GOOGLE ALGORITHM HUMMINGBIRD

 Google's Hummingbird update explained - what should it mean for your SEO?

Last week Google announced its new Hummingbird algo update, putting lots of SEOs into doubts and concerns – what should this algo change mean to you and your website? To make sure you don't get down into panic and plan your SEO strategy wisely, we've put up this short guide to explain what Hummingbird update is, how it affects your rankings and how to adapt your SEO strategy to benefit from the changes.

So, what do we know about Hummingbird?

Though announced on September 26 only, Hummingbird was in fact released a month before that and is said to affect 90% of search queries.

Unlike Penguin and Panda, Hummingbird is not a penalty-based update (aimed at cleaning the SERPs from low-quality content), but a change in the way Google reacts to different types of queries, which lets the search engine now get the actual meaning behind a query, rather than the separate terms in it.

Besides, the algorithm is called to better deal with conversational queries, considering the growing number of mobile search users and voice searchers.

So Hummingbird is all about Google being able to catch users' actual search intent and find the content that matches this intent the best.

But what does this mean for Internet marketers and SEO? Well, it means a few things become increasingly more important, and first of all - the content on your site. The name of the game is relevance and your content needs to be deep and rich, rather than just fluff stuffed with keywords.

Now to get a better idea of how to adapt your digital marketing strategy to that change, you need to understand which mechanisms Google probably uses to achieve the relevance goal and what each of them means for your site.

1. Adapt your keyword strategy for conversational queries

The first challenge Google has to deal with today is the growing number of conversational phrases people use to search the Web. Quite likely (and that is especially true for mobile voice search users), these queries will be of a longer, question-like type - "how to...?", "where is the nearest...?", "where can I get...?", etc.

Interpreting these longer phrases, Google can no longer rely on the keywords only and provide different results for each of them. But rather bring numerous conversational requests to a shorter "general term", based on the type of searchers' intent:

Informational

1. The user wanders "How old is Miley Cyrus?", so...
2. The user wants general information about Miley Cyrus, so...
3. The users will find that info in Miley Cyrus biography

Navigational

1. The user looks for "What is the official website of waec", so...
2. The user wants to get to WAEC website, so...
3. The user needs results for WAECDIRECT, WAEC and West African Examinations Council

Transactional

1. The user looks for "Where is the nearest Starbucks", so...
2. The user wants to locate and visit the nearest Starbucks, so...
3. The users will find it using Starbucks locator

Try determining all conversational phrases people are likely to use when searching for your services, and classify them into informational, navigational and transactional.

Make sure your content covers each of the 3 types:

·         To cover informational queries, create educational, Wikipedia-type content.

·         Navigational queries are your brand name, your product name, the name of your site, etc. What often helps you rank higher for your brand keywords are brand and website name mentions on thematically relevant resources.

·         For transactional queries, use appropriate keywords in your content, for example “hire Jason C. – a web designer from Sydney”

When possible, target conversational phrases just as they are. For all the rest of conversational terms, use their shorter equivalents.

2. Leverage synonyms and co-occurring terms

Another step towards relevant search results is determining what a page is about using not only individual keywords, but their synonyms and co-occurring terms.

Practically this means that Google shows search results not only for the exact phrase the user typed in, but for other theme-related terms.

For a theme-relevant website, this results in extra exposure opportunities: it's likely to get to Google's top not only for your targeted keywords, but for lots of their synonyms.

On the contrary, the page cut for a separate keyword (without keeping in mind its co- occurring terms and synonyms) is likely to be replaced with a page form theme-relevant site.

Expand your keyword research, focusing on synonyms and co-occurring terms to diversify your content:

·         To see which search terms Google considers synonymous, pay attention to related keywords, acronyms or spelling variants of your keywords highlighted in search results:

·         Expand your synonyms list with the keywords that already bring traffic to your website (check your site's Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics).

·         Tap into Google Suggest for relevant keywords ideas:

3. Strive for co-citation

Another way for Google to identify what your website or your business deals with is co-citation.

In a simple language, this mechanism means that each time your brand (or a link to your site) is mentioned alongside with your competitors or similar web resources, this serves as a hint to Google that your firm and those other companies are related.

And if the competitors are already authoritative in your business niche, your site for Google now also seems a weighty niche representative.

