5 Most Likely SEO Trends to Follow for 2019

by Shubham Yadav Digital Marketing Expert

SEO keeps on evolving every year since the beginning of Google algorithm updates. The first update was released by Google on 16th November 2003, which was named as Florida update. But, the major change was witnessed with Panda update launched on 23rd February 2011. Since then, we always need to redefine the SEO trends to follow year after year. The latest major update by Google was Broad Core Algorithm update on 1st August 2018 confirmed by Google on Twitter.

After so many updates, there are the individuals, who have started believing that SEO doesn’t work anymore. But, it is far from the fact. In reality, the old ways of SEO do not work anymore. In the words of Forbes’ writer Christopher Foerster, “Digital marketing and SEO especially, encompasses much more than just links and keywords. You need to consistently provide value in everything you do.”

So, now we need to redefine the SEO trends once again when 2019 is knocking. In 2018, we have witnessed a number of trends, a few of which are identical, whereas there are some others that we can consider as the next step of evolution. Here are some of the trends that we witnessed in the year 2018.

SEO Trends in 2018

• The requirement of careful structuring of rich snippets.

• Page speed.

• Increased page relevance.

• Increased significance of voice search.

• More importance of mobile search.

• Link building still prevalent.

These are a few trends we followed in 2018, and now we need to be prepared for 2019. For making the action plan for 2019, we require to understand the upcoming trends. Some of the 2018’s trends are still going on, and they have the bright scope in 2019 as well. Let’s have a look at the upcoming trends, which may help the businesses to make the SEO strategy for 2019.

1. Voice Search

Some reports say, “40% of adults now use voice search once per day”, and “50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020”.

So, it is very clear that voice search is getting more importance year after year. It gained a big success in 2018 and has bright prospects by 2020. Quite obviously, 2019 will be a thriving year for the voice search.

Therefore, to get a better rank in 2019, you should make sure to optimize the pages for the voice search. Here are the ways that you can use to do this:

• Try to integrate questions into your SEO strategy, because most of the voice searches are based on questions.

• Increase local SEO. Very often, the voice searches are specific to locations.

2. Mobile First Indexing

Mobile First Indexing means the mobile version of your page is used for indexing and ranking by Google. In March 2018, Google clearly announced rolling out mobile-first indexing and started the process of migrating the websites to mobile-first index.

But, you need to keep in mind that mobile-first indexing does not refer to “mobile-only”. The website should be suitable for both mobile and desktop users.

Here is to do list for 2019:

• If your website hasn’t migrated to mobile-first indexing, you should do it on priority. In addition to this, Google also strongly recommends against responsive and m-dot for the same page. The reason is that it confuses crawlers.

• In order to understand how search engine spiders see your mobile pages, crawl them via mobile bot.

• Track the loading speed of mobile pages. You can do it easily with the help of PageSpeed Insights.

• Also, regularly check if your pages deliver flawless user experience.

3. AMP

However, Google said many times that Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is not a factor for the page ranking, but still many individuals have speculated that it may soon become. The major purpose of AMP is speed, and Google has already announced that page speed will be a mobile ranking factor, and the mobile-first index has been rolled out. So, it can be expected that the mobile sites with AMP implementation could see the boost in ranking.

Speed and mobile friendliness already make AMP good for ranking indirectly. You can consider AMP for your pages in the year 2019.

4. Featured Snippet

Featured snippets are undoubtedly the first things that people see when they search for some word or phrase. They are becoming more and more popular every year. According to a study, around 30% of Google results have featured snippets.

The featured snippets give quick answers to the questions that people are searching for; therefore, they are quick, convenient and easy to read. As per HubSpot research, content with a featured snippet gets a 2X higher click-through rate.

When the content of a website comes to the featured snippet, it is undoubtedly ideal for building the trust. This is why it dramatically increased click-through rate (CTR). Market expert Neil Patel says, “Ranking for a featured snippet is so much more helpful and effective for driving visitors to your site than ranking for #1.”

So, there is no doubt that featured snippets have the bright scope in 2019. So, the action plan on which you need to do the work is:

• Make featured snippet part of your SEO strategy.

• Do careful structuring of snippets to increase the chance to appear in the featured snippets. But, remember, it will just increase the chance to appear in the snippet, as there is no exact formula for earning it.

5. Brand as a Ranking Signal

Your brand can be a ranking signal in two ways:

I. Search engine learns that your brand is an asset via unlinked brand mentions. Further, it analyzes all the properties that mention it and gets a better picture of your authority in a particular area.

II. Sentiment and contents of every component matters, such as reputation, trust, advertisement, and complaint solving.

Here is what you need to do in 2019 in this respect:

• Backlinks are still considered as the strong ranking signal. But, building fast links are not considered as a part of the white-hat business. In that case, you can use the link-less backlines. Don’t forget to mention your brand name online wherever you get the natural opportunity.

• Pay attention towards your rapport. Try to address the customers’ problems with your brand and also get engaged with happy clients. For this, you are required to track the mention of your brand online.

Conclusion

The above-mentioned ones are a few trends that you should follow for your SEO campaign strategy in 2019. You can find some more trends that you can explore from online resources. SEO is still in the process of evolution. Let’s wait and watch to see what would be the next phase.

Originally published on http://www.aksindiblog.com/5-most-likely-seo-trends-follow-2019.html