A New Era Of Search Optimization Is Coming - It Might Already Be Here!

As a professional who works in the marketing and search engine optimization industry, I’ve learned not to panic when Google changes their algorithm, or when a new social media platforms appears out of nowhere and switches everything up. It’s part of the industry, and a part I have learned to love. However, all the chatter about Google’s RankBrain program that is now prioritizing understanding consumer intent, rather than keywords, really got me thinking. Personally, while my work revolves around Google, I don’t find I use it much outside of work. When I’m looking for something, I often find myself searching on Twitter or using one of the many apps on my iPhone.

It turns out I am not alone — there is a huge, quiet shift happening in the way consumers are searching for things. After doing some research of my own, I have found that there are 3 major trends that experts are watching. These trends appear to have the power and usage numbers to literally revolutionize the way the search engine optimization industry works. I find this both exciting and alarming at the same time. Change is hard, but we might be moving into a whole new world of search optimization. Notice I left out the “engine” part.

Social Search
Social media has become a huge part of our daily lives. Something I read recently stated that the average Facebook user logs-in to their account 14 times each day. And that’s just the average; I suspect many of us are on it far more frequently. And as we expand into newer, more exciting platforms like SnapChat, the time we spend engaged on our social media sites will just continue to increase. The giants of social media have long seen this opportunity and are finally coming out with better ways to host content directly on their platforms, rather than focusing on being a gateway to outside sources. Facebook already registers 1.5 billion searches each day, and as they optimize to facilitate search and continue to improve their own algorithms, we can only speculate that will continue to increase.

Mobile Search
It won’t come as a surprise to anyone reading this that mobile internet usage has now surpassed desktop usage. What’s really interesting though, is that according to Forrester, 85% of the time we spend using our mobile devices is spent in apps. 85%! When you think about the ramifications of this, it’s absolutely huge. If most of us are on mobile devices, and the vast majority of us are using apps almost all of the time, where do the search engines fit in?

Voice Assistance
Over the past few years, Apple brought us Siri, Google created Google Now, Microsoft dreamed up Cortana, and Amazon birthed Alexa. These personal assistants once seemed like robots, but have now become a daily part of our lives. No longer needing to waste precious time typing or reading, we can simply ask Siri for the morning news while we make our oatmeal. The really cool thing about voice assistants is that in order to deliver what we’re looking for, they must be capable of understanding natural language. They’re also much smarter than search engines, and will draw on your personal history and use that for context. Siri knows you want the local news, and you don’t have to say what town you live in every time you ask for it. They can also do a lot more than just regurgitate Google search results, like tell you what’s in your calendar today.

So hold onto your hats people, because things are definitely going to be changing.