SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an overall term that is used for methods to ensure your website and content will be found organically through search engine results. A high percentage of web traffic comes from search engines (like Google and Bing), therefore it is important that your business can be found.
SEO is constantly evolving over-time based on how Google is tweaking their algorithms. So much emphasis is put on Google’s algorithms when it comes to strategizing SEO, but it is also important to understand that the way that people are using search engines is also changing. Here a few examples of how people’s way of searching is evolving, and how your brand can optimize for these changes.
Voice Search
Voice search is getting more accurate, and therefore adoption of voice as a search method is increasing. 20% of searches on Google’s mobile app are voice search. Home devices like Alexa and Google Home are making voice search an everyday thing for the everyday person. So how do you optimize for Natural Language?
- Think about the intent of search and brainstorm your business, product or services. What will people say? Focus on long tail key words – people will most likely say phrases when searching vs. one or two words.
- Add a Q&A page to your website. It is likely that people will be asking questions if they are searching verbally, so make sure your website has the answers. Make sure your business information is accurate, and your business is claimed and optimized on Google.
- Be sure your site is mobile friendly since voice search is mobile.
Image Search
It is common now for people to search images when looking for information – perhaps a picture of a product or an info-graphic explaining a process.
- Create descriptive, keyword-rich file names to ensure your photos can be found in search. In addition to crawling text on your site, search engines also search for keywords within image file names.
- Optimize Alt Tags- An alt tag is a text alternative when a browser can’t properly render the image. Adding the appropriate alt tag will help your images be found when a keyword associated with that image is searched.
- Reduce file size of your images. Since page load is a factor in search engine ranking, it is important to reduce the file size of your images.
- Image Site Map- Site web crawlers can only find images that are called out in the site’s source code, therefore images locations must be listed in an image site map.
Asking Questions
As people are now expecting to find exact detailed information, it is becoming common for those to search long phrases or ask a search engine questions. What does this mean?
- Focus on researching long tail keywords that are commonly related to your niche.
- Create content on your site that directly answers questions.
- Make sure your article is truly helpful and provides info that goes above and beyond what is asked. Make sure it is relevant, appropriate, detailed, and concise.
- Ensure your domain authority is strong. Individual pages must be authoritative.
- Make your content easy to find. Ensure it is easily accessible through site navigation and available to Google bots to be found.
Conclusion
Due to changes in technology, content being more readily available, and other factors, the way people are searching is always evolving. When studying Google’s search algorithms and how they are analyzing your content, it is important to keep user habits and the way users are searching top of mind.
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