Authored by Aaron Rothbard & Seth Richtsmeier
Through the years we have seen innumerable changes that have affected search, and now that 2016 is here and 2017 is fast approaching, our attention is on the emerging and evolving SEO trends.
SEO guidelines and search engine systems change every year, so it’s imperative to stay on top of your game and make the essential changes to your site.
The recurring theme for 2016 is providing value to your visitors. Everything you do should trace back to the question: How does this help my visitors and offer them value?
Content Marketing
Why content marketing specifically? Some folks have turned away from the old-school ecosphere of marketing. Consumers have ad blockers and DVR (to skip commercials). They disregard magazine advertising. And now as masters of online surfing they can entirely snub banners and buttons.
A keen marketer appreciates that this outdated marketing is becoming less and less effective, and that there’s a better way.
But what is content marketing? Content marketing’s purpose is to entice and hold consumers by feeding them valuable content with the purpose of altering their behavior. It’s a process that never ends and revolves around owning someone’s media. Instead of selling to them you are communicating with them.
It’s interesting to note that depending on what you search for on Google, the top results are how-tos. There’s a reason that these posts get on the first page of Google – they provide value!
Before you jump the gun about what consumers want, you need to research what your consumers might need. A good way to do this is by looking at Reddit, Quora, and other forums. Can your consumers find answers to their questions on your site? Are you giving the consumer value?
Mobile Design
As mobile search becomes increasingly popular, it’s important to keep your site mobile-friendly.
There are a variety of tools on the internet, like Googles Mobile-Friendly Test, to check whether your site is mobile-friendly. You want to make sure you can provide a quality user experience on mobile devices as the percentage of traffic from mobile devices is growing.
Here are a few things to keep in mind while building a site for mobile:
- Employ a responsive design.
- Make it easy for consumers to navigate.
- Select the proper mobile template, theme, and design that will be consistent for all mobile users.
Making it easy for consumers is straight forward. Make sure that they can complete the task that they set out to do. Think about the needs of your consumer once they land on your site, and make sure it’s easy for them to complete their goals. Take advantage of site analytics by looking at user paths, conversion pages, exit pages, etc.
The template, theme, and design can be more complicated.
Set a mobile-friendly preferred width and make sure your user doesn’t need to zoom out or in on their visit. Set image widths to 100% so that they are automatically resized if they get too big for a mobile device. Do not disable submit buttons!
Mobile devices frequently have network disruptions, and if you disable multiple submissions a mobile user may be stuck on a page after typing in their information. Use word-wrap with long strings. Use standard fonts to avoid delays.
Accelerated Mobile Pages
What is AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)?
AMP aims to help speed up all types of mobile-based web content by re-configuring or completely removing elements of the page. Webpages built with AMP load on average four times faster than non-AMP mobile pages, effectively loading “instantly” for the user. Let us not forget that page speed is a ranking factor.
Furthermore, Google features an icon in its search results to indicate AMP. Pretty cool to get special treatment, huh?
Learn how to use plugins or manually update a web page at AMPProject.org.
Overdrive Interactive is an SEO company in Boston that drives measurable ROI. Our search engine optimization programs not only drive natural search traffic – they connect prospects to high quality user experiences that encourage desired behavior. Our SEO services and the resulting search engine presence connects visitors to content that satisfies their needs. As an award-winning Boston SEO agency, we are passionate about your success!
