SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION MARKETING TRENDS
61% OF MARKETERS SAY IMPROVING SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) TO GROW THEIR ORGANIC PRESENCE ONLINE IS THEIR TOP INBOUND MARKETING PRIORITY.
Are you one of these marketers? If so, have you figured out how exactly you plan to improve your SEO and organic presence? When you optimize for specific types of consumer behavior, you’ll help your business become more discoverable online.
1. IMPLEMENT VOICE SEARCH TACTICS
IT’S PROBABLY SAFE TO ASSUME YOU’VE USED SIRI, ALEXA, CORTANA, AND/ OR GOOGLE ASSISTANT IN THE LAST MONTH OR SO. AM I RIGHT?
Not only do these digital assistants answer short, informational queries such as “Who is the actor in Mission: Impossible?” or “What’s the weather in Boston today?”, but they’ve also started to process more local, conversational, and customized searches. These may sound like, “Where’s a nearby coffee shop I can work from today?”, “How late is it open?”, and “Do they serve iced coffee?”
Because of this emerging behavior, businesses need to respond and change the way they frame information. Instead of catering to Google’s manual search algorithm, optimize your content by framing it around questions.
When you implement voice search tactics this way, you’ll empower your users to get the answers they want and need. They can ask a question in that conversational tone we mentioned above and, in return, they’ll get a high-quality and accurate response. They can multitask while asking questions and receiving answers, as well as get those answers they’re looking for more quickly.
Aja also encourages businesses to look for featured snippet opportunities, which are the information previews Google provides when users search for definitions or questions. Voice assistants typically pull responses directly from these boxes.
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2. OFFER A RESPONSIVE, MOBILE-FRIENDLY WEBSITE DESIGN
48% of consumers start mobile research with a search engine, and the first position on Google search results on mobile has a 31.35% click-through rate.
It goes without saying that mobile usage is skyrocketing, especially for search queries and research. Due to this, businesses should ensure their website is discoverable and readable via mobile devices including smartphones and tablets. Website speed is also becoming important as Google prioritizes better performing websites in their search engine results pages (SERPs).
Become familiar with how to design and optimize your website for mobile use. This typically requires a responsive design — meaning your website will “respond” and change its design and layout as users access it on their desktop versus their smartphone.
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USE MARKETING TRENDS TO GROW BETTER
YOU’RE UP TO SPEED … FOR NOW. IF YOUR CURRENT CAMPAIGNS AND ADVERTISING DON’T ALIGN WITH THESE TRENDS, DON’T FRET. SLOWLY APPLY THESE CHANGES TO YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS AND ENSURE ALL OF YOUR ACTIVITIES ARE COMPLIANT AND LEGAL.
As long as you’re keeping a thumb on the pulse of current marketing trends — and always remain open to change — your business won’t fall behind.
Original Article by Allie Decker updated March 2020