SEO is one of the main ways of website promotion. Its aim is to bring free organic traffic from search engines. But it requires a competent approach, clear strategy and implementation. Now, it is not enough enough just to fill texts with keywords, since Google identifies quality content and can ban you for spam. We have talked to specialists of British and American leading companies about top SEO trends in 2018, interesting features, life-hacks, and cool recommendations.
Our questions:
- What is SEO for new websites in 2018?
- Local SEO is a new tendency. Do you agree? What is important for success in local search?
- In your opinion, what are SEO trends in 2018?
- AMP for e-commerce websites. What do you think about this?
- What kind of content should there be on websites, especially on e-commerce resources?
- Emphasize 5 most influential factors in SEO.
- What are the most complicated niches for SEO promotion?
- What is the most complicated CMS for SEO?
- Google algorithms. What should we expect from them?Lockedown Design
- What if SEO didn’t give any results? Where is the problem?
John Locke, Founder, Lockedown Design, Sacramento, USA
1. What is SEO for new websites in 2018?
With net neutrality up in the air in the US right now, building a brand is more important than ever. Being visible in every place your ideal customers are hanging out will not only help you build backlinks, but raise brand awareness. You also should invest in a depth of content for your site. I would prioritize quality over quantity when it comes to content. Building a dozen pages that are the definitive answer on a subject are more valuable than a hundred mediocre pages. Lastly, you need to have a plan for content promotion. Paying to boost content on social channels, pushing content to your mailing list, and having an active YouTube channel are all ways to build brand recognition, build authority, and drive traffic.
2. Local SEO is a new tendency. Do you agree? What is important for success in local search?
Local SEO is fairly mature at this point. To win at local SEO, you need a few things: consistent NAPW citations, localized content (not merely duplicated doorway pages), reviews on a variety of sites (Google, Yelp, plus industry specific review sites). Having back links from local sites will also help you a lot.
3. In your opinion, what are SEO trends in 2018?
Having best-in-class content is going to be more important than ever. Usability and design are also going to be critical factors. Customers can get information or buy products from anywhere. Earning links and top rankings is going to be as much about how people feel about coming to your site, and what they take away from it, as other factors have been in the past. Google is watching what people do when they come to your site, and you will be judged against your peers.
4. AMP for e-commerce websites. What do you think about this?
Up to now, AMP has been beneficial mostly for media, blogging, and news sites. Larger sites like eBay have been experimenting with AMP for e-commerce, and I think we will see more merchants adopting AMP for product pages as the project continues to mature.
5. What kind of content should there be on websites, especially on e-commerce resources?
Many e-commerce sites currently suffer from lack of informational content. Too often, the site is only product pages that are in sell mode. What I believe product pages should do is give as much information as possible, to where buyers can make an educated decision about what product to buy. I see a few e-commerce sites that have a daily blog that answer customer questions and concerns. This solves three problems: building a knowledge base, producing content that can be found in search, and fortifying a site with internal linking.
6. Emphasize 5 most influential factors in SEO.
- Branded searches
- Quality of content (how well does it answer searcher intent?)
- User on-page engagement
- Back link profile to the website as a whole
- Click through rate relative to other results at that position.
7. What are the most complicated niches for SEO promotion?
Travel and hospitality are going to continue to be tricky to rank organically for. Google is providing more and more rich snippets and instant answers for many categories, and these two categories are already dominated by big-name brands. I would also keep an eye on Google’s Local Service Ads (plumbers, locksmiths, electricians), which have already rolled out in many cities in the US. It’s very obvious that Google wants to monetize search results, and by making small businesses pay via AdWords and Local Service Ads, there are going to be many searches with ever-decreasing organic result space on Page One.
8. What is the most complicated CMS for SEO?
I don’t know if you can consider this a CMS, but Wix, followed closely by Weebly. I would not recommend either of these platforms for your money site.
9. Google algorithms. What should we expect from them?
Increasing fluctuation in rankings from time to time as they test different things and machine learning kicks in more and more. There are people still trying to game the systems using PBNs and other tactics. These still work sometimes, but I think they are going to work less and less. The best content + the most usable sites are going to win long term.
10. What if SEO didn’t give any results? Where is the problem?
If you have a site ranking high, but there are no increased sales or conversions, then I would make sure you are writing content for humans and not machines. On the other hand, if you are doing a ton of SEO work, and your rankings are not moving, I would start to look at whether the searchers are getting everything they are looking for on those pages. Google is starting to look at how users interact with your page, and they are getting smarter about whether customers are truly finding what they are looking for or not. This is what will make the biggest impact on your long-term rankings and conversions.
