SEO in 2018 – a few things you should know….

SEO is synonymous for change and 2018 is no different – take a look at some of the emerging changes in the world of SEO for 2018…. 

Google RankBrain and its importance

RankBrain is a type of learning robot that aids Google to organise search results, quantifying how users interact with search results and consequently, ranks them.

An example of RankBrain in practice. Lets say you search for ‘How to make a pizza’ and the 2^nd result takes your fancy – RankBrain will register this preference and give that 2^nd result a increase in ranking…

Hypothetically, you search for the same query again only this time you select the 3^rd result without looking or processing it and the content turns out to be poor, so you flit back from the page after a matter of seconds. RankBrain will also notice this and if you are not alone in navigating away from this page, Google will remove it from the number 3 spot to a lower place. So RankBrain allows you to:

• Identify how long a users spends on your page (known as Dwell Time).
• Identify the % of users who click on your result (Click Through Rate).

With the risk in webmasters tricking Google with artificial increase in CTR and Dwell Time, it’s likely that Google will improve RankBrain in an effort to eliminate black hat SEO as much as possible and ensuring that what users want stays high in the search engine.

Ironically, the use of AI such as RankBrain actually makes content more human, as bloggers and writer will increasingly have no choice but to write organic content to avoid being penalised by Google.

Write rich, organic and long-form content: LSI keywords

Google responds well to in-depth content – but how do you write it?! Add LSI keywords to your content – LSI (latent semantic indexing) keywords are the types of words and phrases associated with your page’s subject matter – for example if you were writing a blog on nutrition, your LSI keywords would be ‘vitamins, minerals, diet, sport’ for example. When Google spots these keywords on your page, it will reward you for knowing your topic – but don’t forget to write the content with organic keywords!

The rise of video – go hard or go home

It’s no secret that video is changing the face of the internet and according to Cisco, online video will make up 80% of all traffic by 2021……! Need we say anymore?! If you’re not embracing video, you will get left behind – Facebook took over YouTube hits this year, so that could be a direction worth thinking about…..

If you would like to know more about the SEO and digital marketing service we offer, please do not hesitate to contact us.