SEO Trends to Prepare For In the New Year

Now that 2018 is safely behind us, it’s time to go forward and outline strategic plans for 2019. Knowing what to expect in terms of online searches can help marketers ensure that they are ready for the changes and exciting advances to come. Remaining current on what is hot and what is not can aid in crafting the right marketing schemes and being in the thick of stiff competition. Here are five SEO trends to watch for in 2019:

1. Snippets have a lot of impact.

Snippets are featured at the beginning of some search results. This brief text answers a query quickly and is often the response you hear from a voice search. Some studies show that almost 1/3 of searches come back with a snippet. As Google develops more advances in this technology, snippets will become even more prevalent. However, snippets do bite into search traffic. Readers are more likely to read the snippet than click on a website because it’s easier and faster.

Optimizing content for snippets should be a high priority this year. Since Google shows varying snippets depending on search queries, marketers must evaluate how content looks and sounds when different topics are searched.

2. Voice searches are increasing.

Amazon Echo, Google home and the use of smartphones have increased the ways users engage in content. Voice responses are more common now than ever before. This means that content must be optimized for all the ways users conduct searches. How does your content sound when spoken aloud? Is it easy to understand? Answer these questions to make certain that your content is found through voice searches.

3. Linkless references are gaining more popularity.

Google places a lot of emphasis on backlinks and uses them to determine if a site is trustworthy. But this has never really helped the content itself because links are not included to your site.

This is now evolving. Google has become better able to assess the relevance, value, and quality of page content without included links. While backlinks are still important, the content is what really matters most. Marketers should focus on strengthening brand authority with strategies to highlight brands with or without links to back them up.

4. Topic clusters are becoming more important than keywords.

Google has become better at addressing user questions about broader topics and not just certain keywords. This is an extension of the movement toward more effective search results. Informative, relative, and comprehensive content that meets consumer queries must be prioritized over keyword-stuffed content.

Viewers are less likely today to search for a single keyword or two. They want answers and rely on search engines to know why they are conducting a search rather than focusing on keywords. Content that meets these guidelines will be more effective at solving questions on a certain topic instead of using isolated keywords. Topic cluster optimization will likely develop exponentially this year.

5. Anticipating changes is important.

Search engine optimization is a growing process. It takes time to implement strategies and even more time to see results. Current trends focus on the constant generation of quality content that highlights brands as being trustworthy and knowledgeable.

It’s valuable to realize, though, that short-term techniques can still be used. Knowing that reproducing results requires thinking about what will happen in the future. Considering long-term goals is a crucial part of SEO success.

Keep these SEO trends to watch for in 2019 in mind when developing search engine optimization strategies that will keep your brand in the forefront of viewers’ minds and at the top of SERPs not only this year but in the future.

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