How does 2018 Look for SEO?

SEO: A dynamic game

As 2017 is nearing an end, digital marketers maybe apprehensive about the new year, which usually comes with new challenges and new rules. Search marketers especially are wondering how the coming year will be for SEO. More than 200 factors comprise Google's algorithm. But it's actually not how much you know about them that makes the SEO game so challenging. It is the rules of the game that search engines keep changing.

Given the dynamism of the domain, it's common for old trends to become history and new trends to take over. But if you are fretting over what's going to come in 2018, then perhaps you should relax a bit. 2018 is looking like an exciting year for search marketers because a number of trends are emerging that might significantly change SEO. 

What to look forward to in 2018?

Here are a few trends that are slowly taking off and expected to dominate the SEO game in 2018:

Link building

Link building, as always, will continue to focus on getting quality links. But this doesn't really mean that backlinks should be sourced from the most popular sites. It's the relevancy of the site that matters the most. Overall SEO strategy in 2018 is likely to shift towards building stronger relationships and develop links and contacts that would benefit the brand in the longer term. A diversified link building strategy is what a brand would need in order to get successful SEO results.

Mobile optimization

Traffic from websites will continue to hold a significant position in 2018. As such, mobile optimization becomes the top priority for search marketers. Mobile-friendly website design is what marketers should aim at because mobile searches on Google's SERPs have been higher than desktop searches. Google's experiment with mobile-first indexing is also likely to change the SEO game in 2018.

Voice search

Google reports that 40 percent of adults and 55 percent of teens use voice search every day. The ratio is only growing faster compared to type search. After all, it's much more convenient. Marketers have to use new keyword phrases and create content with a conversational tone. It will be extremely crucial for search marketers to optimize their websites for voice search and follow new ways of doing keyword research.

Customized SERP

Search engines personalize search results in different ways, considering user-related factors such as search history, location, and interests. Search marketers have to try their best to appear among the top results so that users click on their website. As a result, their future searches will include their website as the topmost result. But they need to keep the accuracy of their rank tracking in mind. 

User Experience

User experience (UX) was always an important factor. But it's likely to gain more importance after Google prioritized people's engagement with the web pages they visit. As such, search marketers have to focus greatly on the speed, navigation structure, and readability of their website. UX is likely to remain a key factor in driving website traffic. So, it's also important for websites to be optimized for different platforms and devices.

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