Aaron Crewe, Managing Director, Novi.Digital Ltd, Lancaster, United Kingdom
1. What is SEO for new websites in 2018?
SEO should be focused on improving the User Experience from start to end.
2. Local SEO is a new tendency. Do you agree? What is important for success in local search?
Local search isn’t new, people have for many years sought to find local services, such as local plumber or similar. It is simply that search engine users are realising that the online world can work very much like their offline world.
3. In your opinion, what are SEO trends in 2018?
The focus on UX (User Experience) will see growth in 2018. This isn’t new, it’s always been the focus of Google and other search engines from inception. It is simply that the market is becoming more aligned within the customer and with the search engines.
4. AMP for e-commerce websites. What do you think about this?
AMP is vital! It’s all about the customer. Pagespeed is a major part in the algorithm, but as with every other metric within the equation, it’s there because of a need for it from a user’s perspective.
5. What kind of content should there be on websites, especially on e-commerce resources?
Content that provides value that a customer couldn’t obtain anywhere else.
6. Emphasize 5 most influential factors in SEO.
- PageSpeed.
- Security.
- User Experience.
- Relevancy.
- Uniqueness.
7. What are the most complicated niches for SEO promotion?
There aren’t any. It’s all about gathering the correct data, researching and planning the SEO strategy.
8. What is the most complicated CMS for SEO?
Magento! Yet it can also provide the best results.
9. Google algorithms. What should we expect from them?
Put simply, expect them to evolve and become more complex, but don’t worry, your focus shouldn’t be on trying to ‘crack’ them. Align with the goals of a search engine and focus on providing the best quality, most relevant results for any given search query.
10. What if SEO didn’t give any results? Where is the problem?
The main problem is that many businesses believe that they can manipulate and influence the search results by simply wanting and aiming to do so. The increase in ranking positions is a by-product of focusing on fulfilling the needs of the user and ensuring that they have the best possible user journey. By improving click-through-rates and conversion rates you will see improved user experience and thus your SEO will improve as a result.
Chris Costa, Founder/Creative Director, Christopher August, Indianapolis, USA
1. What is SEO for new websites in 2018?
Should be nucleus of their marketing.
2. Local SEO is a new tendency. Do you agree? What is important for success in local search?
Provide valuable content and have strong reviews as well as a good social media presence. Buyers want to know who you are , what you’ve done, and are you popular? Be a resource, provide value in your content, and always take care of your customers. The local businesses that win in this space have patience.
- Step 1: Always have a good product and have great customer service. ALWAYS!
- Step 2: Make sure your website is responsive…
- Step 3: Provide good content.
- Step 4: Be patient!
3. In your opinion, what are SEO trends in 2018?
- Speed
- Mobile
- Voice
4. AMP for e-commerce websites. What do you think about this?
Think it’s great. Consumers want info fast and all businesses ecommerce or not need to adapt to that. If a user/consumer (potential buyer) gives you their time you need to be able to execute and capture them.
5. What kind of content should there be on websites, especially on e-commerce resources?
There is no silver bullet here either. Video, images, 3D images, virtual tours, etc are great but make sure your business/brand should have those resources if your users/visitors actually engage with them. If I’m buying a pair of sneakers I want to be able to see several angles of the shoe (good quality images of course), understand shipping policies, the price, sizing info, and that’s it. I don’t need to see videos, testimonials, etc.
6. Emphasize 5 most influential factors in SEO.
- Responsiveness
- Speed
- Valuable resource for users
- Content
- Relevance
7. What are the most complicated niches for SEO promotion?
Service and legal
8. What is the most complicated CMS for SEO?
Not a fan of this question…
9. Google algorithms. What should we expect from them?
Hyper mobile focused.
10. What if SEO didn’t give any results? Where is the problem?
I would dig a little deeper here and try and understand what kind of “results” are you looking to attain? Digging into expectations of business/industry or client b/f we even talk about results. There are so many “seo experts” that guarantee xyz b/f really understanding the needs of said business.
Conclusion
We are grateful to all who found time to participate in this marathon and answered our questions. There can be much said about SEO trends in 2018, but the main point is that SEO is necessary. And it is important to start working on website promotion now. Because TOP positions will be occupied by those who managed to combine all channels of internet marketing an use each of them on maximum. Good luck in 2018!
If you want to know more about tendencies of UI/UX design and eCommerce websites in 2018, we recommend to have a look at the following articles: