Understanding Major SEO Changes In Recent Years

Competition for the online reader’s attention heightens as new businesses spring up each day. Online businesses will need to meet the specific requirements that search engines use to stay on top of the latest SEO trends. For instance, Google ensures that its search algorithms are being changed and updated every year, to cater to the demands of online viewers. Even though these changes might seem minor, it could potentially affect your overall search ranking drastically if these trends are not monitored closely. Here are some of the major SEO changes in recent years.

Featured Snippets

A featured snippet is a summary that consists of one or two lines during a search query. Google will display this information at the top of all paid and organic ads. It has been revealed that almost half of all search results ended up with no clicks due to readers getting the answers directly from the search engine results page (SERP). Studies have also shown that featured snippets have more traffic than organic search results.

Influencers

Often, online users are overwhelmed with ads and promotions which cause them to seek authentic information instead. These sources of reliable information that online consumers are looking for are simply reviews from influencers. In some cases, businesses that focus on fashion, eCommerce, beauty, travel, and lifestyle will tend to put almost half of the marketing budget on influencers. This shows that online users are more likely to trust the word of their favorite influencer than information featured in an ad. For that reason, working with an influencer will not only generate traffic, but increases your online presence as well. This, in turn, will amplify your SEO content reach. 

BERT

Recently, SEO marketers can potentially increase their chances of staying on top of Google’s SERP for featured snippets by applying the BERT model. Simply put, Google enables BERT to improve the understanding of natural language where it has the most impact on conversational inquiries. For instance, you can optimize the intent for search queries to match the user’s search queries by creating content based on what readers tend to search for.

Smooth Digital Experience

Having great content on your web page that does not load quickly will be of no use as a slow processing page will hinder the user’s experience. Complex websites and unclear information will also reflect badly on your online users. Creating a website that loads fast and is simple to navigate will offer users a greater online experience. When online readers spend more time on your website, it will increase your ranking factor. With that said, it is important to focus on your user experience on helping online consumers find the information they require.

Video

The upcoming trends of advertising would be video content. In recent years, helpful content or products that are featured through a video are more likely to show up on the first page of SERP as compared to a website that runs only on plain text. Having video content, however, does not necessarily mean that you will end up on the first page results of Google, but you will attain higher traffic if Google suggests your video. Look toward producing helpful and useful content in your video and it will be shared naturally by users who favor your video content.

Content Quality

Offering online readers with higher quality content can help you have an edge over your competition. Pages that rank well typically enjoy more visibility due to quality content. For a reader to stay for prolonged periods on your webpage indicates to Google that users are enjoying your content. For that, Google will tend to increase your ranking for a search query.

Mobile Optimization

Studies show that more than 85% of online users are on mobile phones and almost 40% rely on mobile transactions. Google has recently made the shift in 2019 to improve mobile search experience significantly and it is paramount for you to optimize search queries for mobile.

Today, keeping yourself updated with the latest SEO algorithms is crucial, especially when running an online business. The process of having both online and offline strategies is important for a business to succeed. Investing in SEO as a future-proof strategy can help you stay on top of the latest SEO trends.