If there is one thing that any SEO expert understands very well now is how it always keeps changing and therefore requires constant attention. It is important to constantly be aware of what is going on with search engine algorithms, and follow the current trends. While there are trends evolving over the years, there are also new ones, so it’s always important to stay ahead of what is going on. Every website wants to rank high, especially eCommerce ones, as this is one of the most important ways of driving traffic and boosting sales.
2018 has surely proven that anything related to mobile users and speed is crucial for Google. This, however, doesn’t mean that Google is the only thing you have to worry about. So, no matter whether you already have an awesome SEO strategy in place, it is time for you to check out all the new techniques and tricks in the field so that you can keep dominating it. SEO mistakes can cost you quite a lot, so you step up your game. In this article, we are going to discuss some of the trends that will most probably matter most in the upcoming year.
Mobile-first Indexing
Google has already made it quite obvious how important it is to have a flawless mobile version of your website by introducing mobile-first indexing, and migrating all sites to this trend. What this basically means is that it’s not the desktop version of your site that Google is going to focus on first when indexing and ranking it. Of course, this in no way means that you need to focus only on your mobile efforts. But mobile-friendliness needs to be your primary plan.
You can go for pretty much any mobile version that you want. It is, however, important that you think about it from day one. Another thing that Google has drawn attention to is that having both responsive and m-dot for the same page is not a good idea, because crawlers won’t know which one they are supposed to index. A good way to see how your pages are crawled, and also be able to tell how good their performance is, would be using a tool such as WebSite Auditor. It is vital that you always make sure that your website is providing the best possible user experience. As for the speed of your pages, you can choose something such as PageSpeed Insights.
Search Intent
If you haven’t already heard, keywords are no longer as important as they used to be. It is no longer enough just to fill your blog page with some relevant keywords and hope that it appears among the top 10 results. Nowadays, search engine results are much more influenced by intent-based search optimization. So, what is search intent? It basically means that the search results you get are based on more than just keywords, but on what your intent of the search itself is.
There three main kinds of search intent:
- Navigational: Here, the intention of the user is to find their way to another website. For example: Facebook, Amazon, WebMD, and so on.
- Informational: In this case, the user wants to find particular information that they believe is located on a certain website. For example: “best mobile device reviews”, “symptoms of lung cancer”, “top 10 rock records of the year”, etc.
- Transactional: Finally, this means that the user wants to perform an action that is web-mediated. For example: “purchase gardening equipment”, “subscribe to Washington post”, “order a leather jacket”, and the like.
The conclusion is that, basically, Google is interested in exactly what you are looking for. In 2019, the search intent that lies behind all the keywords that you have been using, thus by far is only going to become more important.
Top-notch Content
According to various experts, such as professionals for SEO in Sydney, the old saying that “content is king” still isn’t really going anywhere. Top-notch content remains one of your main priorities if you want to get a high ranking in the SERPs. Now, what truly constitutes great-quality content today? It is pretty simple – the one that is made with the purpose to satisfy the requirements of your users 100%.
You need to think about what we have previously discussed – search intent. That way you will be able to come up with the kind of content that is perfectly tailored according to what the users are looking for. In other words, you need to become the person that knows best how to read your audience’s mindset, and know what needs to be put on the table in order for them to truly get what they are looking for.
Page Speed
One of the most essential things that you have to provide your users with is the best possible UX, and at optimal speed. The loading speed of desktop websites has been a crucial factor for a long time. Ever since July, its “baby brother” has become as important (if not more), and that is mobile page speed. What this means is that in the past, you could check the technical parameters of your website with PageSpeed Insights and feel safe and sound. Nowadays, you need to optimize both for desktop and mobile and make sure that both aspects work at the best speed possible.
The speed score is about to become extremely important in 2019. The problem here, however, is that the data that Google gathers in order to measure this aspect is from Chrome User Experience reports. This is where it gets the information on how your website loads for every visitor out there, which means that it isn’t something that you can get from local tests. What you do have power over is the optimization score, which you can, as we have previously ascertained, improve by taking care of all issues that may be slowing down your page loading time.
So, follow all the existing rules and recommendations on how to optimize your website properly, and wait until the speed score kicks in as a big player, as it is something that is bound to happen soon.
Voice Search
Voice search has become a huge thing, and is yet to truly blow and change the world of web search. If you haven’t seen it coming, then the real question is – where the hell have you been? As the internet is growing, users are moving away from typing their search queries and looking for what they need by using their voices.
The thing about voice search is that it requires its own kind of optimization, keyword research, and so on, different from what we have been used to with “regular” search. It is believed that by 2020, about 50% of online traffic will be driven by voice-based searches.
As we are all pretty much aware, SEO is constantly evolving, and every year you need to stay ahead of changes in the search algorithms, and booming trends that everyone who truly wants to make into the top list on SERPs will grasp and implement into their websites. 2018 has already paved the way for some huge trends that are certain to grow during the upcoming year, so if you haven’t jumped into the bandwagon yet, then it’s about time for you to do so.
