As search engines like Google continue to change every year, search engine optimization (SEO) practices have to adjust to keep pace. Website owners are always looking for new ways to imphrove their placement on search result pages and gain more organic traffic. Because of this, there are always new trends developing in the field of SEO. Here are five important trends that all webmasters and digital marketers need to be aware of.
Indexing is trending toward mobile-first
In 2018, Google launched their mobile-first index. This ranks sites based on how well they provide content for mobile device users. For sites that have separate sites for mobile and desktop, the index ranks the mobile one first. For webmasters, this means that you must master mobile SEO and create a mobile-friendly version of your website.
In order to understand how the search engine spiders rank your site, you can crawl it with a mobile bot. You can find apps online to help you accomplish this. You should track your page loading speeds in the mobile environment. It’s also important to get a sense of the user experience when using smartphones or tablets. Google is very concerned with page loading speeds. The search engine grades a site on its optimization and loading speed. It’s easy to improve your site’s optimization score by fixing any issues that are hindering the site’s loading speed.
Quality content
Google famously revealed that quality is “king” for search engine ranking, and higher quality content leads to better rankings. The definition of high quality is determined by how useful to content is to people who visit the page. How well does the content match their intent, and how well does it fulfill their needs? In the near future, the most successful websites will be the ones that cater to the desires of the users.
Smooth user experience
Websites that have a design that is intuitive for the user with navigation that is logical and simple to use will gain more repeat visitors and higher conversion rates. A low page load time and a website that is free of technical problems is a great asset for a company that does business online.
Better protection of user data
Governments and other authorities are taking user data and privacy more seriously than ever. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), enacted by the EU recently, gives more control to users over the private information that they share.
This legislation regulates the ownership of the data that people share online. As of now, the users have ownership rather than the corporations who own and run the websites. Because of this, users can now request to see whatever personal data that the company is keeping in their database that pertains to that user. Companies that fail to adhere to these requests face hefty fines up to 20 million Eurodollars or four percent of the firm’s yearly profit.
User data also expires 26 months after it is collected, and it cannot be stored by the company beyond this period of time without the express consent of the user. This is a step in the right direction, but there are still third parties who can take malicious actions, so webmasters have to be on guard to protect users’ safety.
Voice search functionality
As mobile internet grows, the prevalence of typed searching and interactions is becoming less dominant. By 2020, analysts say that nearly half of all searches online will be conducted via voice. The future lies in teaching AIs to understand human speech. Because of this, voice search SEO is becoming more important.
To stay ahead of the game, consider your SEO strategy for the years ahead in advance. Knowing the trends allows you to do this more effectively. Work out a specific action plan that addresses each trend.