SEO in 2018 - what's trending?

Yandex and Google are constantly introducing new algorithms. To meet them, you need to use trends in SEO promotion: in 2018, those who will be the first to apply new strategies will be ahead of competitors (this approach is called trendspotting).

Six main trends of the year

Here are the main SEO trends of 2018:

1. Mobile first is a new search algorithm designed to increase the impact of mobile search results on global SEO. With the same queries, your site in the mobile version will rank higher than in the desktop one. For example, for the query “ order a website ”, the position in the regular issue is 10, in mobile 3. Therefore, in order to stay in the top positions, your website must be well optimized for mobile search results.

   

2. Geo -dependence - the issuance will be even more tied to the specific location of users. Now this is especially well demonstrated by Google (the difference in the issuance can be noticed if you travel often). The trend will intensify: the issue will be divided not only by regions and cities, but even by individual districts within large cities. Retail outlets and offline businesses need to take this into account.

   

3. Decreased CTR issuance . Individual information blocks, the so-called “knowledge graph”, are increasingly being displayed on the first page of the search results upon request. It can be definitions, quotes, calculators. The user no longer needs to go to the site to find out the information, because it is displayed directly in the search engine. You can get into an additional issuance block if you optimize the site and ensure that the user's interest is fully satisfied.
4. Instead of individual sites in the SERPs, there are portals and marketplaces. For example, for the query "buy knitting threads" on the first lines of the issue are large portals Bigl.ua, OLX.ua, as well as PROM.ua. When choosing household and computer equipment, HotLine.ua often leads. Having a “representation” on the portal, you are almost guaranteed to get into the search results with your offer.

   

5. Video content – today, 1.5 times more videos are shown to the user in response to his search queries than last year. Like the rest, this trend will intensify, so you should pay attention to the SEO promotion of video content.

   

6. LSI texts are those that include semantic and thematic queries. For high-frequency searches, this strategy gives a good result. To create text content in the LSI format, you need to parse competitors' texts, analyze the result and create a new text with the same semantic queries included. The content should be useful and include clue words (the same words that users usually use to expand the main RF query: for example, not “buy a double mattress”, but “buy a double orthopedic mattress”). The content includes found phrases, taking into account their significance for the user. The priority is determined as follows: the more often the phrase is found among competitors from the TOP, the more important they are for issuance.

   

Do link factors affect rankings?

The influence of link factors is gradually fading away. Now each page should have commercial or informational value (depending on the site format). Otherwise, it will not rank highly even if there is a large volume of backlinks. In addition, it is important to select a link strategy taking into account the niche and region, otherwise building up the link mass will not bring the desired result.

Instead (or at the same time with links), you need to analyze the texts of competitors, compiling LSI content, as well as perform other SEO work on the site. Snippets analytics will be relevant. The introduction of special characters, emojis, other enticing elements and extended descriptions into them helps to attract more user attention, highlight your offer in the search results. Basic technical work remains relevant, speeding up loading and increasing user friendliness.