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Changes in SEO trends can make or break your online marketing plans. Whether you are wondering whether the mobile craze will continue, or if Google is planning some major update that will transform the market once again, you have come to the right place.In this article, we are examining the trends that are bound to heat up this coming year. Businesses that are prepared to accommodate these new and rising trends will find themselves holding a huge advantage over competitors who stick to the same old patterns. Read on to find out how to stay ahead of the SEO curve!
AMP stands for accelerated mobile pages and is the latest hot trend in Google. With mobile use on the rise, loading speed is crucial to retain your visitors.Google reports that users are now more likely than ever to abandon a page that does not load quickly. Their AMP project, launched in 2016, is now enjoying a lot of popularity as the search engine giant is sending more and more users to AMP-optimized pages.With Google ranking AMP pages higher than non-AMP content, your SEO efforts cannot ignore accelerated mobile pages for much longer. Moreover, AMP itself makes your site more responsive, which leads to a better user experience.In short, AMP will lower bounce rate, improve user experience, and get you higher in search engine results pages for mobile users. It's totally worth it!
Accelerated mobile pages is one of many signs that mobile friendliness is on the rise. With billions of users accessing Google through mobile devices, websites that do not offer a mobile-optimized page experience will lag behind in SEO performance.Smartphone users hit 2.1 billion in 2016, which represents more than half of the total internet users. For SEO purposes, the "regular" desktop version of a site is still the main deciding factor, but sites that offer a mobile-friendly version consistently rank higher in SERPs.
Voice search has been around for more than a decade, but it has only gained popularity since 2014. Google's voice commands were first introduced in 2002 but are only now gaining enough traction to transform the market.Users can now perform all available searches by voice input alone, and the system supports hundreds of different languages. Voice search offers personalized assistance and opens up the market to senior citizens who wouldn't normally use the internet.Moreover, voice search is ideal for local SEO as it can be used with virtually any language and produce locally-targeted results. For example, users can just ask for "restaurants near me" and Google will instantly list the most relevant local results.
Perhaps the biggest shift in 2018 is Google's mobile-first index. This trend was rather unexpected but the mobile-first index has transformed the way we do mobile SEO.According to Google's webmasters, mobile-first indexing will be using the mobile version of a page for indexing and ranking to better cater to primarily mobile users.This trend will see websites returning to minimalist designs so their desktop and mobile indexes match in terms of speed and responsiveness.
When you ask questions in Google's search box, you might be presented with an infobox along with the usual search results. This box that will answer your question is Google's Quick Answers Box.Quick Answers Box is part of Google's effort to improve the user experience for conversational search. For businesses, this means that many searches will be concluded without any clicks to actual websites.By answering a specific question instead of listing keyword-relevant content, your site might get on the top of SERPs with less SEO effort than before.
Sometimes the literal meaning of a keyword is not what users are trying to type. Optimization of intention uses algorithms to identify the intention of each keyword.For example, if your keyword has a specific intent for buying, Google will list online shops higher. If your keyword is intended to find you entertainment results, Google will prioritize those. This system helps users find the things they need instead of browsing news or articles about them.
AI is a huge buzzword with tech giants and a hot trend that is expected to rise rapidly. From Google's RainBrain AI to Amazon's algorithms, you can't ignore AI for long.RainBrain uses sophisticated technology to list the most relevant results for complex queries. This means that long tail keywords will again have more weight, while highly competitive single-word keywords will see a decline as AI advances.
Finally, optimizing the user experience has been an ongoing trend since the launch of Google's Hummingbird in 2013. Search engines continue to factor user experience very highly when determining search results.User experience is affected by loading speed, originality of content, relevancy, and overall website quality. Sites with high bounce rates and copied content will be penalized, while popular sites that Google deems "meaningful" will continue to receive a SERPs boost.
SEO trends might be tricky to follow but here at WebSuitable we make businesses such as yours impossible to ignore by riding the wave. We are Canada's top SEO and digital agency, committed to helping every business get a strong online presence to compete in the current marketplace.At our official website, we share actionable SEO tips and expert advice. As a leader in the field, we offer our clients dependable and consistent solutions to grow their sales and leads. Contact us for a free website analysis today!
Want to learn how digital marketing can fit into your business strategy? Book a free strategy call with our team of digital strategists to find out more!
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