When you have a prime search engine position or important keyword research phrase, you can see hundreds of qualified prospects flow to your website every single day. And when you don’t have that high search ranking it can be frustrating to watch that traffic drift toward your competitors.
As you’re probably already aware, Google has made some pretty huge changes to its algorithm in the past few years. Along the way, other search portals have followed suit. That has changed the nature of search engine optimization (SEO) in big ways. It’s no longer just a matter of putting the right phrases on your website anymore; if you want to rack up visitors and conversions, you have to think beyond the obvious. And even then, one sudden shift in the search landscape can wipe out the gains you’ve made in a matter of hours.
It’s probably not surprising, then, that some of the most common questions we get are around search engine optimization. Business owners and executives want to know what they can do to optimize their sites research visibility, but also how they can get ahead of the curve and maintain an SEO lead for years to come.
Luckily, we’ve invented a very specialized type of time traveling machine. It lets us peer into the future and see what’s (probably) happening in the world of SEO in 2020 and beyond. Let’s see what observations we can make…
Search is More Individualized
You may have noticed in the past that the search results you get for a given query aren’t necessarily going to match the ones someone else does. Likewise, you won’t see the same results if you search from two different devices or locations.
As time goes on, Google is going to get better and better at individualizing search. That means what you’ll see will be largely dependent on your own location, screen size, search history, and personal preferences. That will be good news for searchers and marketers who can match up to one another more quickly and easily.
Google Still Pays Attention to Keywords and Links
You might be surprised to know that in the future Google still pays attention to old-fashioned search signals like keywords and links. It’s not hard to understand why: a websites content has to count for something.
What might blow you away, though, is knowing that search engines aren’t just reading textual cues. They are also paying attention to audio, visuals, and even contextual relationships between ideas to help searchers find exactly what they are looking for.
AI Makes Ranking Adjustments in Real Time
Google doesn’t just employ some of the worlds smartest people; it’s also building some of the most advanced computers ever seen. And, it’s using them to make adjustments to its search algorithms (again, in an individualized way) in real time.
That means search could change hour by hour, or even minute to minute. That might sound chaotic, but it’s the only way to keep up in a world where billions of pages, videos, and posts are being added to the web each and every week.
Engagement and Authority are the Ultimate Search Signals
While computers are getting better at reading and understanding content, it’s still human users who make the ultimate call when it comes to search quality, authority, and relevance.
Here in the future, Google is using human engagement as the ultimate search signal. When viewers stay on a page, like a piece of content, comment on a post, or share a resource with their friends and colleagues, that’s a sign it’s something more people will want to see. So, these factors have become the ultimate signs of quality.
Is Your Website Ready for the Future?
Smart marketers are preparing their business websites to compete today and dominate tomorrow. If that’s the kind of approach to online marketing you want to follow, you owe it to yourself to schedule a consultation with the experts at Biondo Creative in Yardley. Reach out now and see what we can do for you!