In 2018 we started to see old factors really cement themselves into the search engine rankings. While search engine providers such as Google continuously update their algorithms, we started to see less spam and specifically targeted queries dominate.
Branding was also changed, in the last few years we have seen how local websites dominate highly competitive keywords. In this blog post, we take a look at the factors we think you should keep an eye on in 2019.
Image Search
Last year we saw a change in the image search where products could display additional information such as the price of goods. A lot of websites have taken advantage of this and are looking to optimise their whole image database. Optimisations include the following;
- Compress images: by compressing images, you will be able to reduce the size of the file. This helps to load images quicker, improving the overall page speed.
- Alt tag optimisation: image alt tags are a small piece of code that let search engines know what the image is about. Currently, search engine cannot fully understand what an image is or what it stand for. So this small piece of code (example below) really helps with getting your images on to the image index.
Local Search
In the last few years, we have seen local websites start to dominate competitive keyword searches. Now, over 50% of the search results will feature local websites. This is fantastic news for smaller websites who would not compete with large brands. For the larger brands, it means that to be able to rank for these keywords has become a lot harder.
While we don’t think that local search will ever take up 100% of the search rankings. We recommend that in 2019, big brands should be looking to increase their brand presence, while smaller websites should be performing tactical link building to ensure they stay up in the search engine rankings.
Page Speed
Page speed has increasingly become an important SEO ranking factor and with the latest release of Googles page speed tool which features Lighthouse technology, we suspect that we have only just begun on this journey.
Page speed is important for websites because to caters for mobile devices that may be on a slow connection. AMP can be used for publishing websites, but this is not for everyone. We recommend working hard on caching and to also use a content delivery network if possible. This will help your website rank higher on the mobile index (separate from the main Google index).
Structured Data
Structured data helps search engines promote and showcase specific pieces of information your website showcases. In some cases, you may feature in a rich snippet that is showcased at the top of a specific search query. This is a milestone for many websites because the amount of impressions your website will receive will be very high. This doesn’t always result in more traffic, but it will help your online visibility by getting your brand name out there.
Focused Content
We have all heard of the various algorithms that Google have put out there to stop spam and content over optimisation. The focus has now turned specifically to who has the best, most informative content. Going forward, we recommend that if content creation is on your agenda, that you ensure that your content is easy to read and understand as well as provides all of the information associated with your content topic. Take a look at competitor content articles if possible, to understand how you can make your content that little bit better – giving your website the best chance of ranking.
So, to conclude, this year will be about not being lazy with your website and to go the extra mile with all of your service offerings, content and technical aspects of your website. If you own a large website, this may be a daunting job. But work hard and focus on your most important pages first and you will succeed.
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