5 SEO Trends to Watch in 2019

As with virtually all marketing movements, search engine optimization is changing all the time and companies that want to remain on top will need to be aware of what’s happening. For strategic planning this year, take note of these SEO trends to watch in 2019.

Voice Search

Rather than being the exception, Siri and Alexa are more the norms today. Smart assistants and devices that comprehend human speech are the fruition of sci-fi dreams of the past. Voice search SEO makes up 20% of the queries on Google’s mobile app and Android devices. Implementing this strategy will guarantee that your business will be able to keep up in this time of voice-driven activity.

Phrased as questions rather than statements, voice searches will have longer-tail keywords and be more conversational than traditional queries. A tool called Answer the Public can help you study what questions are being asked based on your keywords.

The benefit of long-tail keywords is that they are less expensive and have more successful click-through rates than short ones. Use keyword research tools to find popular search terms or develop an FAQ page on your site where you answer reader questions and get keywords that way.

Mobile-First Indexing

In 2018, more than 52% of global online traffic was generated via mobile phones (Statista).

Google began ranking websites in March 2018 based on user experience for mobile devices rather than desktop versions. If a site has both mobile and desktop forms, the mobile one is indexed. A website that has only a desktop site and is not optimized for mobile devices loses a lot of traffic.

To determine if your site is mobile-friendly, you can use our Mobile Responsive Testing Tool or Google’s mobile test site testing tool. The testing tools will let you know what you need to do to become mobile-friendly.

Page Speed

Google goals include delivering a faster, more effective user experience. When it began ranking mobile page speeds in July 2018, Google recommended making improvements by using the updated speed report. However, search engine query intent remains strong. This means that a page that is slower can also rank high if the content is relevant and answers a query well.

Google, Twitter and a few other entities launched accelerated mobile pages (AMPs) to provide enhanced user experience since they load about 30 times more quickly.

AI and Blockchain for SEO

Artificial intelligence continues to be the basis for almost everything Google does. Gathering news headlines, Gmail machine learning, and robotic voices that sound human are only a few of the incredible and valuable uses for AI.

More recognizable for its uses in the cryptocurrency industry, blockchain changes the way data is tracked online. The technology utilizes a transparently distributed ledger that offers secure data of transactions that cannot be altered. This allows more control over information and lets companies use data in new ways. Additional avenues for using blockchain are being explored for profitability and for backlink validation.

While not yet applicable, blockchain may soon be incorporated into SEO to guarantee high-quality traffic to elevate SEO. If the ranking algorithm includes blockchain, this has the potential to handle black-hat SEO in a better way.

Relevant Content and User Intent

URLs containing high content relevance usually rank in the top spots in a Google search. If content doesn’t meet user intent, it will not rank in those positions. Google evaluates content relevance in real time.

Long-form content that is of high quality and has depth is key to website ranking on the first page of Google search results. This trend is likely to continue this year.

Conclusion

User experience remains a high priority so applicable content must meet user intent. The growth of video content, mobile searches, and voice-activated searches must include measures for greater security and user data protection.

Blockchain and artificial intelligence will likely impact SEO this year. It will be exciting to see how they develop.

For information about incorporating these strategies into your SEO campaign and learning more about SEO trends to watch in 2019, contact Top Marketing Agency at (888) 843-9840.