How Does Google’s Hummingbird Update
Impact Your SEO Efforts?
NetElixir University Guest Expert Series
About NetElixir
NetElixir is a global search marketing agency headquartered in Princeton,NJ.
We specialize in applying mathematical models to drive exceptional search
Marketing results for our clients like UllaPopken, Lenovo, K-Swiss and Oneida.
Follow us! @NetElixir
www.NetElixir.com
About NetElixir University
• NetElixir University was launched in 2012 with a vision of “democratizing
the digital marketing industry through exceptional knowledge and expertise
sharing.”
• Through monthly webinars and quarterly seminars, we hope to provide
the tools & knowledge to help people become better search marketers.
NetElixir University
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Who is Steven Pope?
• Steven Pope is eCommerce Marketing Manager at Ulla
Popken, a leading women’s plus size clothing retailer.
• He has 5+ years of experience in every aspect of
digital marketing strategy and execution. He specializes
in SEO.
• Steven has an MBA from Western Governors University,
and a BS in Communication from Weber State University.
My Personal SEO Experience
• I’ve used all leading enterprise SEO tools, including Conductor Search
Light at my present and previous company.
• I’ve done complex, end-to-end SEO implementations for multiple firms.
• Steven’s SEO Trivia:
A Higher Education company I worked for, StraighterLine, wanted to rank
for algebra terms. I paid a professor to create 100 math videos all titled
around how people search for algebra, and got one landing page to rank for
20 keywords on page 1!
Hummingbird and its impact on SEO
The smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5cm Bee Hummingbird. They hover in mid-air by rapidly
flapping their wings12–80 times per second.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird
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Google is changing
Announced September Google Changes
• Non-provided Keyword Data
• Hummingbird
What’s a “search algorithm?”
• That’s a technical term for what you can think of as a recipe that Google
uses to sort through the billions of web pages and other information it has,
in order to return what it believes are the best answers.
Why is it called Hummingbird?
• Google told us the name comes from being “precise and fast.”
Hummingbird Myths
• Search is dead
• Hummingbird is just another Panda/Penguin.
• Hummingbirds hitch rides on the backs of geese as they migrate south.
Previous Google Updates:
Penguin
De-ranked Spam Sites
Panda
De-ranked Low Quality
Sites
Hummingbird is a Much Bigger Game Changer
New Search
Engine.
Hummingbird “Humanizes” Search
• Relevant content based on “User Intent.”
− Previously a search query weighed all words equally, Hummingbird is smarter
to figure out a user’s true intent.
• Conversational Search
− Search 2012: “plus size clothing”
− Search 2014: “Siri: Where can I buy plus size clothing”
• Keyword stuffing will become a thing of the past. Imagine if every post was
keyword stuffed, that would get annoying… It’s all about natural content now.
It’s less about keywords and more about content now.
− Instead of asking “what keywords will users be searching for” we need to ask “what
kind of information are users looking for?”
3 Quick Ways to Optimize Your Site Today Post Hummingbird
1. Decrease your website page load times to below 2 seconds.
− I used Edgecast, a paid service to cache my site. Went from 5-seconds to 1.
− If you have internal IT resources, challenge them to reduce speeds. Start with photos,
these are generally the worst culprit, then look at tags/pixels.
− Test your speeds at free sites like www.Pingdom.com
2. Create a content strategy, increasing/starting blog production.
− Quality > Quantity
− Post 1-3 times a week minimum
− Each post focuses on 1-3 keywords repeated 2-3 times.
3. Begin to optimize on “conversational search.”
− Content strategies can segment on mobile search queries.
My Personal Take
• SEO is in its infancy.
• I think Keywords are going to become hyper
segmented due to mobile
• I think SEO is one of the hardest marketing
initiatives to get organizations to adopt, requiring
months/years of buy-in and re-buy-in requiring
conversations across multiple departments.
• Larger business will increasingly dominate search.
Questions Please
Thank You!
Questions? Email
[email protected] or tweet with
hashtag #NetElixirU & we’ll get back
to you!
For access to free SEO and SEM
tools, visit www.LXRMarketplace.com
Steven Pope
eCommerce Marketing Manager
Ulla Popken USA
@NewAgeMarketer
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