The nature of search engines has greatly changed over the years. With Google, for instance, the methods of locating certain websites were based primarily on keywords. Today, most refer to that as search engine optimization (SEO), where a web page would appear more frequently based on particular words and embedded phrases. For companies, having a properly optimized site is important in order to generate more traffic to their webpage, especially when working towards better Google ranks.
But the nature of optimization is slowly changing. Search engines (or at least Google) steadily introduce new analyzing methods when terms are searched. The nature of how search queries are entered have changed with nuance, like a conversation piece rather than exact terms. Google has introduced several advancements in its search engine to optimize for this. Hummingbird is one such advancement. It’s an algorithm that studies those mentioned search queries. Thus, what appears for the most popular search results is wildly different and no longer purely based off of exact terms and phrases.
For a company, this can be both positive and negative. While such algorithms still change annually to form better results, key words are still widely recognized. However, no longer is traditional SEO optimization the only factor to generating natural traffic. A business will have to pay attention to Google’s attempts at a responsive, AI search engine in order to best utilize it. In the future, it may no longer be sufficient to simply string together precise terms.
For example, RankBrain was one of the recent developments regarding Google’s machine learning. It was introduced in 2015, and while Hummingbird remains to be the overall learning architecture, RankBrain is a part of it. So what do businesses, or anyone looking for more traffic through Google, need to do?
As it stands, one could do technically nothing and still achieve a good amount of traffic or decent ranking, but the problem is it may plateau. Better ranking is now part of a wider variety of things, not just keywords. From how HTML links appear to social media campaigns, the idea is to create a larger spread of connectivity, not just rely on a webpage or two.
In other words, if a business looks to improve standings on Google, it should have various ways to visit its page on the net. Specials linked from Twitter, descriptions about services on a blog, even professional images all play a role in the ranking process. RankBrain and its respective AI formula, while not perfect, is gathering increasingly complex and nuanced phrases from user searches to generate the best results. It’s up to companies to understand that so they become part of these search functions.
Ultimately, those that adapt will be met with success, but those which rely on traditional SEO methods will find their ranks deteriorate. If you’re having trouble keeping up with all the SEO changes, let Stratosphere Networks help. Call us at (877)599-3999 or fill out our contact form to hear from one of our experienced professionals.
