2016 has been a big year for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). More and more businesses have been realising the power of marketing through online platforms, with the world turning everything digital. 2017 is around the corner and it is time to see what’s in store for digital marketing in the future. SEO has witnessed several developments through the years and is only expected to grow in the forthcoming year. Here are some 2017 trends for SEO in Sydney, every SEO practitioners must expect.
Emphasis on User Intent
Granted, keywords are hot and demanded, and typing simple words can provide the required search results to the user. But the concept of user intent must be emphasised. Search engines are being refined through the years and have become better in identifying user intent. In the upcoming year, brands will have to focus more on optimising their digital content that goes in line with the user intent, rather than completely focusing on targeted keywords.
For any SEO strategy that you create, it is vital that you:
- Examine what users are searching for, that brings them to your website. Also find what answers they are expecting from your content.
- Once you have collected the data and have identified the areas that require optimisation, start making the changes so as to enhance the ratings.
- Stay updated with analytics to determine what works best and what doesn’t work for you, so that you can recognise the key areas that requires to be updated.
Rich Answers and Snippets
When in doubt, we turn towards Google for answers. Google’s powerful search engine tools display the relevant answers directly on the search engine results page. Such information will also include websites, event information, videos or reviews as well. This is made possible with the help of structured data markup. Also called as schema markup, this tool works well in reviewing and understanding the website content, and displays that information in the form of rich answers.
For instance, when you type in “What is SEO”, you get a snippet of the rich answer in the form of a card that displays the definition of SEO. The search listings will then contain information that is relevant to what you have searched for.
The volume of rich answers displayed by Google has almost doubled from 2014 to 2016, according to a study by Stone Temple Consulting. This is expected to continue and will witness an upward trend in the coming times.
Enhanced Mobile Growth:
Increase in the adoption of mobile devices has reformed SEO through the years. Thanks to the steep rise in mobile usage in the recent times, mobile search has been rising at a greater pace and shows no signs of stopping. Distribution of web traffic has been slowly moving from desktop to mobile devices and it is found that several websites have been gaining traffic from mobile devices, relative to their desktop counterparts.
It was in 2015, Google reported mobile searches beating desktop searches in its search engine.
Voice Search to Conquer:
Several tech companies have been experimenting with voice search functionality and have been constantly trying to improve the same. In fact, voice search has become one of the fastest growing search options, owing to popularity of virtual personal assistants such as Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana and Google Now. It has become a fun way for users to interact with their devices, whilst obtaining the answers from search engines. The trend for voice searches has been booming, which is why SEO specialists must focus more on the power of voice search alongside text-based searches in 2017.
Cross Channel Marketing:
Several marketers often misconceive that cross channel marketing and multi-channel marketing are same. In reality, multi-channel marketing refers to growing your online presence in multiple platforms. On the other hand, cross channel marketing creates a constant brand presence across multiple channels so that the user experience becomes seamless and consistent between devices belonging to the same ecosystem.
Cross channel marketing also has an increased impact in conversion rates. However, preparation is the key, as this sort of marketing becomes successful only when you understand your target audience and their consumption habits. Cross channel marketing is still in its infancy and is expected to grow in 2017, with the increased adoption of mobile devices.
Wrapping up:
2017 will be an exciting year for digital marketing and SEO services in Sydney. Users are getting obsessed with the online world and have been consuming more content than ever before. This is why it is imperative for SEO marketers to look for factors that need to be improved, adapt to the changes and trends, and prepare to execute them at the earliest.