Hottest SEO Trends That Are Blowing Out Like a Volcano Now
- SEO |
Let me ask you an honest question. What made you click this link? Were you wowed by the volcano or even a little intrigued? Were you genuinely interested in the best current SEO practices to earn traffic? Maybe it was a little bit of both.
SEO serves the function of trying to demystify why people click what they do and search engines take it into account in ranking sites. It's really important to stay flexible with this SEO business, because things are always changing in an effort to become more accurate predictors of behaviors, or enticers to motivate behavior as the case may be.
I'm going to talk about changes in the theory and practice of SEO and you'll start to understand why I started off with those questions for you. This is a review of what's hot, and what's not, all within the theme of authenticity.
Think Clicks, Not Keywords
I went over this in my recent article about the death of content marketing, but it bears repeating in this context: keywords can be very off putting to readers. You can't just cram them repeatedly in your title and content because it is unnatural and weird and nobody wants to hang out with the weird kid. This kind of thing can trigger a reader's skepticism, which is the opposite of what you want once you actually get them to your site.
I know it has been the holy grail to put all the top keywords and phrases you can into your title, but remember that Google uses click signals in their ranking as well. Regurgitated keywords that keep people from clicking could hurt you as much as help you. Your titles are messages, a mini report about the content likely to come in the whole piece, and when written that way, they are more likely to draw a click.
Here's an example, an article by writer, Sarah Kallies titled Excuse Me While I Lather My Child In This Toxic Death Cream. This article is about the human impact of finding out there is debate over the toxicity of sunscreen, and sunscreen isn't even in the title. It's incredibly clickable, though!
Don't you want to know more when you read that? Doesn't it express that the article is likely to include some humor and that, just maybe, the author knows how to write? I'm in no way affiliated with Sarah, and the veracity of the sunscreen topic is not being debated here. I'm simply talking about that headline, which is a great illustration of clicks over keywords. Her article is going viral as I type.
Genuine Authentic Links
Let's talk about both external and internal links and how you do and do not want to use them to make Google very happy in its current state. That's what we all want, after all, we want Google to love us. It used to be the case that all links were pretty much good links. Link out to any site you can. Link back to content everywhere on your site anytime you've ever mentioned the word before. Send users on a pointless cycle around your site until they just close the window.
Google is growing up, and it's getting more sophisticated in its ability to spot creepers. Start thinking of Google like a human (this is terrifying, I know) who has a bit of skepticism and is allergic to bad intentions. Conversely, you could just start seeing your audience as humans instead of a pool that bestows clicks upon content that is spoon fed to them. That will help you speak more naturally to them and provide them with information they actually need, such as a link to another article on your site or someone else's that offers insight on the topic you're discussing.
A good link can increase your site's relevance, which is good for ranking and traffic. A bad one could hurt you under the current Google behind the scenes voodoo. The all seeing Google eye will notice if there are random links on your site that only marginally relate to it or if there is something disingenuous about your relationship with the link's source.
The best current linking strategy is to be honest and helpful to your readers as well as advance your perceived ranking potential. This applies to both internal and external links. Use both to direct your readers to helpful information they genuinely may be interested in, not to trick them or to obviously manipulate ranking.
Bloggers should cease linking to products they have behind the scenes connections to without disclosing that connection. Google is watching for that as well. Use common sense and ask if what you are doing is objectively helpful to something or someone other than your ranking.
Stop Microtargeting on Separate Pages and Domains
You all thought you were real wizzes by devoting separate pages or even domains to microtarget keywords in an effort to dominate ranking, but Google is on to you! Things have changed, thanks in part to Hummingbird and RankBrain updates, and this strategy is no longer beneficial. You'll gain authority faster by focusing on one domain name with quality content. If you can fit all of the keywords of your dreams intelligently into the content on your page, go for it. It is time better spent attempting to accomplish that than dividing your efforts over multiple pages and domains.
Put Video At The Forefront
I know the readers are all good little SEO experts who know they should be including video or photos in their content, but push those visual elements to the foreground. Video is where it's at, evidenced by the overwhelming popularity of Vine, Snapchat, and Periscope, and can stand nearly on its own.
