Pubcon 2014 presentation on Hummingbird and Entity Search. Focus is on what's changed, what hasn't, the importance of semantic search practices, and a practical example from our website on how we've optimized How To content to focus on relevance and user experience.

1. Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
Presented by: Dave Lloyd
http://www.magic4walls.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Bird-Hummingbird-Hummingbird.jpg

2. Adobe.com –from an SEO perspective
#6 most linked-to web domain
+15% YoYVisitor & Conversion increase
Ownership of adobe.com, Support, TV, and Blog subdomains
Monitor 20,000 SEO keywords,
60 languages, 250 subdomains or regional sites, & 210 competitors
@davelloyd1
slideshare.net/dalloyd

3. 3
Hummingbird is a new
Search Engine Algorithm, that impacted 90%
of search queries
in Google.
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_YMdhsSqf54/T5v9Ndpe6II/AAAAAAAATbc/81PT2O2WnK4/s640/ruby+throated+hummingbird+1.jpg

4. 4
In general, Hummingbird —Google says —is a new engine built on both existing and new parts, organized in a way to especially serve the search demands of today, rather than one created for the needs of ten years ago, with the technologies back then.
http://searchengineland.com/google-hummingbird-172816
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
http://www.websitemagazine.com/images/blog/mobile-world-shutterstock.png

5. 5
It doesn’t change the original ranking factors, instead it
adds additional relevancy signals
that can also impact rankings and improve user experience.
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
@davelloyd1

6. 6
Links are
STILL IMPORTANT
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
http://thecripplegate.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/chain-links.jpg

7. 7
Site Architecture is STILL IMPORTANT
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
http://wallpaperswide.com/spiral_stairs_2-wallpapers.html

8. 8
Quality Content is STILL IMPORTANT
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
http://ferpalaciosd.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/jh0861_knowledge.jpg

9. 9
“SERVING THE SEARCH DEMANDS OF TODAY”
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution

10. 10
Semantic Search & Search Entities
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
Getting more results than just those that feature the exact keyword you typed into the search box.
Semantic search will take into account the context and meaning of your search terms and the assumptions that the searcher is making when typing in that search query.
http://biznetis.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Fotolia_7150837_L.jpg
@davelloyd1

11. 11
Knowledge graph was the “first baby step”
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/introducing-knowledge-graph-things-not.html
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
http://www.dreamsforfree.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/first-step.png

12. 12
The knowledge graph entities vs. search entities
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution

13. 13
The knowledge graph entities vs. search entities
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution

14. 14
Search Entities can include:

A query a searcher submits

Documents responsive to the query

The search session during which the searcher submits the query

The time at which the query is submitted

Advertisements presented in response to the query

Anchor text in a link in a document

The domain associated with a document
“Search entities” (as opposed to entities that relate to people, places, and things) are primarily about relationships between keywords. Relationships between keywords or entities help provide a layer of semantic relevancy, and can be used to make rank adjustments.
Synonym identification based
on co-occurring terms
The knowledge graph entities vs. search entities
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution

15. 15
Refined topic modeling, more knowledge graph references, and semantic signals are coalescing.

Search queries improved based on semantic info

Evaluation of substitute terms

Synonym identification based on co-occurring terms
Today, signals such as keyword co-occurrence, user behavior, and previous searches do in fact inform context around search queries, which impact the SERP landscape.
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
http://www.xrce.xerox.com/About-XRCE/Overview/1993-2013-20-years-of-innovation/Articles/How-machines-can-learn-what-humans-interpret-adapting-probabilistic-topic-models-to-natural-language

16. 16
All this giving you a headache yet?
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
http://www.resimbul.com/sonuc/sac-ekimi/sac-ekimi-yan-etkileri/sac-ekimi-yan-etkileri-d4f2a3.jpg

17. 17
“My head hurts”
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution

18. 18
Examples of Query expansion
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
Based on query sessions
@davelloyd1

19. 19
Examples of Query expansion
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
Based on previous search

20. 20
Synonyms & query re-writing
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
“Hardware reviews” -> “Computer”

21. 21
Synonyms & query re-writing
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
“Hardware reviews” -> “Computer”

22. 23
Synonyms & query expansion
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution

23. 24
Synonyms & query expansion
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution

24. 25
How to Pages
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
@davelloyd1

25. In-house SEO and Leadership 25
Make your topical content the repeat destination

26. Improve the user experience
26

27. In-house SEO and Leadership 27
Curate similar topical content based on intent

28. In-house SEO and Leadership 28
Meta data & entity relationships improve Site Search performance

29. 26
Hummingbird and the Entity Search Revolution
Rankings are an additional, not primary, benefit

30. 31
How does that impact my day to day as an SEO?

Focus on customer-focused topics by intent, not keywords

Promote the schema.org tagging protocol within web teams

Evaluate location queries via mobile as these are ready-made for entity search

Add competitive or non-brand terms co-occurring with the top 10-20 search results

Evaluate Knowledge Graph for your terms that trigger KG

Use new keyword research tools like Google Autocomplete, LSI Keywords, and UberSuggestto understand keyword entities

Use internal & social linking to improve co-citations

Develop How To content & query refinement suggestions
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2334906/key-ways-to-stay-current-with-semantic-search-changes
http://www.cleverdicc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/water-drop.jpg
@davelloyd1
slideshare.net/dalloyd