It is 2018 and you may be wondering what is it that would affect your search engine rankings in a significant manner this year˳ Well, we would now attempt to explain the leading shifts and trends that are expected to happen in the domain of SEO (search engine optimization) in this year˳
Top SEO trends in 2018
Greater importance of voice search and digital assistants
Voice search is being said to be the next big thing in SEO˳ There may be experts who may not be entirely convinced with such a statement but even they would not deny the fact that voice search is becoming popular and insanely so˳ There are some facts that need to be taken into account in this context˳
40 percent of adults around the world conduct at least one voice search each day˳ From 2008 Google has seen a 3500 percent increase in its voice search volume˳ 20 percent of all searches on mobile devices are voice searches˳ This is the reason why if you are smart as an SEO person you would start to optimize your content keeping this future trend in mind˳
Google’s Mobile = first Index
During 2017 Google declared that it would be switching over to a mobile-first index˳ In layman’s terms, this would mean that from now on Google would regard the mobile version of your site to be the actual or real version of your site˳ In fact, this will be applicable even if people search from a desktop˳ This is a sensible move in the sense that right now more than 60 percent of the users of Google are from mobile devices˳ One expects that it would only grow in the days to come˳ It is true that the index is yet to come online but it could arrive any day˳ This is why it is better to be prepared for the same˳
RankBrain
It was in 2017 that Google proclaimed that RankBrain was going to be its 3rd major factor as far as ranking was concerned˳ In fact, ever since it was introduced RankBrain became the 3rd most significant signal that contributes to the outcome of a query that is searched˳ With Google refining its algorithm RankBrain is expected to be even more significant in 2018˳ Now, you may be asking what RankBrain is and how are the ways in which you would be able to optimize the same˳ Well, RankBrain is a machine learning system that is supposed to help Google sort out the various search results˳ It basically measures how users are interacting with the search results and then it ranks them in accordance with those measurements˳
It is basically focusing on two main things – how long you are spending on a page or the dwell time, and the percentage of people that are clicking on your result or the click-through rate˳
Featured snippets, and Quick Answers
As far as SEO right now is concerned featured snippets are a hot topic˳ With every passing day, we see the number of such snippets appearing in various search queries to be only growing˳ The main reason for this is the fact that Google is always trying to provide its user’s answers within a really short span of time˳ Recently Ahrefs has come up with a study whereby it has become clear a lot more people are using these snippets and they are fast accounting for a much bigger slice of the click share˳ In fact, it has been seen that when a search query has featured snippets the click-through rate (CTR) for the top organic result for that particular search query falls below 20 percent˳ When there is no such snippet the CTR goes up to 26 percent˳
It is estimated that around 51 percent of the inbound website traffic that your website gets is from organic search˳ This is the reason why it is important that you stay aware of the latest developments in this regard˳ Google Quick Answers is basically a highly visible text snippet answers and link that is featured right there on the top portion of Google SERPs˳ It is being said that they can give your organic traffic a significant boost, to put it mildly˳ Quick Answers feature in around 40 percent for certain kinds of queries˳ If your page has a Quick Answer box and ranked result it would do much better than one that just has a high ranking result˳ The click-through traffic that originates by way of Quick Answers can create greater conversions and revenue on your site˳ If your site has not made it to the top of the SERP Quick Answers can help you get a lot of traffic˳
Quality of links over quantity
Ever since SEO came into being backlinks have continued to be the main bread earner for SEO professionals˳ However, when Google saw that people had started to abuse this process in order to build up the authority quotient of one’s site it came up with the algorithm named Penguin in 2012 in order to fix matters˳ Ever since sites have had no option but to get inbound links from sources that were reputable˳ It is true that you would get some search juice from such sources Google’s search robots are slowly evolving and this means that backlinks are slowly becoming less important˳ Now the source of links is not important anymore˳ Just having a link on your site would not get you where you want to go to˳ Search engines are now able to establish a connection between the mentions of entities like brands, organizations, institutions, and individuals sans the need of being linked to a corresponding webpage˳ Links are still expected to be somewhat significant but the content around that hyperlinked text would be important as well˳
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is like the engine that would make sure that your carriage – the on-page content in this case – is drawing commuters˳ If it is not in good shape your site would not have the intended effect˳ The best time when you should be considering technical SEO is when the website is being built – if you are unable to do that it would mean that later on, you would have to undertake SEO audits in order to find problems and fix them˳ You can be sure that it would take up a long time indeed˳ There is no certainty as to how long it would take and how difficult it would be˳
