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We saw it happen after the Panda and the Penguin updates. Then, when Google’s Hummingbird update was introduced, it seemed to some like the world of SEO has come to an end. Pages were dropping in ranking like chips going down the snake in a snakes-and-ladders game.

People couldn’t understand why, after the careful attention they paid to SEO after the previous two updates by Google, they now suddenly found their pages dropping out of sight on search engines again.

Like a child, Google is growing up to be intelligent and tech-savvy. On its 15^th birthday, Google announced the Hummingbird update. However, what people didn’t realize was that by then, it had already been running for more than a month without anyone noticing. The difference between Hummingbird and the previous two major updates is the fact that with Penguin and Panda, Google only made changes to its algorithms. With Hummingbird, a completely new algorithm was initiated altogether.

But why the need for a new algorithm and what does it have to do with content writing? It has everything to do with the way content is written. We have seen over the past few years how the way people search for anything online, is changing dramatically. Before, someone would merely type a word or a few words into a search box. Google would then look at these words as keywords and go find the most relevant pages in which these keywords had been optimized.

And optimized they were! Anything from using meta tags to having a keyword appear numerous times on a page and building backlinks containing said keywords, could get you onto the first page of different search engines. It was possible to have a page that is completely irrelevant to the topic and the keyword but by just repeating the keyword enough times, people would find your page. However, other than irritating searchers for giving them meaningless and irrelevant content, these websites didn’t do much to impress.

Like a child growing up and learning more refined language, Google has been learning to better understand human language, especially the spoken word. More and more online searches are being conducted using mobile devices. Thus the searches aren’t being typed anymore but asked as questions. Google had to learn to analyse these voice commands and come up with appropriate results.

Enter Hummingbird. This new algorithm has enabled Google to interpret what the question is that someone is asking and then finding the best way of answering the question. Google’s first port of call, is Google Knowledge Graph, which enables it to answer simple questions like “How old is the Sydney Opera House?” It is also able to conclude what you are asking next, when you then ask “Who designed it?” Since your previous question was about the Sydney Opera House, Google immediately grasps that the ‘it’ in your next question is about the same subject. But not all questions are answered by the Knowledge Graph. And this is where the writing of good quality content comes into play.

Since Google is starting to understand not only keywords but the actual meaning and intent of words and sentences, it is able to analyse properly written pieces. When you publish content on your website or blog that has real value to visitors to your site, Google picks up on this and will start rating your site higher. The more in depth your articles answer the questions of Google searches, the more value Google (and your visitors) will see in it and the better your search engine ranking will be. No more writing useless fluff with an endless repetition of certain keywords. The value will be found in the content and in how well it answers the enquiries made by Google searchers.

In the past, SEO asked the question: Which keywords are people searching for? Now, SEO has to ask: What questions are people asking Google? The better the quality of your content, the better Google will be able to analyse it and apply it to the questions people are asking. Where in the past people would have typed in a keyword like ‘Wordpress’ to find out what WordPress is all about, they would now rather grab a smartphone and ask the question: “Why should I use WordPress for my blog?”

We haven’t seen the end of the development of Hummingbird yet. In fact, it is being refined as we speak (pardon the pun!). And as Hummingbird grows and gets better, you should take the time to learn to place valuable, factual, well-written content on your website or blog. Or you may be left in the Hummingbird dust.

Elmarie Porthouse is a full-time freelance writer, specializing in writing content for online publication. Connect with her on Facebook, Google+, & Twitter.]]>