It is the end of February already, and we at 411 Locals, are well prepared for the entire year. We have some predictions regarding SEO trends and Google changes. However, those predictions are based on news, columnists’ speculations, and personal experience. See what we got for you.
New Algorithm Updates?
Some of us remember when in 2010, Google was getting beaten up in the media because of the content farm situation. Lot’s of webmasters found a way to easily get on the first page with spammy pages and low quality content. Google announced the Panda update a year later, that was supposed to end up those pages, but did it?
As an online marketing agency, we followed the updates and restructured the way we do our jobs. Our SEO experts had a hard time for sure. The question is was it enough? Was it just fake news? Many experts have claimed such a thing about Google, and the media has been hammering Google for promoting fake news ever since.
Our advice? Don’t put too much thought into it. Don’t dramatically change the way you promote your products. Keep the news, keep reading our blogs, and get a general sense of what seems right.
Artificial Intelligence
Google’s machine learning AI system, RankBrain handles over 15% of search queries. As any new development, AI is not without issues. Google will most certainly continue to embrace AI and incorporate more of it into its algorithms. This means, we can expect search results to start behaving in less predictable ways.
Voice Search
Smart speaker sales grew 103% last year. People use voice searches more and more, and we, as SEO marketers, are updating our pages for it. One in five mobile searches queries comes from voice searches at the moment. You can check out our previous articles about voice search predictions. Brace yourself, the voice search era is here!
The 411 Locals team advises everyone to focus on long-term strategies. Only time will show if the new algorithm will actually work or not, and as for the AI and voice searches, this is for sure. We wish you luck, and stay with us for more updates!