It is essential for every business to keep themselves up-dated with the changes in the SEO trends. This might get a little tougher with Google and other search engines coming up with a whole set of new rules and regulations.

It is a possibility that even the most experienced specialist for SEO might over look a thing or two which might be disastrous. 2017 is heading for new trends with regard to optimization of the search engine.

Changing your strategy for SEO is what is required in the coming year. This post can guide you on the right approach for SEO and also inform you of the direction this is heading in.

Trend 1: Choosing right keywords

The SEO strategies have seen a drastic change as compared to a few years before. SEO, at one time, used to be all about short keywords which were page focused. These days, you require long tail keywords which are engaging along with emphasis being laid on building of a brand as compared to only a single service or product. Keyword research still holds importance, but creating the right content, analytics and marketing on the social media works out equally essential.

To understand SEO in a better manner you need to have an apt understanding of the analytics of your website. This is due to the fact that Google and other search engines tend to give importance to sites which have a good rate of engagement, which includes, the bounce rates, the average time which is spent on your site and the quality of traffic. SEO also depends on the ROI factor. If your website can generate enough sales it is fine to be ranked a little low in the search engines.

Trend 2: Designing Mobile Responsive Websites

Mobiles are here to stay and keeping this in mind, it is important that your website is compatible to a mobile device. It was okay not to have a website compatible to a mobile a few years back but now this can lead to a disaster. You find only a very limited number of people using their laptops or desk tops for shopping, checking mails or even searching for the required information. This is one of the reasons you have search engines like Yahoo or Google altering their algorithms to those which are suitable for sites which are mobile-friendly.

Search ranking can reach to an all time high if you adopt a design for your website which is responsive to any mobile device. Compatibility with the mobile can help you achieve the required digital presence.

Trend 3: Effective Content

Content, as usual, is the king for SEO. There has been a vast change with emphasis being laid on quality and engaging content. Most sites which have content which speaks of ‘quality’ and is equally well presented and written, make a difference to the ranking. Priority is given to websites which offer valued content which is up-dated on a regular basis. Old Content will no longer do the job. These days, you find almost 80% of websites having content which is integrated into the SEO strategy. Search Engines favor content which is:

• Long, say around 1000 words or so.
• Shorter paragraphs.
• No over stuffing of keywords.
• With dot points and sub-headings.
• Provides value.
• With no duplication.
• With the right punctuation, grammar and spellings.
• Which is read by the targeted audience?

This can be checked by going through the analytics of your website with special attention paid to the time spent on a specific session, demographics, bounce rates, referrals and new visitors versus the returning. Ensuring you get referrals from sites of high quality is one way to getting a preference for your website by the search engines. The content needs to be fresh and based on your info graphic. This can be done by taking a specific data from your info graphic and turning this into an article of depth.

Trend 4: Improve your Website Speed

The speed of a website matters a lot as it seems that no one has the time and energy of wasting even 10 seconds waiting for a specific website to load. With the ever improving technology it is normal for the users to expect that the loading requires less time. This factor is considered by search engines for ranking of websites. Keeping this in mind, you need to focus on the factors which can increase the speed of your website while in the process of designing the same.

This can be done by investing a wee bit more on the server. You can consider factors like animations, ads or videos when you plan on a specific design and make sure this does not affect the time taken to load. This can be done by reducing the size of the page, reducing the total content for images, using GZIP compression and minimizing the Stylesheets and the Javascript.

Trend 5: Active on Social Media

Social media is fast taking over and your absence on sites like Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin can be the cause of a downfall in the ranking by search engines. Preferences are given to Social Media sites for ranking and to make sure you can profit from this, make sure you have your brand right up there. This requires some effort but you need to research and find out which social media site can be helpful to your business and go about joining the same. Most businesses have a presence on the social media, but taking the right step to beat your competitors is to get a specific brand mentioned on review sites which are popular.

Trend 6: Voice Search

2017 will be a year when you see ‘voice search’ increasing to a large extent. It has been reported that even now almost 20% of the queries on Android devices and mobile apps are done by using this. You have Google Search/Now, Cortana, Siri and even Google Home is designed specifically to encourage people in using this ‘voice search’. This works as convenient as it is hands-free, faster and also safe in many ways. This gives you the ease of multi-tasking. As you are aware that conversational search is ‘in’ and is considered as the future of SEO as SEO tends to adopt an approach considered as ‘fluid’ which consists of sentences instead of keywords.

Trend 7: Rank Brain

With the introduction of Rankbrain by Google there were subtle but definite changes in the SEO. This is an intelligence system which is artificial and is used as a signal for the Goggle algorithm. In short, Rankbrain deciphers what the users are trying to type for searching. Currently, this is one of the important signals for SEO where the computer tends to teach itself how to carry on without the help of humans. This is essential for webpage content and inbound linking. You need to be aware that with the passing of time this is going to have a large impact on the SEO, as by tracking the user’s information and searching habits you will need to make the required adjustments to your strategy so that an optimal experience is ensured.

Trend 8: Local SEO

Location plays an important role in the SEO. This seems to be all the more important for all those small businesses competing with the larger ones on the net. Small businesses tend to lack the advantage of a good ranking and you find these usually listed to almost 30 or 40 in the search engines. Limiting the search radius to a smaller scale can do the trick here. To ensure success here all that is required is using words that can target the surrounding communities and the neighborhood. This helps in the results as anyone searching for a specific business in your locality, tends to spot you right on number 1.

Trend 9: Reviews

You have most people using services of different voicing their opinions due to review websites like Yellow Pages, Yelp or Google Reviews. If overlooked, these reviews can impact your ranking in a negative manner. It is advisable to give your audience an ear and listen to what is being said about your website. The problems can be related to shorter working hours, high prices or even the customer service not being up to the mark. A careful analysis needs to be done on the conversations on social media, not only for your business, but also the business of your competitor. This can help you in making the required adjustment, which can lead to a higher ranking.

• Improve your reputation online by getting more reviews
• Address any negative comments on an immediate basis before they flood the market
• Understand that there is no way you can put a stop to negative comments
• Make sure the social profiles are created right
• Make sure to respond to any comment, be it negative or positive
• Find out the cause of the negative comments.

Trend 10: Device Compatibility website

Talking about mobiles and SEO, you need to understand that the compatibility might not equal the speed. Though you have most of the smart phones available these days with LTE or 4G but there are many which do not have this advantage. Taking a longer time to load on any mobile device is harmful for the ranking of the SEO. Luckily, you can opt for the AMP (Accelerated Mobile Page) which helps you in crafting content optimized with a HTML which is specialized. This allows the posting on mobile devices on an immediate basis. The wait time is eliminated with this, for different mobile devices. Your website can be accessed immediately as the framework is specifically designed keeping the user experience in mind.

You can think of doubling your search traffic by using the above mentioned trends, all that is required is to find out which and how this can work best for your business. It might work out time consuming with a lot of labor but is totally worth the effort in the long run, if you wish to gain success in the tough competition out there. The key to this is understanding the requirement of your audience and being able to cater to this.

Following these important trends in the coming year you can ensure that your business gets the desired ranking by the search engines. Information and being answerable to your customers is how this business works online. Use specific phrases or terms but make sure to explain this. The visibility of your site can increase by providing apt information required related to your services and the products. Make sure the content is written for the readers and not for search engines. Personalize your services or products to make them more appealing and see your website climbing the ladder of success. Following the above trends can be a start to update the strategy for SEO, increasing the traffic followed by the required conversion rate.