Why I'm Excited About Google Hummingbird

Towards the end of 2013, you may have noticed a big change over at Google – specifically, the launch of Google Hummingbird.

This brand-new algorithm completely changed the way Google’s search engine works. Instead of searching based on individual keywords, Google now employs “conversational search” – searching more intelligently, responding to complicated sentences and queries that mirror how people actually speak (or write)

(Wondering how this works? Check out the example I gave my wedding and hotel clients.)

As a writer, I’m thrilled about this new algorithm for several reasons.

1. Hopefully, Google Hummingbird means businesses will stop worrying about “SEO.”

I really don’t like that term. Despise, in fact, might be more accurate. Because when people say they’re looking for SEO, what they usually mean is that they don’t care about their content. They don’t care if it actually shares useful information. Sometimes, they don’t even care whether it uses complete sentences.

What they’re looking for is search engine hits. They see “SEO” (or what they think of as SEO) as a way of skipping the step of figuring out what their customers really need.

It’s a lazy attitude, and one that has grown progressively more dated as Google updates its search criteria. Now, with the advent of Hummingbird, SEO keyword writing can go the way of the dodo, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

2. Google Hummingbird makes good writing more valuable.

Instead of single keywords, Google is now looking for “long-tail” keywords – sentences and phrases that match or have something to do with the googler’s query. That means that stuffing a website’s meta-data isn’t going to cut it anymore.

What is going to attract search hits is well-written, relevant content that is thoughtful about what potential customers and readers will find useful. Now, to me, that should have been the case all along. But Hummingbird now makes it impossible for businesses to pretend that the actual content they produce doesn’t matter.

3. Google Hummingbird makes writers more valuable.

From a professional standpoint, that’s good news for me and every other web writer out there.

I’ve written before about the way writing for the internet has been devalued and how mad it makes me. I think a lot of that comes from the SEO mindset. When people we just looking for a few paragraphs stuffed with keywords – nevermind how well it was written – they didn’t need someone with real writing skill, so they weren’t willing to pay for it.

But web writing is, in many ways, an art form. It’s completely different than any other kind of writing. And I think Google’s Hummingbird update means that it will finally start getting the respect it deserves.

So what does Google Hummingbird mean for 2014?

I think it means that website and blog content are now more important than ever.