To provide maximum value to your readers, you can add some text to describe the video, but make the video the star. Google itself is rolling out testing of video ads in search results. A mix of text and video will be helpful to visitors who can't resist clicking at work, but most will prefer the ability to watch, hear and experience content rather than simply read it.
Get Conversational
Ever had a friend who was, say, an engineer who only talks about work or a buddy completely obsessed with obscure piano compositions from the 1860s? Not very fun to talk to, were they? This isn't only because the topic of choice may hold no interest to you, it's because it didn't feel like conversation.
Keywords are going to change in subtle ways thanks to the number of people using voice assist and digital assistants like Siri. Speaking a search term is different than typing one, and phrases are going to become much more important as this trend continues. Think more about long-tail queries that sound like dialog and skip canned sounding search terms. The bonus is that this trend reaches across to all areas of content today. Talk to your audience like you would someone sitting in front of you and you are on the right track.
Evergreen Content Is More Important Than Ever
As aggregated news and information becomes more prevalent online, and that is a real trend evidenced in part by Twitter's 'Moments' feature, properly sourced news will rank higher than that which isn't. This is going to cut many current content marketers out of the ranking game, making more room for sites that publish evergreen, opinion or tutorial based content. This really coincides with the thought leader concept and may help to clean up internet land by favoring those with actual first hand opinions on topics.
Social Media and Ranking
Sites like Facebook and Twitter have become portals to the rest of the web for many users. We wake up and sign on, scrolling through the news already in our feed. This has largely replaced visiting a local or national news site for many humans in the digital world today. Google is taking that into account as well, and making moves to index social media posts. This has been happening for Google Plus for some time now, so this shouldn't be a jarring change. Employ similar tactics on the other SM platforms as you have at Google Plus. Soon, a social media post will be the same as a blog in terms of potential ranking value, and it's best to practice now so you aren't left behind the curve later.
Go Forth And Prosper
The real moral of the story is don't be a manipulative jerk and stop being lazy. You're better than that and you're about to have your chance to shine in the new light of the hottest SEO trends. Steer clear of all the lava spewing out of the volcano, though. That's not valuable to anybody.
SEO serves the function of trying to demystify why people click what they do and search engines take it into account in ranking sites. It's really important to stay flexible with this SEO business, because things are always changing in an effort to become more accurate predictors of behaviors, or enticers to motivate behavior as the case may be.
I'm going to talk about changes in the theory and practice of SEO and you'll start to understand why I started off with those questions for you. This is a review of what's hot, and what's not, all within the theme of authenticity.
Think Clicks, Not Keywords
I went over this in my recent article about the death of content marketing, but it bears repeating in this context: keywords can be very off putting to readers. You can't just cram them repeatedly in your title and content because it is unnatural and weird and nobody wants to hang out with the weird kid. This kind of thing can trigger a reader's skepticism, which is the opposite of what you want once you actually get them to your site.
I know it has been the holy grail to put all the top keywords and phrases you can into your title, but remember that Google uses click signals in their ranking as well. Regurgitated keywords that keep people from clicking could hurt you as much as help you. Your titles are messages, a mini report about the content likely to come in the whole piece, and when written that way, they are more likely to draw a click.
Here's an example, an article by writer, Sarah Kallies titled Excuse Me While I Lather My Child In This Toxic Death Cream. This article is about the human impact of finding out there is debate over the toxicity of sunscreen, and sunscreen isn't even in the title. It's incredibly clickable, though!
Don't you want to know more when you read that? Doesn't it express that the article is likely to include some humor and that, just maybe, the author knows how to write? I'm in no way affiliated with Sarah, and the veracity of the sunscreen topic is not being debated here. I'm simply talking about that headline, which is a great illustration of clicks over keywords. Her article is going viral as I type.
Genuine Authentic Links
Let's talk about both external and internal links and how you do and do not want to use them to make Google very happy in its current state. That's what we all want, after all, we want Google to love us. It used to be the case that all links were pretty much good links. Link out to any site you can. Link back to content everywhere on your site anytime you've ever mentioned the word before. Send users on a pointless cycle around your site until they just close the window.
