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Introduction

As most of you will be aware, Google is constantly improving its algorithm. And every so often Google rolls out a pretty hefty update to its algorithm, and these algorithm updates are normally given rather interesting names such as Google’s Panda and Penguin updates.

However, there was one update in particular that made a seismic change to how Google’s algorithm works, that update was called the Google Hummingbird update.

A brief history of Google’s Hummingbird update

Google first introduced the Hummingbird update in August 2013, and it is reported to affect about 90% of Google searches.

Many SEO experts have commented that this wasn’t like any normal update, it was somewhat of an overhaul of the old algorithm.

Yet, with that said, some of the old parts that made the algorithm work, such as Google’s Panda and Penguin updates, well they are most definitely carried across to the new algorithm.

That’s to say Google’s previous updates, that helped to eliminate low quality seo, well they were incorporated into this new algorithm.

Does quality still matter?

Most definitely, quality still matters. That’s to say if you employee or an seo company, then its important that you implement good quality white hat seo.

So, what changed? How did the Hummingbird update change SEO?

Google was really good at answering questions before Hummingbird, yet Hummingbird made the accuracy of the answers even better.

For example, imagine a question that could have loads of different meanings, such as where’s the best place to go for a pizza?

Well that could mean a few things, such as where’s the nearest supermarket, Italian restaurant, or even where’s the nearest pizza take away shop?

Google may be able to work out where your standing, where the nearest pizza shop is, and as you’ve asked where’s the best place to go, Google will most probably offer you customer reviews so you can make up your mind as to where to go.

Before Hummingbird, the algorithm may have focused more on keywords that have been written into the query. So, for example Google may have displayed multiple different answers, not knowing exactly what you wanted.

For example, you may have shown a recipe for how to make a pizza, or a list of Italian restaurants that are not based near you, and only if you mentioned your location, you will have had pizza restaurants listed your location.

So, Google’s Hummingbird update basically allows the algorithm to work out intent, as in looking beyond just the words, and focusing more on what does the query mean.

Voice search

Now, most of us know that voice search is now becoming popular and also very convenient for Android users.

And now you can see how SEO companies now understand that Hummingbird allows Google to answer more complicated questions.

Such as “what are the most comfortable running trainers that you can buy”- this is a complicated query, yet with the Hummingbird update, Google can offer better results.

For example, the query displays an intention to buy something through the word “buy”, yet the query doesn’t just specify that the person wants to buy any old running trainers, no, they want “comfy” running trainers.

So, you got it, us seo agencies now know that Google can return accurate answers to what we call more “conversational” searches.

So just as you would speak to a friend, you can now speak in the same manner to Google, and the algorithm will be better equipped to understand what you mean even if the question you are asking is much more complicated.

How does this change SEO?

The rules regarding seo haven’t really changed that much, that’s to say your business, or your appointed seo agency should create good quality work.

However, one aspect that’s now more important than ever, and that’s to create really good quality content marketing.

This means that you should aim to offer better advice than any of your competitors. For example, let’s return to our example of comfy running trainers’, how would a business rank high for “comfy running trainers?”.

Well our marketing agency would say that the best way for your business to rank for such a term would be to create content marketing that explains your product clearly.

The work should clearly explain the benefits of using your product, and also answer as best you can the likely questions that your customers are likely to have.

Therefore, the old seo methods are somewhat dead, that’s trying to optimise a website by adding in the phrases that you wish your business to rank for, by writing them over and over again on your website.

Now in this new era of the Hummingbird update, Google will connect a query such as “comfy running trainers” with a website that’s offering the best advice.

The normal seo rules apply in terms of the seo business should aim to build good quality backlinks to that page. As the more good quality and relevant backlinks sending “link juice” to that page, the higher the chance of that page ranking higher.

So now businesses compete on who can answer their customers questions the best.

Therefore, the very best seo companies now don’t just optimise a client’s website by trying to fool the search engines with simple seo. Now seo companies optimise a website by making it as relevant and useful as they can. 

By offering quality advice, your website should benefit from better rankings.

Does your business require help with its online marketing?

If your business requires help with its digital marketing, then why not give us a ring?

Introduction

Are you starting a brand-new business? Well, if you are, then its more than likely that you will want to get that business onto the first page of Google.

After all, if you’re not on the first page of Google, then you could be handing a massive competitive advantage to a rival business.

So without further ado, we are going to explain the basics of seo, so you can work out if this form of marketing would be suitable for your business.

Crawling and indexing

You may have an impressive looking website, one which may have cost your business quite a lot of money, yet if it can’t be crawled and indexed then its useless from an SEO perspective.

So, first things first, your seo agency must make sure that Googlebot can crawl and index the website.

This basically means can Google read your businesses website? Your seo company should create a site map for your business.

Also, if your digital marketing business carries out a lot of SEO work, perhaps for instance your website has been redesigned, then they may request that the website gets recrawled.

Its important to remember that Googlebot will recrawl your website on a regular basis.

So, with this in mind, if your company website is down for any great length of time, perhaps while it is changed, well this can mean the website drops in terms of where it ranks.

A good seo business should therefore make it easy for Google to crawl and index your website, so that Google can spot new work that has been added.

This is why businesses regularly add blog posts, its so Googlebot can spot the changes, and if the seo work is of good quality, the algorithm may reward the business with higher rankings.

Algorithm

You may have noticed that we have mentioned the word “algorithm” within this blog post quite a few times already.

The reason for that is it’s the algorithm that decides where a business should be ranked. That’s to say it’s the algorithm which decides should the business be on the first page of Google, or the 10th?