Ex. If your website (1) is mentioned on websites A, B and C together with your competitors (2, 3 and 4), for Google the 4 websites become associated (see the scheme):

Identify your top competitors (the leading niche representatives trusted by Google) and make sure your brand gets mentioned alongside with them:

·         Perform a Google search for "Top 10 [the generic term for your biz]…", "Best [the generic term for your product] of 2013", etc. If your business isn't there,reach out to the publisher and ask them to put you on the list.

·         Search for other competing brands ranking high for your keywords, to find more citation opportunities.

·         Reverse-engineer competitors' backlink profiles to see which niche resources they have links from.

4. Re-consider your anchor texts

Even though using "commercial" anchor texts in links is one of the biggest SEO no-no's these days, Google still relies on backlink anchor texts to better understand the theme of a site.

The perfect proof for that is the famous example of Adobe.Com that (still!) ranks for "click here" solely due to the anchor texts in its links:

What should you do?

·         Do an inventory of your site's internal links and see if you can better optimize the anchor texts for semantically relevant keywords.

·         Check your site's external links' anchors to make sure they are relevant enough or revise your anchor text strategy.

·         Don't forget to not only use keywords in the anchor texts themselves, but also surround the links with keywords and their synonyms.

5. Pay more attention to Universal Search listings

One more thing to pay your attention to in the age of smarter Google is Universal search.

Quite likely that the new, relevancy-focused algorithm will make Google show more Universal search results to your target users.

Say, Google sees your intent – learning the best way to work out your chest. Quite obviously, the most informative result for you is a training video:

If you wonder where to buy pizza in Chicago, no doubt you need local pizzerias listings:

This means that now, even more than before, Universal Search gives you the opportunity to:

(A) Outrank competitors when cracking the “organic” top 10 seems improbable

(B) Drive more traffic to your site by using additional traffic channels

What should you do?

·         See what types of search results appear on Google for your main keywords

·         Consider the possibility of getting a Google+ Local listing

·         Optimize your images for Google Images

·         Make videos and optimize them for YouTube

6. Utilize structured data markup

To collect more info about your website, its theme and content, Google is likely topay even more attention to the so-called structured data. That is a perfect way to get extra exposure in Google's Knowledge graph, add more info to rich snippets, feature your articles authorship, get into the search results carousel and so on.

What should you do?

·         Make sure you use maximum number of structured data properties, that let Google know more about your site (use Google+ for Google authorship, get listed in Freebase to increase your chances of hopping on the Knowledge Graph, etc.)

·         To help Google make better sense of your site, whenever possible, try implementing schema on your site (use Schema.org markup for Videos, use Structured Data Markup Helper to let Google know more about movies, events, etc. on your site).

·         Use Structured Data Testing Tool to make sure Google interprets structured data correctly on your webpages.

Make sure your site is all set for Hummingbird!

source INTERNET.

ATTITUDE determines ALTITUDE

Anybody can grow old, it doesn't require any talent or ability, if you are 19 you will be 20 next year even by lying on the bed, but the idea is to grow up finding the opportunities always.

The Burj Khalifa stands at 828 meters. The total weight of the tower is 500,000 tons, 50 m depth foundation laid below ground with a weight excess of 200,000 tons. Shows that some of the most magnificent buildings have the most substantial bases. Just like a high building stands on a firm foundation, so does success. And the foundation of success is the attitude. YOUR ATTITUDE CONTRIBUTES TO SUCCESS. A study attributed to Harvard University found that when a person gets a job, 85% of the time it is because of their attitude, and only 15% of the time because of how smart they are and how many facts and figures they know.

The foundation of your career success in the chosen field depends upon your ATTITUDE. Our ATTITUDE decides how we take setbacks in life for a Positive Attitude person it can be a stepping stone to success, for a Negative Attitude person it will be a blockage in his path.


We are not an arm and a leg, but we are a complete human being, aren't we? The whole person goes to work, and the entire person comes home. We take family problems to work and work issues to the family. What happens when we take family problems to work? Our stress level goes up, and productivity comes down. Similarly, work and social issues have an impact on every aspect of our lives.

Change your ATTITUDE because it will determine the  ALTITUDE of your life.

Anil Mastana

EMPLOYABILITY: A CHALLENGE

“Today employability is far bigger a challenge than unemployment”.