Google is growing up, and it's getting more sophisticated in its ability to spot creepers. Start thinking of Google like a human (this is terrifying, I know) who has a bit of skepticism and is allergic to bad intentions. Conversely, you could just start seeing your audience as humans instead of a pool that bestows clicks upon content that is spoon fed to them. That will help you speak more naturally to them and provide them with information they actually need, such as a link to another article on your site or someone else's that offers insight on the topic you're discussing.
A good link can increase your site's relevance, which is good for ranking and traffic. A bad one could hurt you under the current Google behind the scenes voodoo. The all seeing Google eye will notice if there are random links on your site that only marginally relate to it or if there is something disingenuous about your relationship with the link's source.
The best current linking strategy is to be honest and helpful to your readers as well as advance your perceived ranking potential. This applies to both internal and external links. Use both to direct your readers to helpful information they genuinely may be interested in, not to trick them or to obviously manipulate ranking.
Bloggers should cease linking to products they have behind the scenes connections to without disclosing that connection. Google is watching for that as well. Use common sense and ask if what you are doing is objectively helpful to something or someone other than your ranking.
Stop Microtargeting on Separate Pages and Domains
You all thought you were real wizzes by devoting separate pages or even domains to microtarget keywords in an effort to dominate ranking, but Google is on to you! Things have changed, thanks in part to Hummingbird and RankBrain updates, and this strategy is no longer beneficial. You'll gain authority faster by focusing on one domain name with quality content. If you can fit all of the keywords of your dreams intelligently into the content on your page, go for it. It is time better spent attempting to accomplish that than dividing your efforts over multiple pages and domains.
Put Video At The Forefront
I know the readers are all good little SEO experts who know they should be including video or photos in their content, but push those visual elements to the foreground. Video is where it's at, evidenced by the overwhelming popularity of Vine, Snapchat, and Periscope, and can stand nearly on its own.
To provide maximum value to your readers, you can add some text to describe the video, but make the video the star. Google itself is rolling out testing of video ads in search results. A mix of text and video will be helpful to visitors who can't resist clicking at work, but most will prefer the ability to watch, hear and experience content rather than simply read it.
Get Conversational
Ever had a friend who was, say, an engineer who only talks about work or a buddy completely obsessed with obscure piano compositions from the 1860s? Not very fun to talk to, were they? This isn't only because the topic of choice may hold no interest to you, it's because it didn't feel like conversation.
Keywords are going to change in subtle ways thanks to the number of people using voice assist and digital assistants like Siri. Speaking a search term is different than typing one, and phrases are going to become much more important as this trend continues. Think more about long-tail queries that sound like dialog and skip canned sounding search terms. The bonus is that this trend reaches across to all areas of content today. Talk to your audience like you would someone sitting in front of you and you are on the right track.
Evergreen Content Is More Important Than Ever
As aggregated news and information becomes more prevalent online, and that is a real trend evidenced in part by Twitter's 'Moments' feature, properly sourced news will rank higher than that which isn't. This is going to cut many current content marketers out of the ranking game, making more room for sites that publish evergreen, opinion or tutorial based content. This really coincides with the thought leader concept and may help to clean up internet land by favoring those with actual first hand opinions on topics.
Social Media and Ranking
Sites like Facebook and Twitter have become portals to the rest of the web for many users. We wake up and sign on, scrolling through the news already in our feed. This has largely replaced visiting a local or national news site for many humans in the digital world today. Google is taking that into account as well, and making moves to index social media posts. This has been happening for Google Plus for some time now, so this shouldn't be a jarring change. Employ similar tactics on the other SM platforms as you have at Google Plus. Soon, a social media post will be the same as a blog in terms of potential ranking value, and it's best to practice now so you aren't left behind the curve later.
Go Forth And Prosper
The real moral of the story is don't be a manipulative jerk and stop being lazy. You're better than that and you're about to have your chance to shine in the new light of the hottest SEO trends. Steer clear of all the lava spewing out of the volcano, though. That's not valuable to anybody.