SEO Trends of 2019

Search engine optimization is something that is constantly evolving and keeping everyone on their toes as we all try to keep up. The fundamentals of SEO will essentially remain the same, like the objective of increasing your ranking, but other aspects of optimization are ever-changing.

We’re well into the new year and more SEO trends have already emerged and have proven to be extremely useful in increasing website traffic. In order to maintain relevance in an environment that’s constantly transforming, it’s important to stay updated on current trends.

SEO is imperative to your marketing strategy and we’re here to explore the top three trends this year and how to incorporate them into your plans to increase your business’s web traffic and visibility.

Thought-Provoking, Quality Content

We’re sure you’re not surprised that content made the list. Content always has and will continue to be in the top spot because creating quality content is essential for your practice.

When you produce content that is relevant and beneficial to users, they return to your site and that increases traffic. This boost in traffic signals to Google that your site is valuable, thus increasing your ranking on search engine results pages. It also shows that you’re knowledgeable and a trustworthy source for whatever information they’re looking for.

Targeted content that speaks to your industry will help educate visitors on what your business has to offer, such as your services and superior knowledge. Competition for the production of high-quality is steadily increasing in 2019.

If your content is uninformative or irrelevant to site visitors, they’ll go to another source to find what they’re looking for. But being content-driven will surely help to reach all your SEO goals and increase your visibility.

Voice Search

Voice search has been on the rise for years now because of innovations such as Google Home or Siri and it’s expected to become even more popular in the coming years.

According to SEO Expert, fifty percent of web browsing is expected to be screenless by 2020.

Voice searches tend to be longer and more specific than those that are typed with a keyboard. So, in order to put this trend into play for your business’s SEO, your targeted keywords should reflect how someone would ask a question versus typing one. Recognizing this difference is key in utilizing voice search to your advantage.

You could incorporate this into your content strategy by using questions you think users would search for into the title tags and meta descriptions on your web pages.

Since users are speaking instead of writing, their queries will be longer and most likely formed as questions or commands. This means long-tail keywords should be your main focus. A long-tail keyword is a phrase that is three or more words longs.

If your content anticipates these long-tail keyword searches, a visitor is more likely to come across your page on their search. Once they see that the products and services you have to offer match the requirements they searched for, you will be able to convert this lead into a client.

For example, if someone does a voice search for the word “veterinary,” the SERPs will be full of millions of veterinary offices and their websites. But if they do a search for a “feline-only veterinary office near me” the search will be narrowed down tremendously because of the specificity of their voice search.

Now, all you have to do is organize the content on your website to show search engines that you’re an authority figure in that industry.

Look Beyond Google Search

Yes, we know, it’s difficult to believe that there are other search engines out there beyond the infamous Google. But there are and you should be taking advantage of them!

Google’s main competitor at the moment is Amazon.
Marketers are expecting a huge increase in Amazon Search Optimization. Kenshoo discovered that fifty-six percent of people go to Amazon to search for something before they go to any other website.

Visitors can utilize Amazon the same way they do Google as far as searching for products and customer reviews. Instead of using a search engine to research a product and the feedback it received, users can find all of that in one place and make the decision to purchase it from Amazon.

This creates a challenge for Google and Google Ads. If more people are looking to Amazon for products and services, this causes a threat to Google’s revenue via their advertising.

Many businesses are taking advantage of Amazon’s SEO by advertising or selling their products through one of Amazon’s channels. By doing this they become part of the large pool of the many brands that Amazon shoppers get to choose from on one website.

Amazon also offers web services for businesses, just like Google. You can now use AWS and its cloud services as a way to support all your business operations and any help you may need for IT resources.

Subscribers have the opportunity to use AWS as a way to obtain computing capacity on a large scale and easily bill users based on which services they choose. According to Forbes, Amazon is the number three cloud provider in the world and they continue to expand their software and solidify their position in the cloud wars.

Embrace the Trends

The digital world and SEO is forever changing. As a small business, it can sometimes be difficult to keep up with all these changes but it’s definitely possible. We don’t know what the future holds for optimization, but what we do know is that staying on top of current SEO trends and applying that to your marketing strategy could set you apart from your local competitors.

Don’t fear changes, embrace them and the constant emerging technology we have at our fingertips!

If you need more help with more SEO insights, check out these other resources

How to Implement SEO on Your Website
What is Custom Content and Why is it Important?
3 Tips to Be Found Locally on Google