The term employability refers to those skills require to acquire and retain a job. Employability skills include not only many foundational academic skills, but also a variety of attitudes and habits.

A disparity exists in the types of skills taught at colleges and those that are demanded in industry.

Plagued with problems like curriculum, lack of qualified faculty, poor quality of content, and not-so-effective examination system, technical institutions do not provide signaling value in the job market.

After graduation many students fail to find employment or are forced to accept low paying jobs not commensurate with their qualifications. Institutions of management education in particular are deeply concerned to such an extent that their educational perspectives get distorted. High incidence of unemployment, underemployment or low incomes becomes a matter of serious concern to central and state governments.

As per Nasscom Press Information note:

Despite the strong fundamentals, there are already growing concerns about parts of the existing available talent pool being unsuitable for employment due to a skill gap.

‘Employability Skill Index’ was done by Purple Leap, a talent management institute, among 600 students from 15 engineering colleges in India. It tested three key employability skills - communication, problem solving and technical skills. When it came to communication skills of engineering students, 80 per cent of them did not meet the qualifying criteria. It is understood that Communication Skills is a problem area especially when it comes to students in Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities. However, it is quite ironical that most of out of the 20%, who are fine as far as communication skills are concerned, do not actually end up getting hired because of either lack of problem solving skills or technical skills. Lack of adequate problem solving skills is one of the biggest gaps leading to students not getting enough technical jobs in the industry and in many cases having to settle for ‘nontechnical’ roles, after an engineering education

More than 60% of the students do not meet the employability criteria on technical skills for the IT industry. The study also revealed that 11% of the students are employable when organisations do not consider technical skills as a criterion. Even the (30+ %) students who do meet the Technical Skills criteria are still not ‘ready-to-deploy’ as far as employers are concerned. After recruiting these students also, most organisations usually have to spend 5 to 6 months on technical training to make these students workplace ready.

CASE STUDY OF 'FORD': HOW THEY USED SOCIAL MEDIA AS A MARKETING PLATFORM

SOCIAL MEDIA  AS A  MARKETING  PLATFORM:

Because it is not only the rapidly growing force in the current marketing playing field, it is set to be the future of marketing, and it seems likely that digital media will soon replace more traditional forms altogether. People are consuming more and more digital content on a daily basis - on mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers, and more – and companies those who have not yet recognized this in their marketing strategies need to adapt fast.
2013 was one of the most eventful years in the history of digital marketing, with Google and Facebook releasing a volley of updates making traditional digital marketers run for cover.

Within the last few years, social media has evolved from being primarily a brand awareness tool to a key component of brand management due to its ability to facilitate real-time buyer-seller interaction. Echo Research and Fishburn Hedges, a global reputation analysis and stakeholder research services provider, stated that about 65% of consumers in 2012, who have communicated with companies through social networks, find it to be a better means for interaction as compared with other options. Direct engagement is becoming the key to improving customer experience—ultimately improving brand perception. Ad agencies and advertisers are now beginning to understand how social media has changed the fundamentals of brand management. They are beginning to accept that they now have partial control over their campaigns, with social media controlling the rest. This gives an astute understanding of the implications of social media on brands.

Ford, one of the world’s largest automakers, in 2010, presented an excellent example of how social media can define a brand’s image in a particular market even before the product has been launched. The company was losing its reputation after the economic recession and was desperate to ensure the successful re-entry of its “Fiesta” brand in the United States. Ford decided to plan its campaign around social media. One hundred bloggers, filmmakers, and social networkers were given “Fiestas” and their experience with the car was broadcasted. By the time Ford launched the Fiesta a few weeks later, the brand had gained 60% recognition in the United States through a series of narratives posted online. The company spent no more than $5 million on the campaign. Its effectiveness was substantiated by the fact that it let consumers speak for the brand rather than publicizing it themselves.

Still using social media as a tool of marketing is disappointingly very small. From the above example, one can conclude that in coming future corporates will use this huge platform to create a positive brand image of their products.

