WHAT WILL BECOME OF SEO – MOVING FORWARD?
SEO has evolved tremendously in the past years, and Google is pushing it further with better strategic approaches. Let’s take a look at the changes that led SEO to where it is right now and how these changes are going to affect SEO – moving forward.
What’s Google’s algorithm update got to do with SEO – moving forward?
Hummingbird algorithm. Hummingbird is much more intuitive and is better at interpreting conversational search queries than the previous algorithm updates. What this means for SEO – moving forward is that exact keyword matches will lose their substance over time, softening the keyword game a bit. Changes brought about by the algorithm update will become more apparent in the next two years.
Google+. Google+ has been around since 2011 but it is only recently when it has started influencing SEO and social media integration. According to experts, Google+ will get to improve more this year in its bid to replace Facebook as everyone’s go-to social media platform. Google+ shares and updates are also now showing up on search results, which are seen to definitely impact SEO.
SEO – Moving Forward: More Value in Authority
Authorship. Authorship is another thing that has gained considerable momentum this year and is sure to benefit SEO – moving forward. Google is strongly using this element now when looking for content to bring up for search queries. Also known as “author rank,” authorship is used by SEOs to measure author influence. The higher the author rank is means the more responses a content the author has written receives be it in the form of link shares, social shares or blog comments. Thus, if you want your site or your client’s website to rank on Google, it helps to build its author ranking, or even better, its “publisher rank” (the whole website’s authority).
Evergreen content or in-depth content. Sometime last year, Google search results mostly featured extremely long but informative content. Said content is associated with Google’s announcement that 10 percent of users’ information diet includes learning about a wide-ranging topic. How this figures in the SERPs will become big deal in the future, only goes to show how important it is to place value on developing your site’s author and publisher rank and why you should bring renewed focus on producing high-quality content.
What we think of SEO – Moving Forward
What can we get from all these observations and changes? First, there has been a tremendous shift from quantity to quality now and publishers have to streamline and think of more intelligent SEO tactics that really provide value to customers. With lesser focus on keyword rankings, strategists would have to come up with new goals or focus on creating better content. Second, strategists should focus more on semantic importance, authority and user experience because these are what Google looks for now.
For the record, we are not encouraging you to stop your strategies altogether. We’re just giving you a clearer picture of what Google likes and wants for SEO – moving forward. And what Google likes and wants, as we all know, are profitable.
In a nutshell, you should focus your resources more on understanding your target audience, writing engaging content, establishing your authority and presence, and providing an awesome user experience to site visitors. That’s SEO – moving forward for you.