The algorithm is thought to take into account over 200 factors, that’s when deciding where your business should be ranked.

So, as you can imagine, this is what keeps us seo companies very busy indeed.

Some businesses think that once a website reaches the top of Google, that it stays there permanently.

However, this is not the case, that’s because Google’s algorithm makes changes to where all businesses are ranked on a regular basis. So, if a competitor has a stronger website, it terms of its seo, then will overtake your business.

White hat

It might be at this point that you are sold on the idea of SEO, yet its worth knowing this before you do find an seo agency.

You must invest in what is called “white hat” seo, the reason being is if you do find an seo company, and they implement low quality work, this could result in a penalty.

Now a penalty could be that your website drops, that’s in terms of where it ranks, or it could be removed altogether.

So, in a nutshell, low quality seo is often a false economy.

Organic seo

When you invest in digital marketing, the different services can all sound really confusing. For example, there’s PPC, social media advertising, local seo and organic seo to name just a few.

However, the majority of the SERP’S (search engine results pages) are made up of organic business listings.

This means that businesses often face fierce competition to get onto the first page. To climb the organic business listings most businesses therefore pay an seo company to implement organic seo.

How we can help

We are a white hat marketing agency, we offer affordable services. If you would like a quote, then why not give us a ring today?

Introduction

It all too easy to hand every seo task over to your online marketing agency. As when you think about it, that’s what they are getting paid for, right?

Well, as a business owner, or someone who is managing the businesses marketing activities, it’s also crucial that you keep an eye on the businesses marketing metrics as well (We know we are stating the obvious here!).

Yet, with that said, you may well be shocked by just how many businesses just take their seo report at face value.

That’s to say, a quick opening of their e-mail received from the seo company, a few looks at the fancy line graphs, and pie charts that they have sent, and that’s all some business owners look at.

But at our agency we are different, we don’t like rubbish reports which really don’t provide much useful data.

Instead we monitor a few key metrics very closely, and we then report these clearly to each of our customers.

So, here’s what our business reports on:

Rankings

Now, when you appoint a new seo agency, the obvious task that you would like them to help you with is to improve your businesses rankings.

Yet, here’s a word to the wise, its worth making sure that they target the right keywords, and here’s why:

Keywords that have a low search volume

It’s all well and good ranking at the top of Google, on the first page for a term such as “we are one of the best dentists in so and so an area”- yet you must ask yourself who’s searching for that?

When in reality the real important terms are likely to be “cosmetic dentist + area” or “teeth whitening + area”.

So, what we are getting at here is some terms are more likely to generate your business, than some others.

So, make sure your seo company is targeting the keywords that are more likely to generate your business.

Long tail keywords

Now, it’s worth bearing this in mind also, sometimes ranking for the really important terms can be mighty difficult.

Just imagine for a second how hard it would be to launch a new car insurance brand, and then trying to get that business to rank high against all the established competition that’s out there.

So, your digital marketing agency, and your business should sit down and think of some terms that have a search volume, yet are not as difficult to try and rank for as the super competitive phrases, such as “car insurance”. This will help the business to get some visitors, while the seo company is going after the more important keywords.

So, you guessed it, it’s a balance between going after the important keywords, the ones that are most likely to drive more visitors to your website, and ensuring that in the meantime you are getting some people onto your business’s website via longtail keywords.

Use your businesses Google Search Console accounts to see where your business is ranking for certain terms.

Organic traffic

If you hire a local seo company, then most of the time what the business will want to do is improve where your business ranks organically.

If the seo business that you choose is really good, like we are, then they should also be looking to improve where your business ranks on the map listings as well.

These listings are sometimes called the “Google My Business listings”. Yet, returning to the point at hand, organic traffic is really important. The reason being is most of the business listings are organic business listings.

Say you were searching to find a local pet store for example, now the majority of the businesses that will be listed will be organic business listings.

To improve where your business ranks here, your seo agency must improve your business “ranking signals”.

That’s to ensure that your business strengthens its ranking signals. So that you can check how many visitors you are getting via your business’s organic listings, you should check your Google Analytics account on a regular basis.

Bounce rates

Imagine this, you are launching a new restaurant within a busy city, and tonight’s the opening night.

The doors are open, and your waiting to hand our champagne to each customer, yet people are entering the restaurant, then turning straight around and walking back out the door.

Well, its for certain that the business owner would know that something isn’t right. Immediately you would be asking questions like is it the décor right or is the menu wrong, or have you set the prices too high?

Well the same should be said about your website, and that’s why your business should be monitoring its bounce rate.

Now the bounce rate sounds pretty complicated, but its not, it just the percentage of visitors that have landed on your website, and then have pretty much decided that they want to leave straightaway.

Just as the restaurant is asking questions, so should you, for example you should be asking whether your website is slow to load, is the website easy to navigate, i.e is the menu easy to use.

If you have a high bounce rate, you should be looking at why, and reducing it in order to improve your businesses seo.

It’s all well and good having a website that looks impressive, yet if it doesn’t work easily, like loading quickly onto a smartphone, then you should look to make some changes with the help of your website designer.

Backlinks

Your seo agency should be checking your websites backlinks on a regular basis. If poor quality backlinks do accumulate, then this could mean that your website incurs a penalty, such as a Google Penguin penalty.

Such penalties can mean that the website suffers a drop-in rankings.

So, use your businesses Google Search Console account, previously known as the Web Master tools account. And then you can obtain your backlinks via an Excel document.

How we can help

Our digital marketing business offers high quality white hat seo, if you would like to obtain a quote, why not give us a ring?