The 3 E's of Success

Need of the Hour: The three E’s of success

Education

Employ-ability

Employment

We need to empower these youngsters with the requisite skills they will need to get employment and to grow in a corporate environment. And this skill development must start early: even while the student is pursuing his graduation. While academic skills definitely count various other skills such as spoken and written English, interpersonal skills, the art of communication, situational behavior, and so on play a pivotal role in helping the student or candidate fit into the workplace. Lack of these skills may hamper the candidate’s prospects at the interview stage itself. Technical education must assess its curriculum and evaluate its purpose in helping students attain employment. It should cater to the needs of its stakeholders in industry. Although employment of their graduates is not the only goal of colleges, it is still important for college administrators and employers to strive for open channels of communication and continuous dialogue in order to recognize, discuss, and resolve these outstanding discrepancies and more effectively serve their common link: the students. A possible reason for higher education institutions failing to address the employ-ability skills of its students could be because college faculty do not understand what the lacking skills are and do not possess the necessary resources to teach them. While higher education faculty may not know what the lacking skills are, corporate employers do, and as such, can have an influence on the enhancement of these skills in education. Further, corporations are willing to partner with higher education institutions in an effort to teach the necessary skills for industry success. 

Anil mastana

INDIA IS PROGRESSING?

India is progressing with an amazing growth rate. The growth rate of India is the second highest in the world. The youth of India is contributing a lot to its growth. It is believed that key reason behind Indian progress is its youth workforce, highest in number in the world. However, there is a problem, due to low employability skill sets youth are unemployed.

India is a world leader in the service sector. Large numbers jobs are waiting for suitable candidates. Indian youth is mostly tied up in IT. India is a leader in software. Software industries in India are continually offering white collar jobs besides some blue collars.

India is also the world leader in BPO (Business process outsourcing) and KPO (Knowledge process outsourcing). Large numbers of call centers are contributing to the industries and trades of America, Australia, Japan, European Union, Canada, and many other developed countries.

IT industry has seen a remarkable boom in India. The expansion of service industries such as IT/ITES and financial services over the past decade created a major discontinuity in India’s pattern of economic development. A sudden and sharp rise in workforce demand in these industries sparked a scarcity of skilled manpower and pushed up wages of skilled manpower beyond the growth in their productivity This industry has employed a large number of educated youth with fetching salary. Management, banking, finance, retail, telecommunication, entertainment etc. are some other new sectors that helped India in her tremendous growth.

Although India will have the world’s largest pool of working-age people by 2030, if the current trend in professional participation continues, only 539 million out of 962 million people of working age would be working by 2030. In the absence of any significant reforms in school and higher education, the quality of India’s professional force would remain below par Despite much-educated youths, there is a shortage of skilled manpower. This is the dilemma. There are unemployed youths and the companies are facing a shortage of manpower.

A recent survey throws light on the problem, problems with the educated youth. They are mainly lacking three types of skills.

    1. Communication/soft skill.

    2. Analytical, logical and problem-solving skill.

    3. Respective Domain Knowledge.

While in interview approximately eighty percent candidates are screened out due to lack of communication/soft skills. Rest fifteen five percent are screened out for analytical skills and lack of knowledge in their respective domain. Hence 95% of educated youth are lacking in one of these three main skills required for job and employment. Only 5% the f educated force of India is employable. Employers are struggling hard to attract them with huge pay packages that are increasing their production cost significantly. The employees are losing their competitive edge in global markets. Global slowdown only adds to the crisis. Corporations are now facing a dual problem.

The problem lies in the education system. The Indian education system has an incompatibility with the requirements of the industries. If workforce and industrial policies are not reformed, people with different education and skill levels, or from different states, would have unequal economic prospects. Several Indian corporates, especially from IT/ITES, already provide focused training to improve their people’s skills

Most of the newly employed youths are compulsorily undergone employers own training program. This increases the cost of employers enormously. It’s also time wasting.

As an individual, you must choose your courses carefully. You must interact with the industries to know their requirements. You must choose college/institute very carefully. Ensure that they are covering above mentioned three aspects in their curriculum. It is in your best interest to ensure that your institute is interfacing with the requirements of industries before you admit it.

What should be done as a general measure to solve the problem?

India can create jobs on the scale required on a sustained basis only with changes in its policy frameworks for education and workforce management. There must be a collaboration between Government bodies looking after education, Universities, all India committee of technical education and the representatives of the industries. The institutes must educate youth as per industries' requirement.

Have these done, India will not face the problem of unemployability and the youth of India will not remain unemployed.

Anil Kumar