7 New SEO Trends to Rule Your Rankings in 2019:

A new year is a perfect time to implement new SEO strategies. What are the 7 SEO trends in 2019 that no one is talking about? This new article is here with the inside scoop to put you ahead of the SEO curve in 2019.

1. Mobile-first Indexing

Google debuted its mobile-first index in 2018, which classifies and indexes websites based on their mobile version. The desktop site is no longer what Google considers to be the primary version of your website, which comes with significant consequences.

Since not having a mobile-friendly site can now negatively impact your rankings, you’ll need to optimize it to stay relevant in the rankings in 2019.

Check out Google’s mobile-friendly test to see how your website ranks.

2. User Intent Optimization

SEO isn’t just about stuffing an article with keywords. It’s about using specific keywords that help the searcher find what they need, which brings us to user intent optimization. You want to put the searcher in Cambridge ON seo specialist  & contact with the product or service that most closely matches their search—your product ideally.

When mapping out your 2019 content calendar
, keep your user journey at the forefront. Put yourself in their shoes. What are they looking for? How are you going to help them get the most out of their time on your page? What will make them spend more time there?

Once you have the answer to those questions, tailor your content to meet these needs.

3. User Experience

Seamless user experience is vital if you want to stay in Google’s good graces in 2019. Seamless user experience means lightning-fast load times, easy-to-navigate design, and zero technical issues.

And we’re not just talking about desktops. Desktop loading time has been a ranking factor for a while now, but as we mentioned, Google is now prioritizing mobile experience. Part of that prioritization is mobile user experience and speed. You can use a tool like pingdom.com to test your site speed and get recommendations on how to optimize your website for speed!

4. Image Search

Humans are visual creatures that love easy-to-digest infographics and images. Optimizing your visual content to meet ever-increasing user demand for images can drive website traffic.

Mobile-friendly images will help you achieve that goal since most image searches are completed on mobile devices. You’ll want to provide the proper context for these images and place them near relevant text to help be picked up by Google.

Search Engine Journal has excellent tips to help you with image search optimization. Also here is another from Google Developers on Alt text for images.

5. Voice Search

It’s said that by 2020, around half of all searches will be voice searches, which means that in 2019, you should aim to improve your voice search SEO.

On a practical level, this means understanding how people use voice searches. Since people simply talk into their devices, voice keywords are somewhat different than traditional ones.

They are often “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” and “why” questions that tend to be longer than their keyboard counterparts.

Voice search is critical for business owners. Vocal queries are often local, with users seeking out specific Seo services near them, meaning business owners should prioritize voice & local SEO.

6. User Data Protection

Remember earlier this year when your inbox was flooded with GDPR compliance emails? (We’re still trying to forget that, too.)

The General Data Protection Regulation allows users control over how websites use and store their data. While this is great for data protection, it has SEO ramifications—most of which we’re still figuring out.

If you have European customers (or plan to), you’ll have to update your privacy policy and cookie consent form, and ensure private data is not being sent to Google Analytics.

Other things like your tracked goals may have to be modified, and for opt-ins like newsletters, you’ll need to ask customers for consent explicitly.

7. Quality Content

Everyone knows that quality content is an SEO must, and this will remain the same in 2019. You want to show Google that you are an expert in your field by continually producing fresh, relevant, authoritative content.

Even though many websites are still reeling from the Google Medic Update, quality content remains the name of the game. There is still a preference for long form, thought-provoking content.

We also recommend revisiting existing content to make sure it’s up-to-date and relevant. Google rewards sites that revamp their content, so it’s worth going back and taking a look at what you already have.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are many ways to drive sales in 2019 and create a better ROI. We also advise taking a look at our marketing director guide for Content marketing , which has some fantastic ideas that will help you see how SEO is part of a larger marketing picture.

And lastly, if you left some SEO goals on the table in 2018, we hope these tips will help you get off to a great start in 2019.

Tim Brown

Owner at Hook Agency

A strategic marketing agency focused primarily on driving traffic and leads for small businesses and construction companies