AI and machine learning
It was on October 26, 2015, that Google came out with an algorithm update named RainBrain˳ In a recent interview, Google has also said that its RainBrain AI (artificial intelligence) system happens to be the third most important factor as far as its ranking algorithm is concerned˳ It is just as important to links and content˳ RainBrain is being used by Hummingbird, the premier search algorithm of Google, to process search results from billions of pages on its database and then come out with the most applicable information for a specific query˳
Improving organic CTR
It is very important to master CTR in 2018 if you wish to do well on the SEO front this year˳ One of the major reasons in this regard is definitely RankBrain but there are some other reasons as well˳ In an industry study done recently, it was found that organic CTR had reduced by 37 percent from 2015˳ The major reason for that is the fact that Google is using the likes of answer boxes, carousels, ads, and sections such as “People also ask”˳ If you wish your website to stand out and not be ignored you would have to make sure that it is so good that it is almost screaming to be clicked on˳
Detailed and in-depth content would prevail
In the days gone by Google basically analyzed the worth of a page by checking the number of times a certain keyword was used˳ They were 100 percent focused on your site’s content so to speak˳ Normally, the Google spider would come to your page in case your keyword was there in sections such as title tag, URL (uniform resource locator), image ALT text, description tag, and H1 tag˳
Google spider still looks at such information but Google has become a lot smarter now˳ They are now focusing on the context as well instead of just the content˳ Google is committed to showing its users the best possible results and as is being seen in most cases the best content is not the one full of plenty of keywords˳ Rather, they are ones that provide complete information on a topic in a single page itself˳
The greater importance of videos
The world of online videos has never been hotter˳ Cisco says that by 2021 online videos will account for 80 percent of all the traffic on the web world˳ Experts are of the opinion that yet this 80 percent may not be enough to satisfy the exponentially growing desire for videos around the world˳ There may be more videos than ever out there in the virtual world right now and the number would only grow in the days to come˳
However, HubSpot states that 43 percent of these people are yet to be satisfied˳ They want more˳ This means that if you are not coming up with video content be sure to get left behind˳
Encouraging comments on the site
It is very important that you encourage people to come and comment on your website as that would be immensely helpful for your rankings as well˳ In fact, it was in 2017 that Google said that blog comments are significant as far as rankings were concerned˳ In 2018 Google went a step further and said that as far as onsite engagement signals were concerned comments were a lot more important than moving over to the various social platforms˳ This basically means that Google would want for your site to be an active community of sorts˳ It is expected that in 2018 they would pay even greater notice to it from a ranking point of view˳
User experience signals
Google is always refining its search engine algorithm and trying to make it more sophisticated than before˳ This is why it is also focusing on user experience (UX) along with quality content as far as ranking is concerned˳ Google always looks at the best content˳ But at the same time, it is also aware of the sites and pages that are making the users happy˳ You would see these days that major brands such as Amazon are always redesigning their websites on a regular interval˳ They are doing this in order to keep pace with the ever-changing requirements of their user base˳ Google algorithm is now also focusing on factors such as speed, layout, and ease of navigation˳
Apart from this you also need to look at ways to use the increasing features of Google SERPs, structure rich snippets carefully, increase your page speed, make your page more relevant, and keep in mind that SERPs would get a lot more personal˳
The three pillars of SEO
It is important that you try and gain more knowledge on the various aspects and details of SEO with regards to the strategies or rules that you need to use while doing SEO work˳ However, it is also important that before that you understand more about the three pillars of SEO˳ It is a mistake to assume that SEO is all about links nowadays˳ There is no denying how important links are˳ However, before getting into the technical details it is also important to know what the three pillars of SEO are and how they make things work˳ These could be regarded as the fundamental principles of SEO, the driving factors if you will˳
Content
These days, your content needs to be excellent and there can be no two ways about it˳ It has to be a valuable addition for your viewers and keep them hooked on to your page as well˳ Greater the level of engagement, more users would you get on your page and they would share the content as well˳ This, in turn, would help your page get ranked higher as well˳ You need to put in a lot to make your pages good enough and you can be sure that you would get a lot more in terms of return˳
