Another Google update, another time to wonder what will change for SEO experts. Every time Google releases a large update to their search algorithm, it worries those in the digital marketing world because we have no idea how it will affect our pages. But we want to make sure that you aren’t one of those worried marketers. Knowledge is power, and we are here to help break down the intricacies of Google MUM.
What is MUM?
MUM isn’t just what you might hear someone from the UK call their mother, but it stands for Multitask Unified Model. This new technology was introduced in May 2021. More details came out about MUM at the Search on 21 Event in the fall of 2021. MUM works with artificial intelligence, or natural language understanding and processing, and answers complex search queries with multimodal data.
That’s a lot of fancy talk, but what does it mean for the everyday man? It basically means that this update will allow Google to process information from different media formats to answer questions. So your answers are no longer just dependent on text, but also on other formats such as images, video, and audio files.
How does MUM work?
We won’t bore you with too much technical mumbo-jumbo, but we still need to know the “how” to these Google updates. When Google announced MUM, it was said to be 1000 times more powerful than BERT, the predecessor to MUM. Both technologies are based on natural language processing, but MUM is a bit more elevated.
MUM combines several technologies to make Google searches even more semantic than before. This means that Google will now be able to answer more complex search queries for which normal SERP snippets are not sufficient.
This means that in addition to the trillions of text-based content that exists out there on the web, Google also has access to all information from all media formats in the Google systems to increase their index. So we are no longer limited to basic text results on the SERPs, but we now have access to text, videos, audio, and images if they can yield a better search result.
What Does MUM Mean For Your SEO Strategy?
It seems that the biggest takeaway from this MUM update is that Google is trying to provide the best experience possible for the user. This goes hand-in-hand with another update Google made not too long ago, and that is prioritizing EAT content.
As long as you are creating content that is expert, authoritative, and trustworthy, then you are already ahead of the curve for the MUM update. Since this Google update is focusing on bringing the best results possible to the top of the SERPs, you need to make sure your SEO strategy includes creating the best possible result.
The only difference now is that your best results no longer have to be a blog or landing page. If you are able to give a clear answer in the form of an infographic, podcast, or video you now have a better shot of those showing up in the SERPs than before.
We know that it’s difficult to make updates to your SEO strategy every time Google comes out with its own update, but we can help. Reach out to us for a free consultation to see what we can do to help with your SEO needs.