We have carefully considered whether it was really necessary to write and publish yet another post on the SEO Trends for 2018.
In the end, we concluded that there was a need and the reason is rather simple: to demonstrate that the macro-topics that you often hear about are actually interesting if viewed from the right perspective.
Below is a list of trite topics with an indication of what we recommend you should focus on in your SEO strategies.
Mobile? Indispensable. Attention to scanning, which must be mobile-first, and to the upload speed, is an increasingly crucial factors.
1. Mobile First
As we already read in the PWA post, “Mobile” devices have become a primary human need. Since my latest post, according to the same survey conducted by comScore, one third of the Americans interviewed would prefer not having sex for a year rather than giving up their devices.
Given the data, Google’s declarations of intent and the start of the roll-out of the “mobile first index,” let me ask you:
When you think about your website (or your favorite website) how do you imagine it?
- If your answer is A (desktop version), you probably already have figured out what I’m hinting at.
- If your answer is B (mobile version), then you are heading in the right direction.
When you start scanning a site with ScreamingFrog, which “User Agent” do you start with?
Scanning a site is the first action done by search engines, so the initial step in the onsite audit of a domain is to simulate how Google could scan it.
All too often we forget the two axioms of scanning:
- A page that has not been scanned cannot be indexed;
- A page that is not scanned and/or indexed cannot be returned in a search.
To avoid problems like these, we usually use software like ScreamingFrog which, among other settings, offers the possibility of selecting a particular bot:
For more than a year now, at Pro Web Consulting, we have been doing more than two types of scan, but you can be sure that the first is mobile. If you have never tried it, the result will be surprising.
2. Speed
Google updates its algorithms 500-600 times a year. They are usually minor updates, but in 2017 we found 10 major ones.
In order to determine what are the factors in common between those that have a positive growth trend (in terms of visibility) and those that do not, 1000 domains were considered and clustered based on the various parameters, including for example:
- Topic;
- Size;
- https o http;
- Domain seniority;
- Page Speed Desktop;
- Page Speed Mobile;
- Outlinks;
- Size;
- Resp. Time
One of the few elements that all the sites that have gained visibility have is a good ratio between “Size” and “Response Time” which in short means speed. In fact, a few days ago, the webmaster blog published the news that from July 2018 it will be taken into account as a ranking factor for mobile.
Google is becoming a “response engine”, which is why every feature that provides the user with the fastest possible response is welcomed by the engine.
3. AMP and Featured Snippet
Put together, they probably don’t tell you much or you do not understand the correlation. In fact, it is not uncommon to read that it would be better to have neither of them because by doing so we “give” traffic to Google. Nothing could be more wrong.
Google’s evolution is not only related to algorithm updates but also (and at times above all) to functional and graphic evolutions.
Google is no longer a search engine, it is slowly and steadily turning into a response engine. The direction has been clear for some time (I invite you to read this recent article from 2012) but only those who are able to interpret BigG’s words can anticipate trends and gain a competitive edge.
4. Links
If you have come so far, it is probably because you also know that the old webmaster guidelines were updated on December 12th.
Try guessing why your site might not be located? Here is an excerpt from the first part of the guide
The most common reasons why our crawlers don’t detect a site are:
- The site is not well linked to other sites on the Web
- You have just rolled out a new site and Google has not had time to scan it yet
- The structure of the site makes it difficult for Google to effectively scan content
- Google received an error during the site scan
- The criteria set on the site prevent Google from scanning the site
You probably don’t need to add anything else.
Voice Search? It has been “trending” for years now… maybe it’s time to start working on it seriously.
5. Voice Search
I was asked this question some time ago: Pasquale, so voice search is a trend in 2018?
Voice search has been trending since 2009 and this image shows it:
The results of a voice search today are much more accurate and valuable. For this reason, despite the fact that we are still at an “early adoption” phase, it is not a bad idea to start doing something “innovative” to intercept this type of query (which, by its very nature, is much longer and more articulated).
In conclusion
To position ourselves well, to position ourselves better or simply to position ourselves on search engines, we need to give value to our users.
To do so, you need to understand how.
Starting with a website that is easily accessible by smartphones and fast in replying to users’ questions; so being fast and well linked to other websites is the first step towards achieving good results this year.
