How to Avoid a Painful Death by Hummingbird
A hummingbird shifted the world of web alchemy for entrepreneurs, SEO companies, and blackhats. (Because a hummingbird’s wings can start tornados, don’t you know? ~Mudvayne ;) What? I know it's butterflies' wings, let's move on, shall we? :p )
These guys have always tried to game the system because if you can win at Google, then you end up on the first page of search, if not pretty damn close (then people find you!).
And, by now, you’ve heard about Pandas, Penguins, and Hummingbirds. Whenever Google changes something in its search algorithms, the SEO wizards spontaneously combust since their progress is usually destroyed afterward.
But the Hummingbird’s such a good update for people not involved in blackhat SEO – you know, like you!
Hummingbird Made Search More Accurate
So if your ideal client’s looking for “getting more sales” on Google, it’ll actually take all of the words in his search into consideration when serving up results, instead of simply serving up keyword responses like the old days of, say, three months ago.
And, according to Search Engine Land, there are about 200 factors in all that Google considers when ranking pages. Not the least of them is content quality, engagement, author rank, etc. The lesson has always been: If you want your page sitting pretty in the top spots (because you know you never dig deeper than page 3 in search) when your ideal comes looking for you, you have to follow the rules.
Or pay the Google price – which is a very painful death by Hummingbird.
But who’s scared of getting axed by a tiny little birdie? SEO companies are on its hit list, according to RazorSocial. But so are businesses who incorporate seedy backlinking techniques, as are the businesses who buy crap content from content mills.
These owners work to make a dime, not to help people solve their problems. So the Hummingbird will happily take them out of the equation for a while.
Your Ideal Client Needs You
Your ideal client is looking for solutions to problems and when you dish out your best work (or a pro writer’s best work, if you’re not one), then you increase your chances of getting found. But how can you know what you need to write or do for your ideal client to help her solve her problems?
By knowing her needs, wants, desires, and fears as well as you know your own.
Because when you put yourself in her shoes to walk a mile, you not only know what she needs help with, you understand it. And when you understand it, what you write speaks to her, to her heart, then she’ll know you’ve “been there”. She'll feel your solutions will work and that you’re the real deal, not some scammy entrepreneur out to make a quick buck at her expense.
Think and Feel Like Her
That’s what we talked about at the Target Practice Party last week: Crawling into her head through her social shares, her comments on your posts, on your competition’s post and learning as much about her as you can.
We also talked about what to do with all that info when you find it. When you can think like her, you can write content and create products and services she's searching for.
It’s all about the research.
You have to take the time to do it, understand it, and USE it. Or you could suffer death by Hummingbird.
I'd love to know, in the comments, if you have a religious schedule in place to research and study your ideal client.
Kick ass this week!
Tania
<3
PS
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Photo credit: Pixabay