If you own your own business, even if it’s a small home-based business, you understand the importance of search engine optimization or SEO. As technology changes, the strategies for your online presence must change, too, which is why Forbes magazine consulted its Agency Council to discuss what’s hot for SEO in 2018. Here is some of what they said.
People Will Be Vocal
Apple’s Siri started a trend that Google and Amazon were quick to follow. Everyone wants to tell a virtual assistant to search for something for him or her online, and your business’ SEO must take voice search into account according to Loren Baker of Foundation Digital. Rather than design your SEO primarily around keywords, you must design a chunk of it around search intent and context.
People Still Click Links
Bryan Shetsky of Lamark Media and Mimvi SEO, an SEO agency in New York City agree links aren’t dead. In fact, people look for them the minute they hit a website or social media platform. As such, engagement with links remains a crucial part of any 2018 SEO strategies. Content must be relevant and address user concerns. Links must take them to other relevant sources, whether yours or outside.
Security Remains Crucial
The links have to be secure, too, says Ahmad Kareh of Twistlab Marketing. Recent election and social media scandals have placed new emphasis on online security, and Google Chrome in particular, is taking action. Rather than give its users a choice as other search engines do, any website that isn’t secured, i.e. an https domain, will not load. You must be secure and think secure in your online presence.
Lights! Camera! Action!
Marc Hardgrove of The HOTH reports that Cisco conducted a study in 2017 that predicts video will account for over 82% of all consumer internet traffic. The number of cat videos people consume on a daily basis is proof of this alone. Hardgrove also confirms YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, so, yeah, you need to get video content up there and moving and shaking.
This Includes Snippets
Charles Kim of Executive Digital says this includes snippets. Google is expanding its search engine page results or SERP features to include rich snippets that draw people in. It might be a quick link to a video that shows the video in still frame or another eye-catching feature such as starred reviews. Either way, visual is key, and people want to see not read their search engine results.
Go Long
In some cases, it will behoove you to throw a Hail Mary with your SEO plan for 2018 and beyond. Peter Boyd of PaperStreet Web Design says long-form content is making a comeback. What was once considered taboo is now the latest trend, and your blog entries and other readable content should be at least 1,500 pages. Boyd reports these perform better in searches than shorter content.
Update your SEO strategy for 2018 by following these and other popular trends. Moreover, make certain to stay abreast of the trends in the future. Search engine optimization changes as fast as technology does, and what is popular today will fail tomorrow. This has become a business unto itself, and it behooves you to remain SEO savvy.
