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Top SEO Trends That Dominated 2017

Constantly Evolving Search Engine Algorithms

Latest SEO Techniques

Search engine algorithms are constantly evolving. This makes it even more important for webmasters to stay on their toes. What may have qualified as effective SEO a few years ago may not apply today. In fact, if you continue with the old strategies, you risk facing a penalty or having your website removed from search altogether. That’s why we are always on the lookout for the latest SEO techniques while addressing the new challenges and taking advantage of the opportunities available so far.

Mobile Indexing

With the ever-increasing numbers of mobile searchers, Google is now making changes in its algorithm to favor sites that are mobile friendly. Since the search engine pays special importance to sites that have made an effort to give the best user experience, a site’s responsivenes will still be considered as one of the key ranking factors in 2017.

A few things to keep in mind when making changes to your site for mobile SEO include:

– Make sure all your resources are crawlable. Sometimes the mobile site may block certain types of content like images/videos or Javascript files.
– Avoid using flash on your website since it’s not supported by major mobile browsers. Using flash can block some of your content on mobile pages.
– Optimize your site load speed. No mobile user wants to wait for more than three seconds before your site loads. You can make simple adjustments such as compressing your images and CSS files to improve page speed.

Rise In Voice Search

Voice search is getting more prominence in 2017. First, you need to understand that people search differently using their voices than they do with the keyboards. There are tools that can help you to do proper keyword research for voice queries. Additionally, you need to focus on conversational content if you want your web pages to rank for voice search. Create web copies that clearly speak your customer’s language.

Local SEO Toronto

Location will still play a critical role in searches. You need to ensure that your site is properly set for local search. This is especially important if you run a local business. Target many reviews because they will impact your rankings. Encourage customers to leave reviews and never ignore any feedback given even if it’s negative. Sometimes customer can change their reviews because of a good response from the brand. Additionally, make sure your listings have information that is up to date. Review the descriptions and categories you’ve selected for your business listings. Make sure you also upload a few photos on the listings.

SEO Practitioners

The participation of freelance SEO practitioners in the survey has declined, meaning that more of the respondents work in the agency setting. Despite the increase in agency participation, it seems that the industry has grown considerably year-to-year. There is also encouraging news on the individual income level. The average individual income of an SEO practitioner in 2015 was $70,000, and the median individual income was between $50,000-$60,000. The majority of the surveyed SEO practitioners, however, earned less than $60,000. Due to lower barriers of entry into the industry, many entry-level/young professionals are getting into the profession with minimal qualifications. Therefore, the range of skill levels, experience, income, etc. in the industry is quite varied. Many of the people who seek to get into the industry are attracted by the promise of a high income, and it seems like that is a reasonable expectation. Luckily for these individuals, 72% of the agencies that responded to the BrightLocal survey said that they were planning to hire more people in 2016.

But What Do These SEO Professionals Actually Do?

As it turns out, most SEO professionals do not specialize in local search for a particular industry. Having the ability to serve a broader client base is the result of the local search industry becoming increasingly more competitive – not everyone can afford to be too picky when it comes to their clients. One in five SEO companies focus on 2-3 industry verticals, and only 16% of them focus on just one industry. The average local business search customer pays $1,389 per month. The median monthly payment per customer is $500-$1,000, so the majority of local SEO customers pay less than $1,000/month. Despite this fact, clients are paying more and more every year to receive help from local search experts thanks to the ever-changing nature of Google’s search algorithms. Perhaps due to the overall industry growth and the growth in revenue from clients, nearly 80% of the SEO practitioners surveyed feel that great things are ahead in 2016. 2015 brought many changes into the local search industry, including the downfall of Google+ Local, the advent of home service ads, and more. But industry practitioners recognize that changes in 2016 and beyond are inevitable. The good news is, the vast majority of them remain positive about the industry outlook and the opportunities for growth.

Optimize the Title Tags

Title tags are your first opportunity to tell your users (and search engine spiders) what you page is about. If you simply use the title “Home” for your home page, you are wasting that opportunity. Instead use the name of your business or words that describe what your business does or offers.

Optimize Your Description Tags

Have you ever done a search on Google and noticed that some of the descriptions under the links in the search results had certain words bolded. If you clicked on the link, you may have found it strange that you could not locate the exact sentences on the webpage itself. The reason that you could not find the exact same write up on the website, is because in the Google search, the snippet that you were looking at was actually pulled from the page’s description tag.

Write a decent description tag, and Google just may use it in your search results depending on what keywords the user is searching.

Use Various Media

Photos, videos, pdfs and infographics can all add richness to your web content and help to engage your user more. A site with interesting graphics and videos can not only be more informative, but it will also get users to stay at your site for longer which can help with your SEO.

A word of caution with this technique is that everything you do on your site still has to make sense and done within the principles of good design. If you over do it, your site could become cluttered and confusing.

Long Tail Keywords

Focusing on longer keywords can help to improve your SEO ranking quickly because there is not as much competition for longer phrases as there is for shorter ones. Another benefit is that conversion from long tail keyword searches is often higher because you are addressing a more specific issue that is of interest to the user.

Encourage Social Media

Social media can provide a quick way for others to link to your site. Being active on social media can introduce others to your business and it can also be a natural referral method as friends of your fans will see some of your messages as well.

Additionally, you can add tweet, like and share buttons to your site where appropriate.

Doing the little bit extra in SEO may just be the advantage you need. For future tips please continue to like and follow us!

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