Every so often Google modifies its search algorithm to provide better and more relevant search results. Sometimes the effects of the changes are drastic and turn the SEO world upside down. Other times they are barely noticed. Which category is Hummingbird?

 

Time for Change

 

In the past, Google made updates to its search algorithm, but didn’t really change the core code. Hummingbird is different. It is an almost completely new code base. A rewrite was necessary because the old algorithm was written more than a decade ago. In that time the number of Internet users has grown from approximately 500 million people to almost 3 billion. The old algorithm still worked, but was not created with that kind of demand in mind. It was slow and not well suited to the type of searches people enter in the search box today.

 

Hummingbird Understands

 

Google’s old algorithm would seek keywords in a query and focus on them. Hummingbird looks at the entire query, so results relate to the entire query, not just a keyword or two. In other words, it is an attempt for an algorithm that understands what a search query means, not just what keywords it contains. Ten years ago a query might have been, “Iraq Desert Storm”. The old algorithm was written to handle that type of query. Today someone seeking the same information might type, “When was Desert Storm”. The second query is a “natural language” query – a query written the way people talk. The Penguin and Panda updates helped handle the change in search habits, but did not touch some of the deficiencies in the core code of the search algorithm. Hummingbird uses older code that works well with modern queries, like Penguin and Panda, and replaces the code that didn’t. The new code works well whether the query is keyword based or uses natural language.

 

Effect on Local SEO

 

Hummingbird could be a game changer for search. It is faster and understands natural language better than the old algorithm. But does it change the way local SEO works? Somewhat, but nothing like Penguin and Panda did. The fact that no one knew Hummingbird had been implemented until Google announced it almost a month later demonstrates that. It does lower the emphasis on keywords, but Google has been doing that for years. Previous updates increased the importance of content over keywords, and Hummingbird continues that trend. So the aim of local SEO should be to create useful content using natural language. Keywords are still important, but if used unnaturally they can hurt search rankings. Relevant and useful content will improve rankings.

 

Google updated its algorithm because the old one was outdated and did not fully meet the needs of modern searchers, even though it appeared to work just fine. Sometimes it just makes sense to update the technology you use. Let Sparknode Cloud hosting show you how the latest virtual and cloud technologies can provide with fast, resilient hosting that responds to your changing needs in real time, not our time.