Late last month, Google quietly announced that after 12 years, they had rolled out a change to their search algorithm. That means, when you enter a search term in Google, the recipe it uses to sort through billions of available webpages and choose which results to display on the coveted first page, will be now be different.
Over the last 12 years, there have been updates to the search algorithm. You may remember hearing about “Panda” and “Penguin.” They would be the equivalent of getting an automobile tune-up or engine change. “Hummingbird” marks an actual change, which would be analogous to trading in your older car for a whole new model.
So what does that mean for consumers, and for businesses? Google said they named their new search Hummingbird to reflect that it is precise and fast. This is great news for consumers – as your entire search query will be analyzed not just for individual words, but for your meaning or intent behind those words. Google is committed to the end user experience. They want to display the results that will be the most useful to you. How will they determine what is displayed?
CONTENT. CONTENT. CONTENT. Websites with useful content for consumers are the ones excelling in this new search environment. Random hyperlinks and keyword metatags will not be enough anymore. Good news for both consumers and businesses is that this new algorithm will mean the end of search results containing listing after listing of directory, or conglomerate sites like online yellow pages.