No matter how much technologically equipped you are if your content is not good enough you are never going to get sufficient links on your site˳ If you do not have links you would not be able to get through to the first page either˳ In case you are not on Google’s first page then all the latest technological tools that we have talked about already such as RankBrain, Mobile-first algorithm, and Voice Search would not be applicable in your case either˳ Your basic stuff has to be good enough for these to come in and have their intended effect˳ Google has in fact recently come out and said that as far as ranking factors are concerned content and link are still its top two factors˳
Nowadays, you would have to focus on creating high-quality content˳ No more can you get away by creating low-quality content that looks as if it has been created on a content farm using software˳
Authority
The term authority in the context of SEO means the volume and the quality of links created over time˳ The number of links that your website gets would be directly proportional to the amount of authority that it exudes˳ There are tools such as SEMRush and MozBar that you can use in this regard˳ These two companies look at domain score (DS) and domain authority (DA) in order to quantify how much authority a website has˳ However, these are not real-time scores and it could be weeks and months before you can see the desired results of the SEO changes and improvements that you made for this purpose˳
Indexed age
This happens to be the third pillar of SEO˳ The age of the page is always important˳ At the start, there would be other factors that would perhaps be more important than age˳ However, it is also important that with your content you are able to create a fantastic track record˳
The same thing can also be said with regards to the links that point to that content˳ You, though, need to realize the simple fact that this is something that would take some time˳ You cannot really rush it˳ The term indexed age refers to the original date when the site was discovered by Google with respect to the content in it˳
SEO rules for 2018
Following are certain rules of SEO that you need to keep in mind in 2018:
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assessing your page speed and making improvements wherever may be necessary
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using a content distribution network (CDN) for your domain and a domain name system (DNS) wherever you can
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creating ungated super guides that have a prominent call to action
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supplementing content with tools such as videos, podcasts, and audios that can lead to higher levels of engagement
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using latent semantic indexing in order to get a wide array of keywords to choose from
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not using too many ads over the fold
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creating outbound links, which are relevant, in the content
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seeking out influencers in your chosen area so that the results could be supercharged
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always leveraging trusted domains in order to market content
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not trying to be too cheeky or smart
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using social media to create viral content that would link back to your domain
You can use Page Speed Insights by Google in order to find out areas where you need to improve your domain˳ When you are able to increase the speed of your page considerably you can also make it a lot more visible˳ Tools such as Pingdom, Varvy, and GTMetrix are important in this context˳
When you use CDNs such as Cloudfront by Amazon you can serve your content to your use within a short span of time˳ Their location would not matter in such cases˳ You should also be thinking about moving your DNS to a configuration such as CloudFlare˳ That would help with your DNS propagation time as well˳
There is no limit to how important site engagement can be for your website˳ Google is highly concerned with the amount of time people are spending on websites˳ When your content is engaging people would stay on your site for a longer period of time˳ Tools such as videos, podcasts, and audios can be highly useful in such a context˳ You would see your session times and average page times go up a lot˳
Latent semantic indexing (LSI) is a basic technology of Google and is part of Hummingbird as well˳ With the help of LSI Google is able to serve the user content that is relevant rather than focusing only on the search keyword˳ In layman’s terms, this means a different way of saying the same thing˳
Outbound links are really important˳ It is better not to use do-follow or no-follow links over here˳ All you need to do is make relevant links within the content so that the people are able to go on discovering˳ It is always better to have around 2 or 3 outbound links in each content piece˳
Content marketing is an important part of SEO in 2018 as well˳ If you wish your content to be marketed you can look at sites such as Quora and LinkedIn˳ Here you can have a single link that would be pointing back to your anchor content˳
You need to be highly careful about the number of ads that you are using above the fold˳ You would not want most of the header to be taken up by ads, would you? This would make it hard for the users to enjoy the site and that is something that Google would not look at too kindly for sure˳ Too many ads from various platforms would slow down your site as well˳
