Much excitement has surrounded the new Hummingbird search algorithm launched by Google in September of 2013. A lot of people are talking about it but there seems to be a lack of understanding to what it really means for your website, and overall online marketing strategy. This blog post is meant to give you clarity on what the new Hummingbird algorithm has adjusted and how this can affect your website.

The new Hummingbird algorithm is designed for the way in which we access technology today. It is optimized for mobile technology, voice commands and answering complex questions. It is important to note that this is not a small change. It affects over 90% of searches and while it may not immediately affect ranking, not paying attention to these changes can negatively affect you in the future. 

Unlike Panda and Penguin (previous search algorithms), Hummingbird does not focus on content and but rather on being able to provide full answers to complex questions thus placing more value on individual search queries and the meaning behind the words.

So how do you ensure you continue to rank well with Google?

1. Become a leading voice in your industry – Hummingbird is searching for the most knowledgeable and creditable answers that it can find. With the introduction of Google authorship it is creating a sphere of authors whose authority is ranked on the interaction of other people with their content. The more authoritative and relevant others find your answer the more likely your site is to rank for a particular topic.

2. Social Media is more important than ever – A big part of being judged as an industry leader is the interactions that people online are having with your content. Likes, shares and tweets are valuable votes of confidence for the value of your content, which means more than ever you have to focus on having a social media strategy to support your marketing. Always include sharing buttons that are easily accessible in order to give people a venue for referring your content.

3. Good Content never fails – at the end of the day no matter what happens with the Google algorithm producing good content is the ultimate way to ensure that you rank. Good content does the work for you attracting potential customers, which can and will refer you if you are answering their questions.

Remember at the end of the day your customers are looking for solutions to problems, and this is exactly what Google has used as the foundation for its new algorithm.