EMERGING SEARCH & SEO TRENDS FOR 2018
When the technology that we use evolves, the way that we interact with it inevitably changes as well. How we search for information today might be very different from how we will search for it even just a year from now. It’s essential that your business stays on top of the changing trends that will affect how you can reach your desired audience. In this article Triple Canopy Media keeps an eye on search and SEO trends for 2018 so that you can keep two eyes on your business.
MOBILE-FIRST INDEXING
Way back in 2015, Google announced that queries conducted on its search engine using mobile devices had outnumbered those made on desktops.
This shift has inspired Google to change how it discovers results and ranks listings. Formerly, it had used the desktop browser’s view of the web to search for pages online, by crawling from link to link. Now, it’s using a mobile device’s point of view.
If you don’t have a mobile version of your website, Google will still be able to find and rank the desktop version. That said, if you have both a desktop and a mobile version, Google will likely just see the latter. This means that it’s vital that your mobile site have all of the same content as its desktop counterpart. And if your site is not mobile-ready, then now is the time to update it and make sure that it is. This is an important SEO trend development for 2018.
VOICE SEARCH
A recent consumer survey revealed that people have fewer inhibitions about talking to their phones—even in public—than they did only just a year ago. The respondents of the survey noted the ease of this mode of search (as it’s quick and involves no typing) as well as their general satisfaction with their device’s ability to understand them and what they were asking for.
The same study revealed that a greater number of respondents wanted more direct answers (and therefore fewer search results) when asking questions to their devices. This means that a featured snippet (that page excerpt that often appears above the list of other search results in a query when viewed on a screen) may be the best way for some companies to get noticed. And you increase your chances of being a snippet by having content that answers direct questions that users most often ask about a subject. In 2018, content is still king! This SEO trend should inform your marketing strategy for the upcoming year.
LONG TAIL SEARCHES
Keeping with the theme of searchers asking direct questions and wanting direct answers is the concept of long-tail keywords. These are the longer and more specific phrases that people use when conducting voice searches or when they’re closer to actually making a purchase. Someone who searches for “cookware” might just be passing time. But someone who searches for a “7-inch diameter non-stick skillet” probably wants to buy that item today. As a business, the key to taking advantage of this trend is to make sure that you have specific phrases describing what you do or sell in your site’s content that can set you apart from your competition.
This is just a sampling of the changes that 2018 will bring, of course, but keeping them in mind will give you a head start as you strive to gain visibility online.
