Recently, a client forwarded me a link to an article about Google's Hummingbird update because she was worried about how it would affect her SEO campaign. Hummingbird is the name of the most recent update to Google's search algorithm and it's pretty big news in the digital marketing world. You can find tons of articles about it on the Internet and many are saying it's the most significant Google update in more than a decade. So it's no wonder business owners engaged in SEO are concerned and even worried.

If you take the time to research what Hummingbird is, you'll find that as a business owner with a website, there's no cause for concern. If you are following best practices, all you need to do is adjust and adapt as you have been doing. Hummingbird actually launched a month before the official announcement, and guess what? No one really noticed. And once again, when you get to the bottom of how your SEO strategy may change due to Hummingbird, you find content. Your approach to writing content will matter.

Google wants us to move away from writing around specific keywords and write for the actual visitors of the site. But wait, this is nothing new! This is the same direction they've been taking us - and effective, white hat SEO marketers have been adapting for quite some time now.

I have stressed the importance of user or customer-centric content since the birth of this column. If any significant decision is to be prompted by this new update, it may be your decision to call in an expert.

Google's previous updates were more about information gathering. They indexed websites more often, penalized cheaters, and got better at filtering out spam. Hummingbird is focused on user experience. It's about Google understanding what searchers are "really" looking for and delivering the best answers in their results.

One focus is on longer search queries. Instead of examining individual words, Google is now looking at the query as a whole and trying to process the "meaning" behind it. Search algorithms look at the keyword phrase and return results that match the words individually and as a whole. What Hummingbird will attempt to do is consider context and guess the user's intent in order to deliver more relevant results - or answers. Google Search wants to be "smarter," to actually learn the intricacies of human language and how people communicate.

Most people won't notice a change in search results, but for longer, more complex, conversational queries, the Hummingbird update is supposed to serve better answers. For example, if I search for "the best pepperoni pizza near my house," I should get accurate results, but (and it's a very significant but) only if I am signed in to Google and have provided them with a home address in Google Maps). If I'm not signed in and have not provided the correct information, the results will not match the meaning behind the search.

So yes, Google is getting smarter, but we already knew that. Digital marketers like me are eager to see just how intelligent Google Search is, and just how much smarter it will get - and we're ready. As I told our worried SEO client, much of the buzz around Hummingbird is a lot of speculation. Though some "experts" write things as fact, when you read articles from credible sources around the Web, there are many contradicting opinions.

I may follow up with another column devoted purely to Hummingbird with more details, but only if it's worth your time. SEO and optimizing your presence online is not just about the keywords you've chosen. It's so much more complex and involved than that.

It's evident that great content will drive rankings and I hope I have clarified that by now. Our goal is to get you ranked higher, and we'll do our absolute best to do so. This update will likely result in a shift for website rankings and I believe it will prove to be an advantage for smaller businesses who are able to provide real content - content that visitors want.

So ultimately, Hummingbird may level the playing field even more. In order to maintain our clients' SEO efforts and search rankings, we continue to rethink how customers are using the Internet to find products and services. Rethinking is our job, and if you're a business owner trying to manage your own website and SEO, we welcome your questions and thoughts.

Jacob Myong is a WSI Internet Consultant with The Coeur d'Alene Press. He has worked in digital media for over 15 years. Email [email protected] or call 208-416-5173. www.cdainternetmarketing.com