Since its birth in the early 90s, SEO has been constantly evolving. The way we optimise websites for search engines differs greatly nowadays from what we had years ago, and these changes are visible with every New Year. SEO will definitely continue to evolve and grow, and in this article we present the main SEO trends announced for 2018, trends which are relevant to your business and its promotion activities as well. Keep on reading and you may find just the one piece missing from your online marketing strategy!
1. Mobile-first indexing
Mobile is no longer an upcoming trend. As a result, search engine marketing has considerably been influenced by the increasing number of consumers who prefer to access the Internet from mobile devices.
The SEJ Annual Report suggested that around 60 per cent of traffic is coming from mobile devices; and the likelihood is that Google won’t delay implementing its mobile-first index beyond 2018.
What can you do about it?
First of all, make sure your website is mobile-friendly or responsive; that is, your website is optimised for mobile devices. Next you need to measure your website’s performance by taking your website through the Google Mobile-Friendly Test. It crawls your website like Google bots and shows you what you need to improve. Google Page Speed Insights is another tool you should consider if you want ensure an excellent mobile experience for your audience. Our advice is to act now and not wait till the mobile index has been implemented (Google has started testing the mobile index on selected sites), by then you could have already lost your Google rank!
2. Voice Search
With the increasing proportion of voice searches, it’s natural that search engines are emphasising voice search, and optimising their algorithms accordingly. Small businesses need to align by re-thinking and voice-charging their keyword strategies. Rather than single or two-word keywords and phrases, voice search emphasises questions and more “humanised” search strings, such as “Fun places to visit on the Gold Coast, Australia”.
3. Latent semantic indexing
Based on the latent semantic analysis, a technique in natural language processing, this method applied to SEO allows you to create content that flows in a more conversational way.
Search engines are able to identify your content’s context and synonyms related to your keywords, and by using LSI keywords, you will generate results that are similar to the topic you are discussing. The major advantage here is that you will not be stuffing your content with the same keyword and making it an unpleasant read for human audiences. More explanations on how to use this method can be found here.
4. Evolving SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages)
Google is looking at ways to improve the experience of its users, and has been adding more dimensions to its SERPs, such as local packs, featured snippets, and knowledge panels to name just a few. How can your search engine marketing benefit from this? It’s simple – you have more opportunities and more space to promote your business.
Looking at the biggest SEO trends for 2018, the main conclusion is that SEO is evolving, and if you want to maintain your online marketing strategy relevant and effective, you will need to keep up with these changes. You will probably need to put more effort into your website SEO this year, but implementing the latest innovations in the field will surely provide you with a competitive advantage and help you grow your business faster in 2018.
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