The Google Hummingbird Update – The Final Death of Keywords?

For its 15th anniversary, Google announced a new algorithm update on the official blog, which has already been active for a month and reportedly affects 90% of search queries. This time named after the hummingbird, the Hummingbird Update!

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A hummingbird (English: Hummingbird)[/caption]

What is Google Hummingbird?

Back when Google was still in its infancy, the world of search was simple: users would enter one or more keywords into the search bar and receive a number of links to websites that Google deemed relevant because they contained the searched keywords (in the page title, in headings, in the content, and at one point, even the meta-keywords were relevant!).

Thanks to a plethora of websites, blogs, and online shops, users have become accustomed to typing entire phrases or even full questions into the search instead of individual keywords. Since voice search has also become an option, fully formulated questions have become commonplace and increasingly common instead of keyword listings. Hummingbird, representing the traits of being fast and precise, responds to these developments and aims to deliver more precise results by identifying user intent and responding with relevant search results. The Knowledge Graph and entity-based search are two topics that previously hinted at how the future of search will function.

With Hummingbird, results are intended to be less keyword-based and instead focus on satisfactorily answering the question or problem, i.e., the intent behind the search terms entered.

Google has not revealed much concrete information about the new update so far, but in conversation with "Googlers," search engine land was able to gather some facts: backlinks remain important for the new algorithm, and PageRank continues to be considered along with over 200 other "main factors" in the algorithm. Importantly, Hummingbird completely replaces the old algorithm — and it wasn’t really noticed by the public until the official announcement of the update! Panda and Penguin were updates to the old algorithm, but according to Google, they are also components of Hummingbird. The new algorithm consists of both old and new factors tailored to the new demands of search. An interesting aspect in this context is a patent registered by Google, highlighted by Bill Slawski on SEO by the Sea. It is unclear whether the described method is actually being used in Hummingbird, but it is conceivable. Under the title "Synonym identification based on co-occurring terms," it discusses the identification of synonyms based on co-occurrence, i.e., the simultaneous occurrence of terms.

The abstract of the patent reads as follows:

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for identifying a particular query term of an original search query, identifying a candidate synonym for the particular query term in context with another non-adjacent query term of the original search query that is not adjacent to the particular query term in the original search query, accessing stored data that specifies, for a pair of terms that includes the particular query term and the candidate synonym of the particular query term, a respective confidence value for the other non-adjacent query term, determining that, in the stored data, the confidence value for the other non-adjacent query term satisfies a threshold, and determining to revise the original search query to include the candidate synonym of the particular query term, based on determining that the confidence value of the other non-adjacent query term satisfies the threshold.

In summary and simplified, it is about identifying search terms within queries, determining possible synonyms for which a probability is calculated. The synonym with the highest probability, which exceeds a certain threshold, replaces the original search term in the search query. As an example, the patent includes a search request for a location for pizza, where the term "restaurant" is identified as a suitable synonym for "place" (place):

SEO for the Hummingbird: Are Keywords Now Completely Dead?

The Keyword Tool has been replaced by the Keyword Planner and is no longer freely accessible. In Analytics, Google now only provides (not provided) instead of organic keywords, and in search, it seems no longer about keywords in the traditional sense. So why even perform keyword research and optimize pages for keywords? Does it still bring any benefits since Hummingbird, and what should one do instead?

It should have become clear that the mere optimization for keywords is outdated when Google repeatedly preached focusing on user interests. The important thing is not to fulfill a certain keyword density or follow rigid rules for keyword placement, but to put yourself in the target audience's shoes: What questions can your own page answer, what needs does it meet, and how can this be optimally represented in content?

Keywords still remain an important factor in understanding user search behavior and delivering the appropriate content: What terms are used, and what language does the target audience speak? In addition to using synonyms, it is important to recognize relationships and analyze which terms Google links together and the logical relationships the algorithm recognizes. Keyword research can be a starting point here, other pointers are the autosuggest function in Google, related search terms, and the first search results for a search query: Which terms appear frequently here? Considering these results in your own content is a sensible way to produce relevant content and help Google categorize your own pages correctly. However, the overall context of a search, which plays a role in the results, is also important: From which location is the search performed, on what device, etc. Here too, engaging with the target audience helps: What share of visitors currently come from mobile devices? Is your topic relevant for mobile? How do the needs of mobile and desktop visitors or visitors from different locations differ from each other? Read more about this in our blog post on the entity-based search of the future.

Is your website ready for the Hummingbird? According to Google, major publishers have not noticed any significant traffic loss, and generally, there has been no major outcry so far. Nevertheless, it is important to deal with the new changes and develop a suitable content strategy that focuses on the new algorithm. Our SEO experts are happy to support you, feel free to contact us!