The future continues to look bright for SEO, with Forrester predicting digital marketing spend reaching $146 billion by 2023. However, the search landscape is changing, particularly in the area of voice searches. As marketing agencies work to keep up, they’ll focus more on voice skills, SEO, and content to serve their clients’ needs. Working with an experienced internet marketing company like Smart WSI Marketing helps businesses stay current on SEO trends so their digital marketing efforts produce the results they’re looking for. Get in touch us with us for a review of your current SEO strategy.
Like most things related to online marketing, search engine optimization is an evolving industry. One of digital marketing’s newest tactics, SEO is also its most exciting to watch. As Google continues to improve and develop its algorithms and machine learning, SEO is becoming more intelligent and more mature as well.
What will SEO look like by 2023? Here’s what the experts predict.
Changing your internet marketing strategy can be challenging, even if it doesn’t seem to be working as it used to. One of the areas many companies stay stuck in their approach is link-building. Though it remains one of the top three search ranking factors, most experts agree link building’s golden age is ending. So, expect to see it play a less prominent role in the coming years. What will still matter with linking is the authority of the page you’re linking to.
Another major shift will come in SERPs (search engine results pages). While a company’s website may effectively rank number one, it will likely be buried under ads, snippets, and question boxes. Long-form content will continue to be used to increase organic traffic, and featured snippets will become essential to SEO success.
One of the most significant changes in Google’s algorithm has been its decreased dependence on exact match keywords. It wasn’t that long ago that SEO was mostly about identifying specific keywords. When building a client’s website, a marketing agency would ensure keywords had high density on the page and then build backlinks to them. Those days are mostly gone, as Google now understands the meaning and intent behind a user’s search query. For instance, if someone searched for “kid-friendly hikes,” Google would likely assume what they’re actually searching for are places the entire family can take less-strenuous hikes.
Since its 2018 release, Google Discover has gained over 800 million monthly active users. Unlike traditional search, with Discover, users enter a search term to find the information they need, but instead of listing results that match the words in the search, Google's automated system lists what it believes to be a good match with a user's interests. Discover’s content is continually refreshed when new content is published, but it continues to show all relevant information, old or new. Traffic from Discover is currently less predictable compared to search, so it’s still considered supplemental to traditional search traffic.
Many marketing pros believe businesses should start to focus more on Google Discover, as it’s a major aspect of Google Search that allows users to stay up to date on topics that matter to them. Users can constantly explore new data in various forms such as blogs and videos, regardless of publish date.
SEO will remain an extremely valuable marketing strategy for the foreseeable future, but it won’t be the only one. New technologies will help people discover businesses through multiple channels like PPC, social media posts and ads, and streaming services. Email and social media marketing will help brands keep their audiences interested and engaged. Investing in a multichannel approach helps SEO, including local SEO, because it drives people to your site and boosts sales.
New trends come and go, but SEO’s core practices will likely always stay the same, with content remaining vital for building an organic search presence. While it’s impossible to accurately predict which trends will last long-term, there’s more than enough information to look ahead and take a good, educated guess.
Smart WSI Marketing is an Edmonton digital marketing agency offering SEO services that increase your brand’s chances of staying current with emerging online marketing trends. To learn more about what we do, reach out to us today.
Lynne is known for her strategic approach to marketing communications, technologies, and lead generation. She has a passion for education, keeping up with current marketing trends and practices, and helping clients keep ahead of their competition.
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