In the digital marketing world, there has been a lot of buzz about SEO. Search Engine Optimization has come a long way since Google introduced its now infamous Panda and Penguin algorithm updates, and now it’s nearly impossible to “cheat” the system. That’s right, SEO is now a race for the slow and steady, and that makes it more important than ever before.
It’s no surprise that 93% of all online experiences today begin with a search engine. It’s how all of us find information that matters to us. Now that we’re practically glued to our smartphones, that number is only going to rise. If you want your website to be noticed today, you need to be aware of the latest dos-and-don’ts when it comes to your website optimization.
Are you ready to dominate search results this year? Now is the time to get ahead while the trends are still shifting. Make 2019 your website’s time to shine online. Here are 3 important SEO trends you need to know to get noticed today.
1. Think Beyond Google
Google holds a lot of the search engine market. In fact, it holds over 80% of all search engine traffic. That’s a big percentage, but don’t think that means you can ignore every other engine out there. Today, the term search engine is applied to much more than just Yahoo and Bing.
You might be surprised to learn that the second largest search engine in the world is actually YouTube. With over 3 billion searches every month, YouTube has a lot of active users. If you’re producing videos as part of your content strategy (Hint: you should be), then optimizing these with keywords on YouTube is a way to strengthen your SEO.
It’s not just YouTube that’s changing the world of online search. Social media platforms are also becoming their very own search engines. While Instagram and Twitter aren’t very search-friendly, (at least, not yet!) Pinterest and Facebook are built around the search feature. On both platforms, users can search for keywords, trends, and other popular pages and posts. It’s time to stop thinking about Google as the only search engine to worry about. If you want to be competitive today, you need to be on all of the above.
2. Build Your Trust and Expertise
We all know how important trust is on the internet and in business. It’s even more important in the world of SEO. Known as E-A-T in Google’s search guidelines, you need to grow your own expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.
How do you do this? It’s all about your content. You need well-written, exceptional content from trustworthy authors who use trusted sources. It’s up to you to make your website the go-to for your niche. You’re an expert, make sure Google knows this too.
Expand your expertise by creating an outreach strategy. Publish posts on other trustworthy blogs. Get links to your own pages. These small things add up to big authority.
3. Prepare for Voice Search
Thanks to the rise of tools like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri, we’re entering a new age of voice search. While this isn’t all the right just yet, it’s getting there. 2019 is the time to start preparing for a search engine that’s based on voice communication.
What makes voice search different? While in text search users will type relevant keywords, voice search leads to longer, more specific questions. For instance, if you wanted to search for vegan recipes, you might just type “easy vegan recipes” into Google. For voice search, you might ask Siri, “What are the easiest vegan Mexican recipes?” While this is just one example, you can see how there will be a shift in how keywords are used and developed.
>Don’t dump all of your text-based SEO right away, but do keep in mind the voice elements. The juice isn’t ready to be squeezed yet, but it’s getting close. Start pushing for more longtail keywords that mirror the way we naturally speak.
Final Thoughts
There are big changes on the horizon. The more you learn about the evolution of SEO, the better prepared you can be to improve your business recognition online. Start today by keeping track of your SEO efforts with Excel timesheets. Every small step is a push towards the future of search engines.
From voice search to YouTube, there’s a lot to think about in 2019. While there’s no one-size-fits-all for SEO, consider how your users interact with your website and the internet in general. Where can you find them online, and what are they looking for? From there, you’ve got a strategy you can count on.
