The world of digital marketing is wild, new and has fantastic potential to transform the way people market both their companies and themselves. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is on the front lines of this new marketing landscape, but to stay there, it has to be agile. Google, the search engine overlord, knows all about SEO strategies. All they had to do was google it. Due to SEO, there are many updates to Google’s search algorithms every year. So, SEO experts need to change tactics all of the time. Here are some trends you should expect to see early on in 2018.
- RankBrain
This is Google’s most advanced deep learning algorithm to date, and it has become the third most important ranking factor in the interconnected web of wonder that is the Google ranking algorithm. Among other data, the primary focus of this almost-AI is on measuring the duration a person spends on a website (Dwell Time), and the percent of people clicking on your page(Click Through Rate). - The Knowledge Graph
This can make or break your page’s CTR. The knowledge graph, or answer box, or featured snippet, or any of Google’s clean-cut boxes of information that come up with generic or broad searches could preclude people from clicking your link. Either you make a website so attractive that you can overcome the knowledge graph, or you become the knowledge graph. - Content
The more you factor in Dwell Time to the decision-making process that Google’s algorithms must undertake, the more you will see why long-form content reigns supreme. Most top-ranked links on any Search Engine Results Page (SERP) will be in the thousands for their word count. Not only that, but they will be good. - Image Search
Google image searches are an ever-improving enterprise. Using picture keywords in content might become an emerging strategy in the upcoming months. Images will be especially useful in social media marketing campaigns. - Alternative Search Markets
For a long time now, Google has been the only relevant platform to do SEO, and in the broad sense it still is. Specific search engine optimization can be done on the engines used on Amazon’s internal search engine by writing reviews in much the same way articles are written for Google. Likewise, Yelp, Siri, and other widely used platforms with internal search functions could be optimized.
Google gets more than 100 billion searches every month. They have some of the most brilliant minds and complicated algorithms in the world working to provide a platform for people to find knowledge. SEO experts are the silent infantry of online marketing. They work tirelessly behind the scenes to make your business visible to consumers worldwide. On the bleeding edge of digital marketing stands search engine optimization, ready for whatever algorithm Google decides to make next.