By now, I’m sure you’ve heard about Google’s Hummingbird algorithm. If not, well, the Goog has rolled out another update titled Hummingbird to accompany Penguin and Panda. It’s suspected that Hummingbird has been active for quite some time before the announcement.
As you know, with every new rollout, things change. So, what does Hummingbird bring? Hummingbird focus more on conversational search. In the words of Google’s Amit Singhal, “People communicate with each other by conversation, not by typing keywords — and we’ve been hard at work to make Google understand and answer your questions more like people do.”
Google wants to focus more on the reader and less on the page itself, the code behind the page and all that.
Are keywords dead? Maybe. Keyword stuffing has been dead for a long time, and if you’ve been doing that, you’re being penalized. I do think keywords, when used correctly, still serve a purpose, if for no other reason than to make sure your article stays on topic. I’ve always thought of keywords as little topics for my articles. Keep using them, but make sure they are relevant and used within your blog post.
Take a look at this article from Content Marketing Institute- Keep Your Website Content Ranking After Google Hummingbird: 8 Tips
My entire attitude toward SEO has always been to do a little of this and a little of that. Things change. You have to adapt with it. Google is not the only search engine out there. Don’t cater to the Goog, write for your readers and you should be fine. Your website is for your site visitors, not for the search engine. While you want to make your site search engine friendly and continue playing the google game, in the end your readers are what matter most.
