Consumer change has always been a key force and resulted in major transformations across industries. The digital world has also evolved and come a long way in the last 10-12 years. If we go back in the initial days of digital industry content had a different meaning for the consumer, it was more leisure rather than a necessity. People used the web to browse through content based on whatever was there and there was hardly any specific demand, gradually as the industry progressed and data became the new currency in world business. Along with the quality of the content, it became imperative to have a robust mechanism to make sure the search algorithm works as perfectly as possible to give accurate information to the users. People started using social media not just to connect with their friends and acquaintances, but to build their businesses, market themselves, also an era of fake news begun, since anyone can write and post their opinion and eventually it gets shared to millions across the globe, opinions started sounding like news. All this meant the Search mechanism become more and more enhanced in order to make sure only that is relevant gets ranked at the top. In order to stay relevant SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques have to make sure it’s following the trend and keeping up to it. You can contact an SEO company to know more about it.
Let’s look at the key changes in search engine strategies with a change in digital experiences.
Mobile Interface and Experience –
In the past decade use of mobiles has increased at a supersonic pace. All-time web searches are now happening on mobile devices which means they want accurate and specific results on the go. If you look at the Google SERPs, they are completely different when you make a search you find everything related to it on the same page. Earlier the focus of SEO was on the web and then mobile, which shifted to making it Mobile Friendly and now we have entered the age of Mobile First. While creating web pages through testing is done and focus is on having a design which fits well with mobile format without impacting consumer search experience. With page speed becoming a ranking factor couple of years ago, snippets have become crisp and smaller. Developers are going beyond and making sure to create pages that are only for Mobile. So, the focus is on how to let a user search and consume the digital content only on mobile without impacting the overall experience. Developers will need to think out of the box and ensure they keep up with user content needs.
Get Everything on the SERP –
We have progressed beyond browsing pages endlessly to a Zero or at max Single Click Environment (only if you consider clicking Search Button on a browser as a Click, in the age of voice search it clicks less search). SEOs have quickly adapted to this environment where Google is providing almost everything related to a search on the SERP. The intent is to not let the user go beyond the first page and get what they are looking for. Careful use of Snippets to make sure they are capturing the space well is now a basic need for SEOs. The use of structured data now becomes a key deciding aspect of SEO design.
Emphasis on Voice Search –
Voice Search is now the most important factor which affects SEOs and there is no stopping it. Industry experts would tell you that this is going to be the deciding factor in the next 8-10 years till the trends take a completely new shift. Google Voice Search is almost 9 years old. It started in 2012. However, it gained momentum in the last couple of years. With retail players like Amazon making an entry in the consumer search experience. People have become familiar and super comfortable with voice search be it Google, Alexa, YouTube, or any other web platform. People are no longer hesitant to use the voice search. You must have noticed how impatient you don’t find an accurate movie search on your Fire Stick. Not very long ago it was not able to do a search across different sources like YouTube, Netflix, and so on.
AI-driven Strategy (Google Bert) –
Google Bert Update in late 2019 is based on Machine learning (NLP) and more inclined towards making the relationship between a search query and the results near perfect.
It is one of the major updates and shifts the focus towards making the search more human by using AE. This would mean a shift in the way content is developed content creators will have to ensure the content quality is top-notch focuses on not just keyword but also keeps in mind the location. Technical SEO remains to be the backbone of SEOs however now it will need to understand the overall user experience and complete journey starting from search, discovery, to a long association.
As the Search now enters the ERA or NLPs, Audio, and Video mode from the text. Mobile-only UI and design; Going forward SEOs will not only be focused on optimizing the search engine but, also optimize the user experience.