The key to more website traffic

Remember, Hummingbird is all about context. Whereas user queries used to be processed according to each individual word in the order they were entered (i.e., for “hotels is Houston,” Google would find matches for the words “hotels,” “in” and “Houston” in that order), the Hummingbird update now means that Google looks for the context in which the user is searching. This is called “contextual search”.

For example, Google will attempt to determine whether the user is searching for the lowest priced hotel, the most high end luxury hotel, or the hotel closest by. Users are now more likely to search in full sentences (mostly questions), so the idea is that it’s easy for Hummingbird to determine that context because users are asking exactly what they want to know.

To make sure your content is optimized for Google Hummingbird, try incorporating these strategies into your daily SEO routine for improved website traffic:

Do market research. Rather than devoting lots of time to researching keywords, devote more time to researching your target market. Google has evolved to the point that traditional keyword research (measuring volume and competition metrics for individual, granular search queries) is on its way out.

Answer users’ questions. Google now cares less about whether you’ve optimized each page on your site to a particular keyword, and more about whether your page’s content answers the question presented by the user. So implement your keywords, but make sure each page answers the questions the users are likely to have.

Answer multiple user questions. There used to be a “one page, one question” rule for writing content. Now, you can answer many questions on a single page – so long as the content is well written, the questions are answered fully, and users can make sense of it all. Hummingbird is looking for high quality, contextually relevant content.

Finding the path to better website traffic

If there is one overarching rule for optimizing your content for Google Hummingbird, it’s this: Just provide users with as much quality information as possible. By doing this on a regular basis, you can ride the Hummingbird wave into higher rankings and better website traffic – and if you need professionals to help you do it, Crest Media will be glad to help.