2018 SEO Trends
With the ever-evolving nature of SEO, trying to keep up with all the changes can seem like a near-impossible task. Keeping up with those changes, however, is key to having your desired audience find and interact with your website when they’re searching online. To help you keep up with the SEO landscape, here are the top SEO trends for 2018.
1. Mobile Is Only Getting Bigger
While not there yet, a mobile-first index is coming from Google. Mobile search has been growing consistently over the past few years, with 60 percent of searches now from mobile devices. Not having a mobile-ready site will affect your search engine rankings, and if you run an e-commerce business, your sales as well. Check to see if your pages are mobile friendly and that they are loading correctly and quickly across all devices. Screenfly from Quirktools is a great tool to use to see how your website looks across all mobile devices.
2. Voice Search Is Here to Stay
Voice search may just seem like a cool thing to do, but it is quickly becoming the way to search for what you’re looking for online. According to Google, 55 percent of teens and 40 percent of adults use voice search daily. And more research shows the ratio of voice searches is increasing faster than text search. Since most voice searches originate from mobile devices, having a mobile-ready site is now even more important than ever for SEO.
3. Linkless Backlinks Are Now a Thing
Links have been, and still are, the primary factor determining how a page ranks in the search engines. Entire businesses have been built on teaching people how to get the best and most relevant backlinks to increase their rankings. But links may be losing some of their importance as the primary ranking factor with the rise of linkless backlinks. The idea is search engines can use brand mentions across multiple online sources and determine a website’s authority. Bing has confirmed it is already using mentions as a ranking factor, and there is no reason to believe that Google won’t be doing the same.
Jason Bass is a marketing strategist, community builder, and founder who turns bold ideas into real momentum. At the helm of Jason Hunter Design, Pixel Partner Digital, and The Citizen, he brings clarity to chaos, structure to startups, and firepower to brands ready to scale. Known for his visionary thinking and down-to-earth leadership, Jason helps businesses grow — not just in revenue, but in purpose and impact.