AI, Virtual and Augmented Reality have become the new reality and with it, some interesting and important changes are taking place in cyberspace. One area that is specifically shifting is in SEO. To stay ahead of the game, here are some of the latest trends you MUST know so your business doesn’t get left behind.
Trend #1: Search Intent
One of the biggest disagreements in the SEO world today revolves around keywords. Are they becoming obsolete or are they still relevant? Short answer, still relevant, however, intent matters.
Since Google has changed its algorithm, the search results are now affected by why the person is searching. Search intent falls into three categories:
- Reaching a Particular Site – Ex: online banking or social media
- Info – Ex: improve my credit score or real estate prices in London
- Transaction – Ex: subscribing to a service, purchases, or quotes
In other words, we are moving towards specific search preferences for our customers so we can boost rankings and engagement. To do this, you can use some great SEO tools like Ahrefs and Google Search Console. Each helps you collect insights into your audience and why and how they arrive at your site.
Trend #2: Video vs. Written Content
The recent stats are in, and video content is taking over. In fact, it is projected that in a year or less, almost 80% of all mobile data will be video.
Just take a look at your local SEO agency Manchester you will see that this trend is popping up all over the place and there are some SEO strategies to optimize your video content. Here are a few things to consider:
- Vanity URL – Your channel needs a good name. For this think of a descriptive and memorable URL, then take that long URL and make it a customized shortened link
- Keywords – keywords still matter as mentioned and your channel needs them to rank higher on Google. Your local SEO agency Manchester can sort and choose the optimized keywords on YouTube to increase traffic.
- Descriptions – Often overlooked, this also goes to intent and is an important feature to inform your audience about who and what you do
Trend #3: Voice Search
Similar to video, voice search is quickly overtaking the way consumers find and visit local places. The current projections show that more than half of all people are making daily voice searches.
Take a look at these quick stats for this year:
- 40% of all adults use voice search daily
- 50% of all searches will be by voice in 2020
- 25% of Millenials and younger are using voice search
In other words, your business needs to capitalize on this trend that is only going to continue in the coming years. Choose an SEO agency that is current with this important trend to help you optimize your keywords to long-tail keywords which are short phrases most commonly used. Specifically, beginning with certain terms like when, where, and how.
Wrap Up
As you have probably noticed, the latest SEO trends will dominate the cyber landscape very soon. Keeping up with search intent, optimizing your video content, and considering how people search by voice, will help you to stay ahead and surpass your competition that is ignoring this critical shift.