Search engine optimization (SEO) is ever-evolving, and 2017 will be no different. Here’s what experts are saying to expect for SEO next year:
Everything SEO Will Go Mobile
If you aren’t yet optimized for mobile, you’re losing customers. Earlier this year, Google started penalizing websites that weren’t responsive on mobile, and don’t expect that trend to go away anytime soon. As Jayson DeMers, in his article 7 New Year’s Resolutions For SEO In 2017, puts it: “think mobile first, and have everything else … second.”
You’ll Have to Embrace AMP
The Accelerated Mobile Pages project from Google launched in 2015, but 2017 is where it will start making an impact. What is AMP? In her article What’s coming for SEO in 2017?, Katherine Stepanova writes that AMP is a “new ‘standard’ for building web content for mobile devices. Basically, this new standard is a set of rules that form a simple, lighter version of HTML. And pages built in compliance with AMP are sure to load super-quick on all mobile devices.”
For publishers, the results of AMP pages versus non-AMP pages has been amazing. As Search Engine Watch reports, a DoubleClick study found that:
- 80%+ of the publishers realized higher viewability rates
- 90%+ of the publishers drove greater engagement with higher CTRs
- The majority of the publishers saw higher eCPMs (Impact and proportion of lift varies by region and how optimized the non-AMP sites are)
Don’t Just Focus on Keywords. Focus on Answering Questions
Keywords are important, but as Search Engine Land’s Pratik Dholakiya describes it in his article, SEO trends to prepare for in 2017, “typing in simple words yields simple results.” Nowadays, you can ask full questions in Google search, so if you can provide more detailed answers that people are looking for, you’ll win this game.
So how do you capture this market? “Structured data markup (often referred to as ‘schema markup’) can help website owners achieve these enhanced listings on search engine results pages (SERPs),” Dholakiya writes. “This markup works to assist search engines in understanding website content, allowing them to display that information in a way that is helpful for users.”
Your Content Needs to be Dense
In the early days of SEO, everyone was writing short 250-word articles that targeted specific keywords. That led to the problem where everyone was basically writing the same exact thing, which didn’t help any of us.
Then long-form content started becoming the focus for SEO, and that 250-word article became 2,500 words. Unfortunately, that led to a new problem: While informative, not everyone has the time to read 2,500 words.
That’s why this year, the new trend is going to be “dense content.”
What’s that? As Sam Oh, in his article 3 Unstoppable SEO Trends To Look Out For In 2017, says, “even though you might write a 3,000 word article that explains all the nuances of Snapchat marketing, the actual amount of value you deliver per-word might be very low. However, by providing denser content that is focused more on function than form, you can deliver the same value in only 300 words.”
Basically: Think short articles again, with all the information found from that long article jam-packed inside. Hence the term, “dense” content.
And the Biggest Trend Might Be … User Experience
Mobile optimization, AMP and dense content all lead to one thing: A great user experience. And that’s going to be the biggest impact on SEO, with Google and other search engines prioritizing websites that give users a fast, reliable experience. That means you need to focus on getting your bounce rate low and having users spend more time on your website, Oh writes.
So get ready! The new year promises to be one all about the user experience.
What other SEO trends do you see coming in 2017?