Like any machine on a path to world domination, Google is getting smarter. With it’s latest update, Hummingbird, it is now better able to understand context rather than just content.

What’s Hummingbird?

Here’s a quick definition and a link to a more complete Google Hummingbird explanation from Search Engine Land…

It’s the name of the new search algorithm that Google is using, one that Google says should return better results.

What does this mean for SEO?

Keywords are certainly still important and how your content is developed and coded continues to matter. But, and we’ve been saying this since day one, the quality of your content is of more value to Google than the quantity.

Each article I read about Hummingbird confirms this. And I’m glad. Because, ultimately, the purpose of content should be to inform, educate, inspire and challenge your target audience.

But, let’s look at it this way. Social media. There, I said it.

Social media has changed a lot of how we market our businesses online. Not because it’s the new thing or because Facebook is fun. Social media has made it possible for real people to share valuable information with other real people… from anywhere and all the dang time!

The connections made on social media are not simply likes and follows. These are real people connecting and sharing things of value. So, what does this have to do with search engines? Everything!

Google’s success (at least with search) depends on its ability to deliver the best search results it can. In order to remain the go-to search engine (I mean, seriously, who uses Bing?) it needs to give you what you want when you do a search.

Increasingly, it relies more on social signals, link signals, etc to determine what people want. If you publish an article or post a video and it gets a ton of shares, likes, plusses, votes, whatever, Google sees this as a validation of the content’s worth.

How do you do this? POST GOOD STUFF! Post better content as opposed to more content!

Don’t believe me? Watch this video from one of the brightest minds in SEO, Rand Fishkin at Moz…