seo trends

Google has been adjusting quite some aspects of its search algorithm and it is wise to keep a close eye on these adjustments. As a web shop owner it could just happen that, unexpectedly, one day you will generate less income just because of Google’s changes. We advise you to be especially up to date with these changes when content marketing, search positioning and SEO are the part of your daily routine.

In short, you will mainly have to pay attention to mobile search and voice search.

#1 Mobile is the future

There will be more mobile than desktop searches in 2016

According to eMarketer 2015 is the turning point when it comes to searches. The majority of the search results comes from mobile devices and this specifically involves organic traffic and paid clicks.

What does it mean for you as for an online entrepreneur?

Besides making your website mobile friendly and creating a responsive design for all devices, there is still more to be done.

Try out your website on a mobile device yourself and see how a client experiences your website. Determine in advance how your content should appear on mobile devices before you start creating a lay out for a website, product pages and landing pages.

Your goal is to give your mobile website visitors the same optimal experience as desktop website visitors. In other words, companies that are present in a digital world have to pay attention to their:

  • Mobile marketing strategy
  • Mobile design
  • Mobile search marketing and advertising
  • Mobile e-commerce and payment
  • Mobile CRM
  • Mobile coupons
  • Integration of social media on mobile devices

Claim your business in Google Search, Google Maps and Google+

A recently published research from Google shows that 72 percent of consumers who googled information about local stores ends up in a shop that is within a 8 kilometre radius.

The optimization of this information has an enormous impact on local businesses and especially on companies in the retail and catering industry.

This fact stresses also how important it is to have your business registered (including your location). Google + and Google Maps offer you the possibility to fully personalize your page. That means a complete description of your products, services, images, videos and reviews.

#2 Voice search

Do you talk to Siri (Apple), Google Now or Cortana (Windows)? If not, try it out! More and more people talk to their phones to have their searches performed.

People who have simple search requests will more often talk to their devices in order to search for information. This is better known as Voice Search. Voice Search help you find answers for simple questions like how, what, where and why. When you ask for example: ‘Where is the closest supermarket?’, your phone will show you results instantly. It will provide a list of supermarkets nearby and it will show you a Google Map so you know how to get there.

Voice Search changes the way we work, because the answer to your search result can be delivered faster. That is because having the phone reading the answer to you is faster than you reading the text yourself. This new technology has been developed as an answer to the ever increasing popularity of mobile search. Thanks to Voice Search, mobile searches are being streamlined and that saves you time.

What can you do to move forward with this change?

You should give a boost to your local SEO. Search results depend on many factors, including a full description of your product or service (price, location) and reviews. All these factors are important when it comes to ranking your website higher in the search results of mobile devices.

It is also important to make your apps search friendly. Recently, an increasing number of apps is being integrated into Google search results because Google began to index app content. Companies can make sure their app can be found easily in the results among web and applications and therefore make it more accessible for their users.