Google Hummingbird update has significantly affected the way people search and provide information online. Before, brands and businesses rely on keywords to cater to the needs of their customers and at the same time, improve their online visibility. But with the tech giant’s largest algorithm update so far, the rules of the game have changed dramatically. Many brands and businesses shifted their focus from using specific keywords to generating and offering better online content.
However, many experts believe that with Google Hummingbird, generating quality content is not enough. According to them, there are greatly written content and materials that failed to rank as well they did prior to update. So what kind of quality content works well with Hummingbird and are capable of producing better results in today’s SEO environment?
“Evergreen” content
Tommy Landry of Search Engine Journal explains that evergreen content refers to content that doesn’t have an expiration date. Unlike breaking news, it can still be quite useful even if a huge amount of time has already passed by. Because evergreen content has strong “staying” power, it can grow stronger in authority, ranking, and traffic over time. And according to Landry, something that has ranked well over time can be crawled by search bots repeatedly. And because of this, it has a bigger chance to remain visible even if Google updates its algorithm.
How To’s
Because Google Hummingbird seeks to help users find what they are looking for by offering answers to natural questions and queries, how-to articles and content are more likely to get good search rankings in today’s SEO environment. As such, brands and businesses are advised to generate and offer informative and educational content that makes the most sense for their business so they can establish a more solid online presence.
FAQs
While there are experts who question the value of having FAQ (frequently asked questions) pages, there are online marketers who believe that such pages could work well with the Hummingbird update. However, these FAQ pages should be maintained well. And for them to get good search rankings, they should not focus entirely on company-specific questions.
Case Studies
According to Landry, while most case studies give emphasis on the advantages of using a product or service, there is value to be had when it comes to using this particular type of content. The key here is to use the format of presenting the situation or problem, the solution, and then the results. And to make this type of content jive well with Google Hummingbird, you can explain how it can help specific users or industries instead of simply offering a generic solution to the problem that you have presented. And then explain why the problem should be addressed in the first place by providing the results.
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