- Google’s Knowledge Graph
- Conversational or voice search
- Google Now in Android-powered mobile devices
The algorithm is based on semantic search and focuses on user intent rather than individual search terms. Hummingbird focuses on the meaning behind the words searched for.
Medical Websites and Hummingbird
Healthcare providers, especially specialists like plastic surgeons and cosmetic surgeons, need high SERPs to get the attention of their targeted audience? How does the Hummingbird algorithmic update affect these professionals?
Suppose a person types “Experienced plastic surgeon in NYC” into the search bar. Hummingbird determines the intent of the search and attempts to provide the most relevant and high-quality content based on more than just matching phrases.
With more and more users performing voice search, short keyword searches are becoming less common. Conversational or voice search involves asking Google a question rather than typing keywords into the search box.
If a person is on the phone and says “Find me an experienced breast augmentation surgeon near where I live?” Google will then parse out what’s ‘experienced’ in this context, where your location is, and so on. Hummingbird better understands the actual location of your home, if you’ve shared that with Google. It understands that “breast augmentation” is a plastic surgery procedure and provides more focused and localized results.
So Hummingbird pays more attention to each word in a query, so that the whole query — the whole sentence or conversation or meaning — is considered, rather than particular words.
Physicians Need to Focus on Quality Content and Long Term Keywords
Hummingbird has a bigger effect on long tail search terms and not on head terms. SEO experts point out that Google is keen to reduce the importance of keywords; its preoccupation is with the quality of the content on the web. So the focus of medical SEO should be creating quality content with relevant long-tail keywords that users will want to read and share.
Plastic surgeons should know that their web pages and content will not be found if they do not provide the answers to specific search queries. For instance, if a potential patient searches “Why should I get a facelift procedure?”, the content that needs to be found in top search results should include the benefits that the procedure would provide and not just promotional stuff. Hummingbird is designed to pick the best search result based on the quality of long tail content.
Staying up-to-date with such algorithmic changes can be quite challenging for busy cosmetic surgeons and other specialists. Medical websites can leverage Hummingbird to improve their search ranking with professional SEO services.