This is a picture taken of my hummingbird feeder that’s on my office window. Sometimes working from home gets lonely, and this little bird has been wonderfully entertaining. I think it’s a “she” and that she’s an Anna’s Hummingbird. It took many, many weeks to attract her to the feeder, and now that’s she’s visiting regularly, I’m working hard to keep the nectar fresh and environment welcoming, so she returns often. Which got me to thinking about how hummingbirds are a little like a search engine. Hang in there with me on this one…

When you build a new website, much like when you put up a new hummingbird feeder, you are hopeful you’ll get traffic. You don’t know when they’ll visit, but you’re just hopeful, and you wait. And wait. And wait. And maybe hang some red ribbons to attract attention (hummingbirds only).

And to make sure that hummingbirds like what they find when they visit, you’re supposed to keep the nectar fresh, the feeder clean, etc. To make sure search engines like what they find when they visit, you work hard to make sure the website architecture is sound, and the content contains important keywords.

And one day, magic happens…and the first visit happens. It’s very exciting, and you hope that the hummingbird likes what she’s found and will rank your feeder above your neighbor’s. And when Google visits, you are very excited and hope that Google ranks your website above your competition. Hopefully you’re seeing the similarities by now. Nectar = Website structure and content. 🙂

Both ranking well with hummingbirds and Google take planning, preparation, execution and lots of patience, and hopefully by now, you see the similarities too. Ok….back to work.

If you found this article helpful, please take a moment to share it with your friends, it will be much appreciated. Thanks! Jill