2017 and the State of SEO

Change is the only constant in the Digital Marketing World.

To gain advantage in a competitive online arena, it is essential to pay close attention to the subtle fluctuations in SEO trends and alter your marketing efforts to match the new demands. However, in order to predict what is about to happen next, we must look at the past.

Will this be the year of voice search, are we about to see AI forever change the face of SEO, and which trends do you need to keep an eye on to generate more leads while staying ahead of your competitors? Read on to find out.

From Desktop-first to Mobile-first

In recent years, mobile search, alongside local or international SEO, has been considered one of the many specializations of the industry.

With nearly 60% of searches now occurring on mobile devices, it is evident why in November last year Google started experimenting with mobile-first indexing. When ranking pages of a particular website, this algorithm will increasingly take into account its mobile version, instead of focusing on its desktop content, exclusively.

For web designers, this means that the loading speed is now more important than ever. Furthermore, the focus should be put on the implementation of Accelerated Mobile Pages, which use a different markup in creation of secondary lighter version of existing pages. The goal is to radically improve the mobile web performance. Now we can see a lightning symbol next to AMP pages, what is bound to increase the CTR.

Rich Cards

Rich snippets have been around for some time now, and represent improved search results based on structured data. In 2016, Google introduced rich cards, with the intention of improving rich snippets and creating more visually appealing format. At present, they are widely used for recipes, local restaurants and movies, but we will certainly see their increased use, and as a result – higher click-through rate for the pages which implement them.

Machine Learning

We have been witnessing Google’s attempts to better its understanding of users’ queries, focusing on providing only the most relevant results. Rankbrain represents one of many tweaks this search engine made to its ranking algorithm – it represents a form of AI which utilizes machine learning to analyze search results and search queries.

According to Sam Cyrus from an SEO Agency from Brisbane, who spent last year studying Rankbrain’s influence on the SEO, in 2017 we can expect to see the end of implementing single keyword optimization. Instead, the focus will be put on creating one page for a primary keyword and for its synonyms, instead of creating separate pages for each one. As a result, our brainstorming process will revolve around topics, rather than keywords.

Voice Search

With the rising popularity of Siri, Cortana, OK Google, Amazon Echo and many others, it is essential to clearly define the difference between users who are voice searchers and those who type their queries. The first one are more likely to be in need of a quick, short result, while the latter ones look for more details on a particular topic.

In 2017, the challenge will be to cater to both, and the only way to help search engines comprehend the content is to implement structured data, and focus on long-tail keywords which provide answers to why-queries.

Content Density

Last year we have experienced drastic growth in the amount of long-form, overly-detailed content on a certain topic. As a solution, search engines introduced a content’s value per word, formally known as content density.

Let’s illustrate: if you, for example, write an extensive 2000+ word guide on a particular topic from your industry, the actual value you deliver per word might be extremely low. For this reason, the emphasis is put on creating denser content which would put focus on the function of the content, and not the form, ultimately delivering the same value with 10 times less words. This way, SEOs will be adapting to the decreasing attention span of its readers; less time will be spent on writing, while the audience will receive more value.

Conclusion

Although an integral part of every SEO marketer’s job requires adjusting their efforts around the upcoming industry changes, the basics remain the same. Concentrate on producing quality content which will be easily crawlable and ensure it gets plenty of backlinks, but to seize every opportunity you will be presented with in the next 12 months, we suggest adapting a mobile-first approach, implementing rich cards and generating dense content.