Super guides can be described as content pieces that are regarded as MVPs or massive value posts˳ They also drive a really high amount of shares and engagement to your domain and can basically help it reach heights that are beyond your best expectations as well˳
It is always to focus on creating value for the users rather than trying to take shortcuts in order to achieve success˳ It is better to not cloak content in order to trick search engines and redirect users to your site˳ This way, Google would stop trusting you and visitors would not trust you either˳
If you can do social media properly it would drive a huge amount of traffic to your site˳ You should use social media and create viral content that is not always focused on your business˳ It should add value – it could be informational or entertainment value˳
You can always seek influencers in your domain to help push your content on the virtual world˳ This can be done through platforms such as Facebook and Instagram˳ These individuals and entities can always support your cause˳ In the early stages, they can help you get across to a huge audience and help spread the word about you˳
SEO tactics that you should avoid in 2018
It is the rule of life that with the passage of time everything becomes redundant and irrelevant, SEO is no exception to this norm either˳ In 2018 there are certain SEO practices that you need to bid adieu˳
Keyword stuffing
The very idea that stuffing your content with a certain percentage of keywords would help you rank higher on Google SERPs does not hold water at the moment˳ Gone are the days when you could manipulate the algorithm of Google to suit your own advantage˳ These days, with the likes of RankBrain it is much better to focus on subtopics and ideas that may be related to the main keyword˳ Semantic relation and context are now a lot more important than what they were before˳
Spam comments
Having spam comments on your blog can harm you in more ways than one˳ It can reduce the value of your content and also kill off the conversations that are at times a lot more satisfying for your users rather than the comments themselves˳ With too many spam comments your site could be no-followed as well, which means that search engines would not accord any credit or authority to your site˳ On some platforms, you may get blocked as well˳
Unnatural links
Unnatural links are ones that are not created by the developers to award a site that they may be linking to˳ They may at times be grouped with other software˳ Examples of such links are hidden links and widget links, and suffice to say Google is not a great fan of such tactics
Duplicate content
Duplicate content is basically content that has been copied from elsewhere˳ Google would easily detect if you create content from software known as article spinners and publish them on different websites with the intention of making them link back to your homepage˳ You should also try and be careful about creating duplicate content on your own website as that could confuse Google and it would not know where it should place the authority˳
Intrusive interstitial ads
If you have these ads that pop up and block your users from accessing content on your website Google could penalize your website˳ It could issue warnings of annoying ads against your website˳ Google has in fact officially stated in 2018 that sites with such ads would have to deal with some serious repercussions in 2018˳
Exact match anchor text abuse
If you are using the anchor text too many times on your website it means that you are abusing it˳ In that case, you would not get too many links˳ If the same phrase keeps popping up time and again Google would take it as a sign of the fact that you are trying to manipulate its rankings and you will pay for that for sure˳
Conclusion
If you wish to attain success with search engines in 2018 it is very important that you look beyond the traditional approaches and train your focus on areas such as site quality, mobile experience, and detailed content˳ There are however a few things that you need to keep in mind in this particular regard˳ A successful SEO strategy is one that will work in 2018 as well as 2020 and beyond˳ It is not something that will become useless a year or 2 down-lines˳ It is very important that you keep an eye on the latest trends and tactics in this regard so that you can stay updated at all times˳
However, it is also important to have a sense of balance and not overdo things˳ For example, if you add keywords in your anchor text it should serve you well in most of the cases˳ However, in case you overdo it then you lose the plot and it would totally backfire on you for sure˳ The same principle is also applicable when it comes to using keywords in your content, reusing the content on various pages, and enabling comments on your site˳ You might want to use pop-ups on your site in order to create leads but once again you need to exercise restraint in that regard˳
As an example, it would be better if you only used these pop-ups for your first-time visitors˳ This way, you can make sure that you are not disturbing people with unwanted information each and every time that they visit your website˳ You might want to adopt a shortcut tactic and get away with it in the interim and make some gains˳ However, in the long run, you can be sure that this would only be detrimental for you˳
Nirlep Patel – SEO Expert
https://www˳gbim˳com/
Source by https://ezinearticles˳com/?Game-Changing-SEO-Trends-of-2018&id=9984412
