There are about 4 billion webpages indexed on Google. It’s a brutal competition for webmasters and SEO experts and, that’s just saying the least. It is high time we start to think of SEO differently.

Every year, Google constantly updates its algorithm. Unfortunately, the continuous updates aren’t something that makes the headlines and has made it difficult to keep up for businesses and SEO experts alike.

In this dynamic world of search engines, how exactly do webmasters and SEO experts stay in the loop? How do we adjust, formulate, and execute strategies in the coming years?

In this article, we have explained a few SEO trends that can change the entire SEO practices as we know it.

Welcome to the world of Artificial intelligence (AI):

Over the years, artificial intelligence has been changing the face of many industries like finance, health, retail, marketing, advertising, and many more. Artificial intelligence has also become a trailblazing force in the change of SEO.

Sometime in 2015, Google introduced Rankbrain – the machine-based algorithm that doubled the relevance of search results for Google users. Despite its 5 year stay, we are still coming to terms with the fact that SEO would be dominated by artificial intelligence.

Recently, Google took yet another giant stride in improving its algorithm: it introduced the Bidirectional transformers of language understanding (BERT). For those who are yet to grasp what BERT is, it is simply Google’s neural network-based technique to enable a better understanding of how people search? Google itself, defines BERT as “the biggest leap forward in the past five years and, the biggest leap forward in the history of search.”

The Voice Era:

Formally released in 2012, voice search has slower crept into our lives and should not be ignored while formulating SEO plans. Although the adoption is slow compared to expectations, 2019 holds a record of 20 percent of searches made through voice. Also, in 2017, 33 million voice queries were made.

Google, where is the nearest coffee shop?

This simple search query shows that searchers are more specific than ever, and the use of long-tail keywords are relevant. What this means for SEO is that content should be tailored to fit search queries and be more relatable to keywords.

Queryless is less but relevant:

 Now it is accounting for over 60 million users globally: Google Discover. Released in 2017, Google Discover has reshaped search. Google Discover runs on an artificial intelligence tool that recommends content to users based on their interests. It is engineered to identify relevant content from an array of websites. But, this is only done when a user has constantly made queries about something. To boost your content or website within Discover requires the use of high-quality images, and posting interesting content. You should ensure your website is technically sound and the content is arranged semantically.

Visuals are King:

Research has shown that videos are 40 times more likely to show up on the first page of SERP. Not only are your ranks increased, creating videos as part of your content marketing mix, gives your readers something to look forward to.

Use Pictures:

In 2018 when Google lens was rolled out, change was brought to the searching experience for users. 25% of search queries are made on products. This means SEO strategies should be channelled towards proper image optimization and marking.

Bullets or snippets:

Like we have earlier stated, Google is constantly evolving to deliver better search experience for users. And, featured snippets (or bullets) are one of the ways they are doing that. Snippets normally appear at the top– above the organic results and, generating more clicks like hot cake.  

Sites that normally get to the rank are those that provide quality, specific and clear answers to search queries. Now, it would be a horrible idea not to take advantage of this: 50% of clicks on Google are generated from snippets.

Play the Mobile Game:

87 percent of internet users are generated from smartphones. As more purchases are made for these mobile devices, that percentage is going nowhere, but up. In the coming years, websites that have fully optimized the pages for mobile use are going to rank higher in search results. If your website engages in any financial transactions with users, there is no better time to optimize than now. Statistics show that over 30% of online transactions occur and close on mobile devices. However, it is not enough to create a mobile version of your site. Consider your content as well.

Leeches are Snitches:

Google is constantly searching for relevant data for its improvement. One of which is Dwell time. Dwell time simply means the amount of time an avenge user spends on a page before leaving.

 Here’s how it works: if a webpage can hold your readers for a long time, then that means it has a high Dwell time.

Dwell time is a clear indication of user satisfaction and, the longer the time spent, the better your ranks in the coming days. Although it is argued if Google would ever use this metric in rankings. But, this is certainly a safe way to play the SEO game because the more relevant your contents are the more shares you get.

Use other Search engines:

The stakes are high when it comes down to Google rankings but, the likelihood of a replacement is out of sight. With that in mind, a better game plan for strategists is to use other Search engines. You can optimize content to match specifications of other engines like; Amazon, YouTube, and Bing.

Although the majority of internet users prefer Google, leveraging these search engines are great as Google often pulls search results from them.

That website is just horrible!

Such comments often arise as a result of poor digital experience. On average, 50% of internet users lose interest after fifteen seconds of landing on your site. Forget how great your content is. Ensure your site doesn’t have a lot of information muddled up. Create logical and easy to follow navigation systems.

Hey, you should also check your content for readability: avoid jargon as much as possible. An exception could be made if your readers can comprehend it.

Speed is another factor that results in increased bounce rates. Ensure your site loads fast. You are there to solve problems but, as soon as your site begins to cause trouble, readers are going to leave. Marketing experts know it better to retain readers than to acquire new ones. Therefore, you need to improve the experience users get from your site, or risk the loss.