{"id":1079,"date":"2018-01-31T15:16:12","date_gmt":"2018-01-31T21:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.topspotims.com\/blog\/?p=1079"},"modified":"2018-08-06T11:41:29","modified_gmt":"2018-08-06T17:41:29","slug":"seo-trends-in-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.topspotims.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/seo-trends-in-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 2: SEO Trends to Look for in 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each year sees new developments in digital marketing, and at their core, these changes are driven by the goal of improving relevancy, usefulness and a great experience for users.\u00a0Search Engines like Google & Bing are constantly testing and measuring the layout of their search results pages for both paid and organic results. In the first post of this series<\/a>, we discussed some of the changes affecting the paid search landscape and the importance of optimizing your PPC program to meet the needs of users in today\u2019s Age of Assistance.<\/p>\n

In Part 2 of our 3-Part Series, we will be focusing on how to evolve your search engine optimization strategies<\/a>\u00a0to stay ahead of the curve and encourage user engagement.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Optimizing for Your Users<\/h3>\n

To remain competitive, businesses must gear their SEO strategies towards empowering and connecting with their users. Speed, engagement and not making users think, are more of an expectation today than ever before. What this means is, people want engaging content that provides them with the answers to their questions quickly, not to be given endless information to parse through.<\/p>\n

Content –\u00a0<\/strong>First, businesses need to focus on developing purposeful content<\/a> that is based on the needs and desired outcomes of a search.<\/p>\n

\"Engaging<\/a>Content is the key driver when it comes to generating traffic and converting users into customers. Thin content with minimal or generic information on products and services won\u2019t do the trick. Good, quality content should not only answer the questions your current or future customers are asking, but should also go a step further to anticipate and answer secondary questions.<\/p>\n

One strategy web marketers can utilize for content writing is TopSpot\u2019s B-SMART Method\u00ae<\/a>. This method covers the basic touch points that content should contain \u2013 Brand, Size, Shape, SKU, Material, Application, Area or Industry, Requirement, and Type<\/strong>. If your content addresses each of these attributes (when they make sense for the product or service you are writing content for), odds are, it is answering your users’ initial questions while also anticipating others they may have.<\/p>\n

The product landing page shown here is a great example of content that does just that. In addition to the product description, it also offers product advantages, system types, industries the system is typically used for and the product catalog that contains additional specifications. If the user gets to the bottom of the page and still has a few additional questions, they are given the option to fill out a quick form.<\/p>\n

Answers to common questions submitted through this quick contact form can also be used to further refine the content on this page in the future.<\/p>\n

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Site Speed –\u00a0<\/b>Users expect a web page to load quickly. If your site is slow (or takes more than three seconds to load<\/a>)\u00a0it\u2019s likely that users will leave\u00a0before they\u2019ve even seen the content you worked so hard to create! To test your website’s speed, you can use Google Developer\u2019s Page Speed Insight Tool<\/a> which will measure both mobile and desktop performance.<\/p>\n

Voice Search –\u00a0<\/strong>According to comScore<\/a>, half of smartphone users engage with voice technology on their device and 43% of those users began using the technology within the last year. Speech recognition through smart speakers (meaning Virtual Assistants like Google Home and Alexa) has also been steadily increasing in recent months.<\/p>\n

\"6<\/a><\/p>\n

A recent study<\/a> indicated that 80% of Google Home results come from snippets (which we will be discussing in a minute), making content based on informational search queries central in a voice search landscape. Overall, the quality of content and its ability to thoroughly answer users\u2019 queries should continue to be a focus. It would be hard to say that voice search is leading to new leads or transactions as of now for most websites, but the premise behind great content that could answer\u00a0a user’s queries has always been the backbone of traffic generation. So it would be safe to expect more conversational optimization for informational content rather than the more keyword focused methods.<\/p>\n

Mobile User Experience<\/h3>\n

With their first announcement of a “mobile-first<\/a>” strategy in 2010 and the adoption of the\u00a0Mobile First Index in 2017<\/a>, Google has made it clear for some time where their algorithms are headed. As search engines have evolved,\u00a0users are turning to their\u00a0mobile devices more than ever before, and we don\u2019t see this changing anytime soon.<\/p>\n

In fact, recent research shows that smartphones<\/a> are now the primary device for accessing the internet & we are seeing anywhere from\u00a020-60% of searches in industrial markets being performed on mobile devices.\u00a0To stay competitive in 2018, businesses must optimize their websites for the mobile user experience (UX) in order to grow their online leads stemming from mobile devices.<\/p>\n

A few ways to provide a great mobile experience include:<\/strong><\/p>\n