If there’s one thing you should know for 2019, it’s this: Google is investing in the best websites. As long as your website follows Google’s best practices and is consistently updated with useful, relevant content that appeals to your audience, you should do just fine. Still, it never hurts to be aware of the latest SEO trends and what they mean for your online visibility.
Here are the SEO trends that will matter most over the next 9 months.
Migrating to Mobile-first Indexing
Google is migrating sites to its mobile-first index, which means that the mobile version of your website will be indexed instead of your desktop version. Not all sites have been migrated yet – Google said this would be a long process. If your site hasn’t been migrated, now is the time to ensure it’s mobile friendly.
A few tips for making your site mobile friendly are:
- Choose a responsive design
- Use large text
- Make button sizes large
- Compress images and CSS
- Avoid using Flash
Improving Page Speed
Less than one year ago, mobile page speed became a ranking factor along with desktop page speed. Page speed is directly tied to user experience. If your page takes more than 3 seconds to load, it’s likely that visitors will bounce off, hurting conversion rates.
Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to determine how quickly your pages load. If your pages take more than 3 seconds, you’re losing traffic. Some of the best ways to speed up load times are minimizing HTTP requests, minifying files and reducing server response time.
Understanding User Intent
For a long time, it has been stressed that brands need to understand their audience. By knowing your audience, you can take things a step further and recognize their intent. User intent helps optimize your website for the people who are searching for your products and services. 2019 will be the year that marketers stop matching keyword phrases and start making sure their content answers the questions their audience is seeking.
Other Search Platforms
Google is certainly the dominating search engine, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore other options. When optimizing your site, consider other search engines that your audience might be using. If customers are searching for apps, you need to rank in the app stores. If customers are searching for products, they may head over to Amazon first. Bottom line: Think beyond ranking No. 1 in the SERPs and consider visibility on other platforms.
Don’t expect huge changes in 2019, but do keep in mind that your SEO strategy should reflect the user experience. The more optimized your website is for your unique audience, the higher you will rank in the search engines. To review your SEO strategy, contact WSI Internet Partners today.