If you have your own website and don’t have a search engine marketing management company– such as Search Marketing Resource– handling your SEO program, you need to understand the factors in 2019 that will impact your SEO marketing. Here are 5 factors to think about:
1 – Voice Search is on the Rise
The popularity of voice search technology such as that used in the Amazon Echo and Google Home devices is changing the way many users are collecting information about the world, and some research suggests that 50% of all searches will be voice searches by the year 2020.
This should change your SEO marketing strategy approach to creating answers to the questions that you anticipate that your target audience might ask. Having answers to common pre-qualification questions that voice search can provide answers for is key to gaining visibility for customers.
2 – Sites Must Be Optimized for Mobile and Local Users
Earlier this year, Google began the rollout of “mobile-first” indexing. This means that sites are ranked on how well they work with mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. If your site does not have a mobile friendly web design, Google will push you down in the rankings. If your site is not mobile friendly, get a free website design proposal to see what is necessary to get it mobile friendly.
Closely connected to mobile-friendly websites is local SEO. Since a lot of searches are done on cell phones, a solid local SEO program is proven to bring customers into your business. This can be done by providing critical information such as the business location (with a link to a Google Map to get there), business hours, details about the goods and services the business provides right up front on a Google My Business page. A well-designed mobile-friendly website combined with a solid SEO program may get you into the top 3 search results that appear on Google’s mobile search, which will definitely get you more website traffic and customers.
3 – Better, Longer Content
Online users want better content. They don’t want short 100 to 200-word articles designed just to suck them in and boost SEO rankings. They want solid, longer content. So, your website content writing strategy should focus on QUALITY, not quantity. They want in-depth product information, detailed case studies, and background information about how your good or service can directly benefit them.
Longer forms of content keep the readers at your site longer as well as provide many opportunities to create social media backlinks associated with it. And, as an added bonus, is more likely to be used as a resource and possibly shared by others.
4 – Video Content is in Demand
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world behind Google, and is ranked third for the most visits behind only Google and Facebook, and it continues to grow. Because of this level of traffic, you company needs to have a strategy for providing video content to YouTube. There are many free online video creation tools available that can allow you–with a little time and patience–to create decent video content for your business.
5 – User Data Protection
With online data security breaches making headline news seemingly every other day lately, it is no wonder that users are paying greater attention to the security and privacy of their data. Another important change in 2018 was the enactment of the General Data Protection Regulation by the European Union which gave users more control over their private data used on websites. In 2019, we expect this trend to continue, so make sure you have a plan put together to protect your user’s data.
Need Help with Your SEO Marketing Strategies in 2019?
Let the Search Marketing Resource team provide you with a free SEO website audit to help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your SEO marketing strategies for 2019. Give us a call at 888-842-9033, or email us at sales@searchmarketingresource.com to get more information.
