If you want to be at the top of the game, you need to think about your SEO strategy. It is the secret to your business’ success.
This year, Google took the digital world by the storm with its mobile and speed related efforts. As a result, all SEO efforts for the next year will have to be in line with the new strategies.
Get to know the latest SEO trends and work out an action plan right away!
1. Mobile- first indexing
Mobile-first indexing means that Google uses the mobile version of your page for ranking and indexing. Google started the process of migrating sites to mobile-first index in March 2018.
Do remember that mobile-first indexing does not translate into “mobile-only”. It means that Google will use the mobile versions for ranking once the website has migrated.
With your mobile version being the primary criterion for ranking, you cannot relax with just being ‘mobile-friendly’ anymore.
What you can do?
If you are yet to go responsive then do it now! Also, try to avoid m-dot and responsive to the same page as it tends to confuse the crawlers.
2. Page Speed
Google has strict metrics for page speed as it expects the best UX.
Google has started grading desktop and mobile page according to two different metrics- optimization and speed.
The speed score is generated by taking the data for the metrics from Chrome User Experience (the real users’ performance database) report. It provides details of how your website loads for each visitor. It is difficult to measure the speed of your website load on every visitor's device. The metrics are not possible to get through the local tests.
For the optimization score, you can control it by fixing any issues that are preventing your website from loading fast.
Although the correlation between the page’s optimization score and its SERPs position is strong, there is no correlation between the page’s position and the speed score yet.
The Speed metric is still in the testing phase and Google will soon relate it to the SERP position.
What you can do?
As of now, take care of your optimization score. Make sure you look into the site optimization and result tracking properly. You may go through Google’s list of recommendations.
3. Brand as a ranking criterion
There are two ways Google can use a brand as a ranking criterion;
Through unlinked brand mentions and other properties mentioning about you, Google gets a better understanding of your authority in a particular field.
Other components such as trust, reputation, advertising, complaint-solving, etc., enables Google to differentiate the good from the bad.
What you can do?
Backlinks are still considered while ranking your website. However, building backlinks quickly may not be possible. So, you can mention your brand name(linkless backlinks) online naturally wherever you have the opportunity.
You may also interact with your customers as much as possible. Try and address their issues with your brand. You can also track the mention of your brand name online.
4. Amazon Search
No. Amazon is not another Google. It is an algorithm similar to Google. Amazon uses the algorithm for internal search within the pages.
According to a survey, about 56% consumes visit Amazon first for their shopping needs and 51% of the consumers check with Amazon after checking the product on other sites. These figures tell us how important Amazon has become today.
If you are selling something and you are not on Amazon, you are missing out on a large section of potential customers. Therefore, it is imperative that you include Amazon optimization in your SEO strategy.
What you can do?
Run keyword research on Amazon itself. Use a proper title and description for your products and provide high quality images. Also, make sure to cater to metatags and don't forget to track customer's reviews and complaints.
If you want to be ahead of your competitors then going mobile is the best way. Make sure that you tap the mobile customers by providing them with excellent services. SEO is ever changing and you will have to adapt to the changes if you want to succeed.