Killing Keywords: Semantic Search Takes Over

Keyword-driven results have dominated search engine results pages (SERPs) for years and keyword-specific phrases have long been the standard with which marketers and SEO professionals alike tailor their campaigns.  However, with Google’s latest algorithm update (affectionately known as “Hummingbird”), there has been a wholesale shift towards “semantic search,” focusing on user intent instead of individual search terms.

In previous years, attempts have been made (in the relatively short history of search engines), to explore the value of semantic results rather than traditional results that rely on strict keyword adherence.  Historically, most of these attempts have ended in failure.  However, most recently, Google’s attempts have gained quite a bit of traction in the internet marketing world.  Google began emphasizing the importance of semantic search by showcasing their “Knowledge Graph” which implies that SERPs (especially Google) care a lot more about displaying predictive, relevant, and more meaningful sites and webpages than we ever thought before.  This “graph” is a massive mapping system using real-world things and their connections which bring more relevant results to users.  This is an example of how Google is now favoring “natural” language over the (less important) traditional black-and-white keyword search approach. 

“Hummingbird” Takes Flight

With the “Hummingbird” update, Google’s search chief Amit Singhal, says that it “represents the first time since 2001 a Google algorithm has been so dramatically rewritten,” and Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land explains in basic language:

Hummingbird is paying more attention to each word in a query, ensuring that the whole query – the whole sentence or conversation or meaning – is taken into account, rather than particular words. The goal is that pages matching the meaning do better, rather than pages matching just a few words.

The end result of this new approach is supposed to help filter out less-relevant and not-so-desirable results, making for a more enjoyable experience with easier navigation when looking up information.  Google’s Knowledge Graph and its “connect-the-dots” type of approach is important because it keeps users on the web longer and they discover more about related people, events, and topics.  A simple search for Hillary Clinton, for instance, shows her birthday, her hometown, and even the names of her family members, as well as links to “similar” people like Barack Obama, John McCain, and Joe Biden:

The Knowledge Graph and Hummingbird seem to go hand-in-hand and demonstrate the changing environment of search.

Are Keywords Really Dead?

So, does the shift from traditional keyword search to semantic search mean that keywords are a thing of the past?  Yes and no.  It is true that Google is now placing less importance on keywords alone and this is evident in Google Analytics, specifically the “Keyword Tool” function.  No longer will it be possible for webmasters to know what keyword visitors searched for before visiting a website (Google is now only sharing search terms with its paid advertisers), and relying solely on individual keyword performance and tracking them has become obsolete.  Google will begin to encrypt all keyword searches for webmasters that are signed in as well as eventually users that are not signed in, making it extremely difficult (and pretty much impossible) to know which keyword terms users frequently type in.

But what about website and business owners looking for that special edge to take advantage of and gain their share of the market?  How will they know which keywords to target?  Do they even need to worry about keywords?

Targeting Relevant Content and Meta Data

As previously mentioned, centering content on specific keywords is a thing of the past, and websites need to have high-quality, descriptive content and define that content in a machine-readable way so that not only will search engines like Google recognize them, but users will also want to frequent those sites and stay on them longer.  Becoming a member of the Knowledge Graph Community is one way of doing this.

Current trends in search engine marketing and optimization beginning with Google’s Knowledge Graph and continuing with their Hummingbird update urge the importance of using not only relevant content but adding semantic markup (aka: structured markup; Schema.org markup) that defines content in a machine-readable way.  Marking up your site’s content is crucial to its success in search engines like Google, Bing, and even Yahoo, and utilizing Schema.org markup not only improves the display of search results, but it makes it much easier for users to find desired web pages while improving your site’s position in the SERPs.

Semantic Markup and Schema.org

Google and other search engines rely on Schema.org markup as their preferred structured markup vocabulary to identify the “things” on web pages which can authenticate information so that they can deliver highly-relevant results, instead of relying heavily on “keyword strings” used previously.  Tradtional search engine results are often boring and consist of text only.  This adds “personality” to a search result and internet users are more likely to react and respond when they are presented with imagery, colors, ratings, reviews, etc.  Google knows this and places a lot of value on it while becoming seemingly more human in the process.

The image below shows a Rich Snippet.  In the first example shown below, the snippet includes the price of the chair.  In the second example, the snippet includes descriptive breadcrumb navigation which enhances the listing:

Together, Google’s Hummingbird update and its Knowledge Graph are the driving force behind this recent change towards semantic search. Going forward, it will be crucial to begin to implement this type of markup in your website to compete in the age of semantic search. Applying Schema.org markup to your website and your site’s products is beneficial to you and your customers.