Did you notice a change or shift in your search results starting in late August or early September? Did your Google search engine rankings suddenly drop from where they were? Did your search ranking get better? Well, Google didn’t announce it right away, but they have been tinkering with their search engine algorithm and released a major change to the way they process searches. They are calling it the largest change since Google Caffeine in 2010. Google “hummingbird” is just the phrase, but the resulting change to the algorithm appears to be something SEO specialists have to pay attention to.
Rankings did not Increase?
Do not be alarmed if your rankings did not increase. As has been more common in recent years, this algorithm change has done its best to discover meaning in search phrases and then deliver deciphered results. These results have tended to favor big brand companies as Google figures most people are happy to get results from brands they already know and trust, rather than a smaller company that has done well to outperform in search engine rankings.
If your ranking decreased, it is going to be a bit of digging to re-align your content with search results. Decreased search engine rankings often means Google thinks there is something better out there to share with their visitors. Take a look at what competition has seen improvements. What are they doing differently than you? Are they doing more social media efforts than you are? How are they taking advantage of video sources for additional signals? What types of activity might you be able to mirror or add to your current plans as well?
Don’t give up with some decrease search engine results. It’s time to buckle down and work harder. I can tell you that it will be worth it. Few companies take setbacks in stride and use it as fuel to make improvements. Those that do will rise to be the cream of the crop.
What is Most Important to continue to Improve my search engine rankings?
It is continually stated by Google that the goal of their search results is to provide the best content for their users. Google does its best to take in account all signals available to them to automatically discern the value of the content on a website. Labeling content as high quality or low quality is completely subjective, but trends are available, and the more data Google analyzes, the more Google can focus on tendencies of visitors to help ensure the content being delivered to the user is the right fit. In essence, a great article, video, or audio clip that users spend more than average time on can signify high quality. A website that users are going back to over and over will make for another great signal to Google that the site is producing content that users want. A site that is rich in information related to the same topics supports expertise in a subject. And of course, content that gets tweeted and re-tweeted, linked in Facebook or talked about in a variety of other social media areas tells Google that more than your Mom and Dad care about the information being shared.
The hummingbird update is a reminder to SEOs that Google doesn’t want you focusing on link trading. Google doesn’t want you focusing on disguising your low quality content with fake social signals. Google wants to reward their users with high quality search results. Do what you can to help people send those signals by creating high quality content, encouraging social sharing, and delivering information that users simply do not want to miss so they keep returning. Google will reward your efforts in the long run! We are not spokespeople for Google, but we can attest to the fact that sites that focus on their visitors need often see better long term results.
Jeremy Oms
Jeremy is an entrepreneur and leading manager of New Blood, Inc. Excited about all things Internet related, Jeremy spends much of his time project managing custom web applications and directing advanced search engine optimization efforts.
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