The primary goal of search engine optimization (SEO) is gaining a good lead on your competition.
Among the most effective means of achieving a remarkable competitive edge is always being attuned to changes in the way search engines work, and adjusting your company’s SEO strategy long before your opponents have a chance to do the same. The SEO industry is dynamic, so it is wise keep an eye on emerging developments.
Most SEO companies will agree that 2017 has been an interesting year so far and the following trends seem to have taken center stage.
The emergence of “dense” content
Internet users have grown bored of reading the same content over and over. Initial strategies for content marketing put the focus on coming up with copious bit-sized content. This is no longer the case, with the recent emergence of content popularly termed as ‘epic’. Such content is usually in the form of long pieces that comprehensively cover a given topic.
It is possible that once both bite-sized and epic content saturate the market, a novel trend may emerge in which content creators focus on squeezing as much relevant information as possible in as little space as possible, effectively creating what might be referred to as ‘dense’ content.
The emergence of AMPs – accelerated mobile pages
These include open-source protocols that let operators of websites build pages that can load almost instantly on smartphones and tablets. This is made possible through making a few small structural changes that increase page loading speeding by up to 4x and using one eighth of the data.
Google has been seen to give preference to sites that have adopted AMPs, providing them with increased visibility via a small lightning bolt icon that shows their AMP status. This year, you will probably see increasing preference offered to AMPs in SERPs as more brands adopt the function.
Personal branding
Personal branding has certainly been among the pillars of SEO for many years. Developing a strong personal brand enables you to drive traffic to your blogs, gain the trust of content seekers, and get opportunities to write guest posts on popular blogs. It may therefore come as a surprise to you that there are many brands out there that are yet to capitalize on the value of personal branding.
Therefore, to lead the pack, tap into the potential of personal branding. Doing so would be especially advantageous on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram where new algorithms that prioritize individual posts over brands have been put in place, which takes us to our next point.
Evolved algorithms and machine learning
Following the release of Google RankBrain last year, algorithmic machine learning is slowly but surely moving from possibility into reality. Google Hummingbird functions have been extended in a bid to enable search engines to gradually learn how users come up with typical queries, with the algorithm updating itself accordingly.
So far, this update is the only one of its kind and has been long overdue. As time goes, it is likely that Google will continually release machine learning updates and possibly incorporate machine learning into marketing automation, interpretation of data, etc.
Popular apps
In the past two years or so, top Beverly Hills SEO firms and all SEO firms in general have witnessed a marked uptick in the SEO options that are available on mobile platforms, more specifically, mobile apps. You have probably witness the evolution of app streaming, whereby you can, in a sense, stream content from an app without having to download it to your phone.
So far, it seems that Google has managed to cater to the needs of app users without compromising the search engine. However, this year you may have noticed a gravitation toward increased app favoritism. Even though apps are nowhere close to completely edging outside website, it may very well start happening in the not-so-distant future.
SEO segueing into UEO – user experience optimization
To a large extent, user experience has always played a critical role in SEO. Google has a preference for sites that are well-optimized for users on smartphones and tablets, sites that are quick in loading, and sites on which users are obviously enjoying the experience from a mobile device standpoint.
Conclusion
The cutthroat competition previously witness on laptop and desktop browsers has now moved to the mobile device arena, with the majority of internet users opting to consume content through smartphones and tablets.
The sooner you can adapt your SEO strategy to meet the needs of these users on their preferred devices, the sooner you can develop innovative, winning strategies to give you a massive lead in your niche. Using the above strategies will set you well on your way.
Guest article written by: Henry S. Jorgenson has worked as a content creator in the digital marketing field for 13 years. He has written numerous articles and blog posts on topics related to online marketing. Learn more about modern SEO strategies at Beverly Hills SEO.