The Hummingbird update was released in early December
and is supposed to be the biggest and most fundamental change since they
introduced the caffeine indexing system in 2010. Where other updates have been
a patch on top of existing software, this update is more of fundamental code
change. The effects of this update are not yet clear, as only a few websites
have dropped dramatically. Here are a few clues as to if you are being
influenced or hit by the Hummingbird update.
Have your websites dropped rank since December 2013?
You may not be looking for a sudden drop as you
may have noticed with previous Google updates. This drop may be a more
insidious drop. You may be doing your usual SEO work and yet your ranking is
dropping. It may be that as people change the way they do SEO then the results
will start to change in a more obvious fashion. You need to trace back your
rankings to see if your trouble started around December 2013
Have your websites been rising in rank since December
2013?
You may have been hit in another way and it may be
that your ranking is rising. Not everybody is negatively affected by Google
updates. The people who fall in rank have to be replaced by somebody else. Are
your rankings improving? If so it may be a good idea to keep doing the SEO
stuff that you normally do. In other words, you should keep up the good work
and be thankful that the current Google update approves of your SEO methods.
Have you noticed that your backlinking efforts have
been fruitless recently?
One note about the Google Hummingbird update is its
affect on backlinks. We all know that backlinks have been the most powerful SEO
factor in a while, and previous updates have all affected them in some way. One
assumes that the most current update is going to affect them again, and most
obvious way is by making some forms (or all forms) of backlink less effective
when considering your SEO.
Is your search engine rank roughly the same but less
traffic appears?
This is something that a clever or observant person
may spot, and it has a twist of counter-intuitiveness to it. Are your search
engine rankings roughly the same but your traffic numbers are shrinking? If
this is the case then the Hummingbird has hit you and it has done it by making
the search queries you used to benefit from less popular. This means you still
rank at the same place but less people are typing in the search queries needed
to see you.
Have you noticed that some pages are now ranking above
others?
This is where your own website has a shift and some
pages start to become more popular than they used to be. This is probably due
to the Hummingbird update and you may learn from the ones that are ranking up
to see if you can apply those principles to the rest of your website.
Are your longer content-filled pages ranking higher?
Google did say that the longer detail/content filled
articles were going to be the ones that ranked the highest. Have a look at your
content to see if your longer content-filled pages are ranking higher. You are
being affected by the Google Hummingbird if they are.
Are your more flimsy pages less search engine
friendly?
This is the opposite of the point above. This is
another sign that your website has been hit by the Hummingbird update. The more
flimsy pages are bound to go down the search engine results pages. But, many
pages have little content in them if they have another use. If your web page
does have another use such as a tool or useable page element then it should not
really go down in the search engine results unless the page SEO is really bad.
Don’t worry too much about your PageRank
It may be that the PageRank function is being retired
or slowed down to a stop. Your PageRank may have fallen at the end of the year
2013, but you need not worry too much about it as it may not be a terribly bad
thing.
Try a keyword heavy web page and a content heavy web
page
Create a web page that has a lot of keywords and a web
page that is heavy on content but does not really have a stand-out keyword
percentage. See if one ranks above the other and you may see how the Google
Hummingbird update is affecting you.
About the Guest Author
Kate Funk is a writer and blogger of essay writingservice . She is the author of numerous essays on SEO, internet marketing.