimization\/\">local search optimization<\/a>. Create videos and optimize them for YouTube, optimize your images to get into Goggle Image search.<\/p>\n<p>If local search is important to you, be sure to display your physical address and phone number and email address more. Do not worry about spammers scraping that information. Do not worry that your office isn\u2019t so presentable for visitors. The Hummingbird is searching for such local nectar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since Google announced the Hummingbird update last week, we&#8217;ve had to answer to callers every day that SEO has not been killed; it&#8217;s just been changed a little. It&#8217;s high time to publish a guide explaining how you should change&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[41,12,65,30],"class_list":["post-645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo-news-google-updates","tag-google-updates","tag-how-to-use-webceo","tag-hummingbird","tag-webceo"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Adapt your SEO strategy to the Hummingbird Update<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This guide explains how you should change your SEO strategy to adapt to the new Google Hummingbird algorithm.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/how-the-google-hummingbird-update-changes-your-seo-strategy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Adapt your SEO strategy to the Hummingbird Update\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This guide explains how you should change your SEO strategy to adapt to the new Google Hummingbird algorithm.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/how-the-google-hummingbird-update-changes-your-seo-strategy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SEO tools &amp; Online Marketing Tips Blog | WebCEO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-10T08:27:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-09T11:13:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/site.wstatic.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/hummingbirds.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1187\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Helen Vozna\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Helen Vozna\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/how-the-google-hummingbird-update-changes-your-seo-strategy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/how-the-google-hummingbird-update-changes-your-seo-strategy\/\",\"name\":\"Adapt your SEO strategy to the Hummingbird Update\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/how-the-google-hummingbird-update-changes-your-seo-strategy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/how-the-google-hummingbird-update-changes-your-seo-strategy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/site.wstatic.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/hummingbirds.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-10T08:27:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-09T11:13:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1bdf88c53df4083aaeba5f8b0d2eac67\"},\"description\":\"This guide explains how you should change your SEO strategy to adapt to the new Google Hummingbird algorithm.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/how-the-google-hummingbird-update-changes-your-seo-strategy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/how-the-google-hummingbird-update-changes-your-seo-strategy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/how-the-google-hummingbird-update-changes-your-seo-strategy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.wstatic.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/hummingbirds.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/site.wstatic.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/hummingbirds.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1187},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/how-the-google-hummingbird-update-changes-your-seo-strategy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How the Google Hummingbird Update Changes Your SEO Strategy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"SEO tools &amp; 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