As the year comes to an end, it is important to prepare for next year in terms of SEO and how to alter your strategy in order to continue to be successful. SEO is constantly evolving and there are many new things to look forward to in 2018. Fully integrating these techniques can launch you and your business to new heights. Each one of these new trends offers tremendous benefits, as long as you are able to implement them correctly and before it’s too late.
Voice Search and SEO
With the introduction of Siri on the Apple smartphones, or devices like Google Home and Amazon Echo, voice searching has grown tremendously. Voice searching has gained popularity due to the ease of being practically hands free. Not only is this technology extremely useful, but it also can be an entertaining way to pass the time. With that, consumers expect for the results to come up as instantaneously as they would if they were to type out the questions. Marketers need to take this into consideration as it may require some changes to your overall SEO strategy. A major change that would need to take place is the incorporation of long-tail keywords that matches the user’s natural conversational language. By researching your users, you can get an understanding on what they want, how they would ask for it, and how you can offer the most helpful solutions.
Mobile First Index and AMP
With the widespread use of smartphones, most Google searches are done through a mobile browser. Although this is true, Google still evaluates a page’s ranking through the desktop version of the site. As a result, Google introduced the mobile first index that primarily uses the mobile versions of a site’s content to rank it. Introducing an Accelerated Mobile Page (AMP) allows mobile pages to load much faster than their counterparts and increases engagement altogether. Since Accelerated Mobile pages are relatively new, Digital Marketing Agencies should take advantage from as there is little risk. You don’t want to regret missing out on this opportunity, right? Even if you do not implement Accelerated Mobile Pages, you still should make sure that your mobile site is as up-to-date and fully responsive as your desktop version.
Progressive Mobile Apps
A progressive web app is the best of both worlds between a traditional web page and a mobile application. It uses the latest web technology and allows a responsive and up-to-date format on an easy to use platform. This is a great opportunity for businesses as it has a significant positive effect on engagement and conversion rates. These may not be for all businesses but implementing progressive mobile apps before your competition is sure to provide a competitive advantage.
A Snippet of Information
Google is all for making searching up information extremely easy for their users. That is why the snippet feature exists. Typically, every result on Google offers information such as the title of the article, the URL and a description. Similarly, a rich snippet offers extra information between the URL and description such pictures, ratings, and a more detailed description. Rich snippets have a much higher click-through rate as most users trust them for clearer answers. Rich snippets can be created by adding structured data to your site so that the search engine can read it.
In addition, Google’s Answer Boxes is just one step further in Google’s attempt to make searching for information effortless. Users don’t want to click a bunch of links in order to find the answer they are looking for, especially on a mobile device. Most of the time, when someone searches something on Google it is to serve a purpose. Therefore, people expect a quick response and don’t want to be shifting through links to find the correct response, especially when proving a point in an argument. To be featured among Google Answer Boxes depends on the keywords that are used and providing information that answers “who” and “what” type questions. The Answer Boxes are a fantastic development that can increase clicks and traffic to your site.
These are iRISEmedia’s predictions for the biggest trends in SEO for the upcoming year. With the increased use of mobile smartphones and shorter-attention spans of users, most companies will need to alter their strategies accordingly in order to continue to obtain high organic rankings on Google.
iRISEmedia.com is a Toronto based social media marketing agency, specializing in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social media management, digital marketing and online branding. Our team helps clients manage and grow their online presence and branding to increase qualified web traffic and online leads.
