The year 2016, has been like a rollercoaster for the world of SEO. The pattern for search engine optimization (SEO) for this year has been changing radically and thus it would in your best interests to start preparing for the future. With 2016 nearing its end, it is never too early to start planning your SEO strategies for 2017.
Among all the changing trends of SEO Services, here is a list of 10 most important and inevitable trends that you need to be ready with, in the year 2017.
Top 10 SEO Strategies for 2017
1. Website optimization for mobile
The use of mobile phones for searches has dominated desktop searches. And as a result Google, a leading search engine, has announced that soon mobile first index will switch over desktop first index. Therefore, now is the time to optimize your website for mobile phones. A responsive site or a dynamic serving site is the best way to optimize your website for mobile.
2. Quality content
To stuff your website pages with keywords for ranking well is a strategy of the past. It doesn’t work now that effectively. The mantra for ranking well in 2017 is to create a vast library of valuable content. Instead of just focusing on filling your website with keywords, focus on constantly filling it with fresh content. The search ranking algorithm of Google looks at the semantics of content to conclude its usefulness for the end user.
3. ROI based Internet Marketing
Ranking high for keywords which are either very competitive or which are irrelevant will increase your internet marketing expenses. Instead of focusing more on ranking, focus on ROI based results. This has two advantages. One, you will ensure that your marketing investments are profitable. Second, only relevant traffic will reach to your website which means your conversion rate will increase; thus making your website valuable.
4. Social Media Awareness
Gone are those days when social media was useful only for connections and publicity. With the development of social networks, you can build and strengthen your brand name and reputation. Social media awareness about your brand/products/services can be a great source of free publicity and obtaining reviews about your products and services from your existing and potential clients. This way you know what your end user expects from you. Through social media marketing you can also advertise on these social media platforms and thus target only relevant audience.
5. Website Speed
More than 80% internet users abandon a website, if it does not load in up to 3 seconds. Google is also promoting and highly recommending its open source initiative Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project. With mobile being the future for all the searches, it is must for you to focus on your website’s loading speed.
6. Local SEO
Throughout 2016, Google has deliberately mentioned the usefulness and power of local business. It has also announced that it is working strongly to relate store-visits, Google maps and search results of every user. Hence, it is important for you to work on Local SEO because if someone searches for your services or products in your locality, and you rank at the top, they are likely to choose you. One more important thing to note is that such people are mostly in the need of or on the verge of making decision about product buying.
7. Voice Search
With more than 20% of the queries being voice searched instead of text searched, it is important to find ways to adapt it. Voice search queries are more conversational types. For example, a text search of ‘expert SEO service provider’ may change its form in voice search as ‘find an expert and affordable Dentist SEO services provider’. Try to create content that can match this informal and conversational tone.
8. Micro Formats
Micro formats benefits some businesses more than others. Websites containing articles, reviews, products, locations, hours of operation, or events benefit more from applying micro formats.
For example, a local saloon with a five-star rating, hours of operation and reviews in the listing will obviously be more appealing to a searcher than the one without those information. Thus, you get an improved click-through-rate for the listing and better overall SEO.
9. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is already and will continue to essentially change how search engines rank web pages. Search engines like Google have now started interpreting intent instead of just matching search strings. And with mobile search and voice search being reliant on intent-based matching, a need for enriched content that is optimized for how humans interpret, comprehend and learn from and share information online is must.
10. Https
Don’t hesitate to switchover to https from http, to make your website secure. HTTPS currently enables the best performance the web offers and powerful features that benefit site conversions for both online and offline support.
If you’re still not sure on how to strategize your SEO, that’s okay. We’d be happy to set up a time to talk with you and provide you a customized strategy for successful ROI based SEO.