Latest Trends in Search Engine Optimization
1. Always Deliver Quality Content.
The one time that distinguishing a website from another is content. No matter what it is, your content is the main reason people are logging into your website or reading your posts.
This is why Google wants you to make your pages to fit your users taste and not just for traffic. Putting in different content as opposed to what’s on your headline can be deceptive to users and such tricks to improve rankings aren’t the best way to go.
No matter what information you’re trying to pass across, making your website unique and engaging makes it stand out amongst others.
Now all these are pretty straight forward. Creating content that targets And satisfies your readers is the right way to do it.
Your content needs to be in depth, straightforward, different from others and not bearing misleading titles as click bait.
You should also be prepared to promote your content through the use of ads and social media, in other to spread across to more people.
2. Snippets
Snippets are results at the very top of your search. Googling something and getting results for that and more. It’s like asking for water and getting top water brands from around the world. Getting more information without actually leaving the site.
As you can see, this helps you know about other things without actually leaving google. A good way to get a #0 snippet spot is to make sure you go straight to the point, use search words your competitors aren’t using, let your content have a list, and also FAQs is your best friend.
3. Link Building
Links are a key factor for your content. They even go hand in hand, Ranking #1 and #2 according to Google.
The two types of links you should focus on are
- The editorial link: posting amazing and rare content earns you an editorial link. They are the most valuable type of backlinks, and your rank starts rocketing when other authors start linking to your article.
- White hat acquired link: online sites from private blogs would want to sell you a backlink, and these are called blackhat links. You should be careful with this though because once Google discovers this, your link wouldn’t pass any page rank And your money just went for nothing.
4. RankBrain
RankBrain is an algorithm that helps it process search and match queries to content. It’s like an individual matching a pair of jeans with the appropriate shirt.
RankBrain collects the user’s words and matches them to the most appropriate information, so If you want yours to come home, you might want to do things differently from the norm, like not using single keyword and adding a variety.
But naturally, RankBrain doesn’t quite determine your rank based solely on the language in your content.
Dwell Time is the amount of time people spend on your website. If they enter and come out in less than 20 seconds, it means you didn’t have what to offer and are probably using a misleading title. This can make your rank to drop. Though Google has not yet categorically stated if the dwell time is a ranking factor, it very much plays into RankBrain. Give your users what they seek, and your rank would improve.
Click-Through Rate
CTR Is basically advertising. Although optimizing CTRs for digital ads and optimizing them for your links to appear on your search engine result page are both important.
If your link doesn’t get as much attention at the top spot, this tells Google it probably has nothing to satisfy reader, and this pushes it down. You have to make it as captivating as possible.
Get people interested and want to click on your link and this could improve your rank.
5. Mobile-First Index
If you’ve not heard Google is moving to a mobile-first index. The Google bot would be able to check how user-friendly your site is to people Using different devices and if your site is only favorable to mobile devices, this can lower your rank.
Making your site responsive is probably the best way to tackle this issue as this allows it to open freely in any device, and fits just right on the screen.
6. Making your site technically correct
some of the biggest technical SEO technical factors you need to be aware of are
- Be sure to use HTTPS
- Using Schema Markup is necessary because the markup is an information toolbox for google
- Site Structure Makes it easy for Googlebot to visit your site.
- Sitemaps Are basically maps to your website.
- Page Speed affects your ranking factor.
- Translations when primary language cannot be determined.
- Favicons are images you see by the right hand when on a site.
7. AMP and AMP Stories
Accelerated Mobile Pages give users a wonderful experience as the website pages fast. If your site takes forever to load, then it most likely wouldn’t rank well. Although Google might be getting rid of AMP soon, they just released AMP stories.
Google describes AMP stories as a new delivery for the mobile format. And yes, they are like snapchat stories.
As for now, only high-profile news sites are allowed to participate in AMP Stories. And we think google Would open it for more users, giving you a chance to rank higher.
8. Optimize For Voice Search
The next generation lies on voice search & if your website is not yet properly optimized for voice search, Here are a few tips that can help you.
- Using conversational and easy words.
- Making your content scannable.
- Publishing a long-form content.
- Keep content up to date.
- Give your site a mobile-friendly makeover.
9. Visual Search
Google continues to shift more toward a visual search engine. Who can blame them, we are moved by what we see. And in the not so distant future, we’ll likely see images take up a larger portion of search results.
This puts heat on the marketers to make Their brands more visually appealing along with the good quality of their products. People would go for what looks better than the other in most cases.
In the future, the visual search would take over the world and texts would be a thing of the past.
10. Adding video Into Your Strategy
Video strategy is a move towards more visual just like pictures.
Video content is a great way to increase your audience’s dwell time on any given page. Although everyone loves a good video, You should note the video shouldn’t be too long or too short as it can make them miss out on important details or get bored while watching it.
So you can improve your rank by dropping off a few videos on YouTube about your products as well as your site because 55% of Internet users have confirmed that they prefer video content consumption, unlike the 32% who say they just brush it off.
11. SERP FEATURES
Search Engine Page Results (SERP) features are results different from the usual traditional organic result. They comprise a totally different element altogether. Evaluation can help you know which works better for your brand. Considering they always come up in number one, optimizing these features is a great idea.
12. Run SEO Tests:
Running well-executed tests can help you know what’s working and what’s not. What you can improve and also what’s causing you to spend unnecessarily.
Tests you can run could include
- Trying out another title tag
- Try out a different content length.
- Try out schema markup.