Everyone knows that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be a tricky concept to deal with. Any strategies must be bold enough to stand out on a crowded internet but subtle enough that the websites and companies are not punished by either customers who are tired of being sold to or search engine algorithms.
As digital marketing and SEO tactics are changing all the time to keep up with what search engines are demanding, it is important that businesses try to keep up as well. So here are a few current SEO trends you should pay attention to if you want your business to keep up with the competition.
Voice Search
Voice recognition technology has improved far beyond its awkward beginnings in 1990, and nowadays, most people have access to a voice recognition software aid – whether that is a smart home assistant, sat-nav, or voice-activated assistant sitting in their pocket via their smartphone. As a result, the number of voice searches has risen, which has greatly impacted SEO. The way people talk and the way they type are very different – users will tend to ask a full question via a voice search (which they might ask another person), whereas when typing, a user will put in two or three relevant keywords. Therefore, there has been a rise in keyword phrases rather than single words and expanding the length of a string of keywords in the content to stand out to the smart technology.
Authority
Authority has been rising in importance for a while and now cannot be neglected. Users want information from people with first-hand experience or expert knowledge of a service or product. This is linked to trust levels between consumers and companies and the larger changes which interactions on social media have brought about. Consumers want a company to feel real or genuinely care about the consumer’s problems. Any company deemed ‘fake’ will suffer reputational damage.
The content on your website should be high quality and show in-depth as well as broad experience on your chosen subject, whatever that might be. Search engine algorithms will rank sites higher if they are perceived to be an authority in the field. Of course, most businesses do not have the depth of SEO knowledge needed and outsource their marketing to a professional SEO company. If you need to outsource, then consider local companies to you. For instance, you could talk to Jigsaw Digital, an SEO Company Manchester based for your SEO needs. You can more easily become an authority or leader in your local area if you outsource to a company that works in the same area and has local knowledge that could boost your business.
Featured Snippets/ People Also Ask
Featured snippets and the ‘people also ask’ section give people a preview of the content they can see on the web page. They are more likely to click through when they can see part of the answer they are looking for (rather than an answer which is not relevant to them), and getting to this spot gives your brand a much higher level of authority even if the link isn’t clicked. Using clear headers and limiting the content paragraph below the header can help make your website ‘snippet friendly’. You could also use headers which are key questions, ‘how many’ or ‘what is’, for instance.