8 Important Recent Trends In SEO

Trends in SEO change constantly with consumer behavior, design principles and technology, find out what recent trends to pay attention to.

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Search Engine Optimization is a constantly evolving field. Trends in SEO change alongside parallel developments in consumer behavior, web design principles, and search engine algorithm updates. In order to optimize a website well, you need to be able to keep your finger on the pulse and move with the times. Here are eight recent trends in the field that illustrate just how changeable industry practices can be. 

SMITH

Google is undoubtedly the most important search engine in the world. Billions of queries are made using the service every single day. Then, it is no surprise that every self respecting SEO company puts a huge amount of effort into courting the ever-evolving Google search engine algorithms. Stryde’s enterprise SEO service, for instance, evolves alongside the Google algorithms to provide eCommerce businesses with strong online visibility. 

A great deal of change in the SEO world is provoked when Google makes a major change to its search Algorithms. The latest major update is known as SMITH – short for Siamese Multi-depth Transformer-based Hierarchical. SMITH is an algorithm designed to unpick the intent and quality of complex content. The implementation of SMITH means that Google users are more likely to access high-quality content in the form of news and be more likely to find related articles that are actually related in content. 

SEO professionals have needed to adapt to SMITH by improving the contextual quality of written content on websites they are optimizing. The quality of written web content is going to be increasingly important as a ranking factor. 

Voice Search

No longer just the preserve of characters in science fiction or fighter jet pilots, voice search is becoming increasingly ubiquitous. The rise of the voice recognizing virtual assistants such as Alexa and Siri means that people can use their vocal cords to find information more easily than ever before. SEO trends are evolving alongside this development. Optimizing for voice search involves a new kind of keyword research: conversational. SEO professionals need to figure out how to target consumers who are using these devices in their everyday lives. This will almost certainly get easier once sufficient data has been collected from previous voice searches over several years. 

Increased Mobile Optimization 

Over half of all web browsing is conducted on mobile devices. This rather astonishing figure is set to increase as smart mobile devices become more user-friendly and 5G networks are made available globally. For this reason, Google has taken steps to prioritize good mobile optimization when it comes to ranking pages in search results. 

Good mobile optimization is absolutely essential in modern SEO. Websites need to be scalable, intuitive, data-friendly, and legible when viewed on small screens. Adaptability is key: mobile design paradigms are constantly changing, and website optimization needs to follow suit. 

Buyer Oriented Content 

Many web content writers and SEO professionals make the mistake of writing content that reads like sales copy. Buyer-oriented content is far more likely to bring in visitors for several reasons. Most notably, buyer-oriented content is genuinely interesting. It also has a far higher chance of being comprised of keywords that potential customers might actually search for. Good research is the key component of buyer-oriented copy. Make sure that you know what the desires and potential inquiries of your specific target audience actually are. Don’t try and throw a wide net: think quality, not quantity. 

Creating a well thought out content strategy that places your intended audience first is a great way to begin. Don’t just spew out copy. Instead, think about how the content and context of what you write will impact the people you want to attract. Actually talking to your customers (or the customers of the site you have been commissioned to optimize) will help you develop an authentically consumer-oriented style. 

Visual, Not Verbal Content

More showing and less telling has been the ethos of a number of successful SEO practitioners of late. In a world of fractious attention spans, visual media can be more successful at gaining long visit times than text. Search engines theoretically collect information about how long visitors have spent on a website and may use that information to influence rankings. Visual media can compel an audience to maintain their relationship with a website. Having said this, it is important to note that written content is still very important in SEO. 

CLS 

Cumulative Layout Shift – or CLS for short – is a ranking factor with search engines such as Google. CLS is a descriptive term: it refers to when website layouts unexpectedly change due to something interacting with the site. If, for instance, a visitor is scrolling down a site and wants to click on the link, but by hovering over that link they trigger a layout change, that would contribute towards Cumulative Layout Shift. CLS should be avoided at all costs when optimizing a website. Unexpected layout shifts detrimentally affect the User Experience and make for a poor quality page that is unlikely to draw in repeat visitors. 

CWV 

Starting in May, Google deliberately altered its search algorithms to benefit sites with good Core Web Values. Loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability are all considered to be Core Web Values. Essentially, these values are measurements of innate usability – which Google rightly considers to be a factor in the suitability of a website for visitors. 

It is highly likely that the three main Core Web Values will change over time as web users adapt and demand different standards from websites. SEO professionals need to keep the mutability of CWVs in mind when planning a campaign. 

Video Content 

As algorithms become more intelligent, video content is becoming more important. Video content on web pages should be optimized for SEO. It should include voice keywords and be bundled with metadata. It should also be fully accessible. Videos that include transcriptions and closed captions will be at an advantage when it comes to provoking a good search engine ranking. Embedding video content on backlinked pages also potentially increases search engine rankings too, making video content a powerful tool to boost SEO and engage with your audience.