Why would you even worry about what Google thinks about?

Google released its Hummingbird search algorithm in August. Hummingbird reportedly impacts 90% of all searches. You should care about this. You should care a lot. If any of your business comes from online sources, this affects you.

Unlike Google's Penguin and Panda launches that were just updates to its existing algorithm, Hummingbird is a complete overhaul. Google's search master Amit Singhal asserted that Hummingbird is the first update since 2001 that a Google algorithm has been so totally re-written.

Google's most recent algorithm update, referred to as Hummingbird, was created to handle more complex searches. This upgrade cranks up Google's capability to understand the meaning between word combinations rather than just looking for keywords. In the geeky SEO world we live in, this is referred to as LSI, or Latent Semantic Indexing, and is getting baby steps closer to the holy grail of computers understanding natural human writing.

<strong>Keyword Optimization Has become Old News</strong> Reading between the lines on Google's newest update may seem to point to the diminishing impact of keywords just being on a page. This presumption is supported by another recent switch by Google to encrypt all keyword search data. Internet marketers won't be able to (easily) determine exactly which search queries sent individuals to their site. This basis of SEO metrics has been crucial for optimizing a website for specific key terms and phrases.

Google is being very clear in pushing search marketers to optimize using good content and truly create value for readers as compared with keywording and technical whiz-bang.

<strong>Classic Marketers will undoubtedly Win</strong> The first decade of SEO was much like the Wild West: we all tweaked the technical elements, and threw your articles all over to gain links, results and listings. Customers unfortunately encouraged this as the folks winning SEO bids were the ones who took a low-price winner, short-term, slash and burn approach (we refused and happily are still here). This left customers to nose-dive in the search engines as algorithms evolved and the SEO firms simply shrugged, and moved on to new clients with new tricks. As the search engines like google have evolved, this cowboy method is getting obsolete considering that latest algorithms can comprehend meaning, context and quality without having much of the technical backend ways of telling Google what's in your pages.

<strong>Presently, good SEO just looks a lot like "marketing". </strong> Marketers specialize in delighting our audiences for clients, building appealing content that is cool enough to share and promoting a good image of the brand. Technical optimization is losing to real world optimization. Gaming link building is losing to digital public relations.

<strong>SEO isn't dead, it's just getting "more real" daily. </strong> The cut-rate, shadowy, technical SEO companies overseas are increasingly becoming irrelevant as they now have to adopt brand building, actual connections and business goals. This is harder work, and some firms aren't up for the challenge.

<strong>Focus on "Long-tail" Searches</strong> Long-tail keywords is the term used for long search queries that are more precise in nature. These are generally asked in question forms, like "how do I shed pounds in my hips quick?" For ages, great marketers have been using this lucrative traffic segment to increase online sales. Long-tail keywords are unsurprisingly really specific. This makes them lucrative in search, due to the fact that a person with a very specific question is frequently more motivated and in a position to purchase "right now" if you answer their question or give a compelling solution to their problem.

Think of it this way: if you were selling cars, would you rather deal with a customer asking for "a car," or would you rather talk to the customer asking for "a Black Camaro with tan leather seats, a v8 engine, and a stick shift"? Long-tail keyphrases convert at 3 times the rates of general search phrases.

The Hummingbird update is currently honoring the longer tail searches in order to provide better search engine results for more specific and complex searches.

While quite a few Search Engine Optimization companies are scrambling and crying about the improvements, many are popping champagne (well, sparkling cider in the workplace anyway…), and are excited about what this will signify to the clients of SEO.

Like they have done after most major rollouts, The larger and better SEO companies are now even providing free evaluations to assist companies see how much they are affected.

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