It’s common knowledge that Google changes every year, and so does Search Engine Optimization. Webmasters who want to improve their rankings and traffic need to stay on top of these trends. As one of the best digital marketing companies in Pune, it’s our job to identify these trends and find ways to adapt to them quickly. These are some of the top trends we have identified for the year 2019.

Trend 1: User Intent Optimization

Search engine optimisation isn’t about stuffing keywords in a webpage. The true meaning of search engine optimisation lies in the art of integrating keywords that delivers your audience with what they are promised. When a searcher comes across a practical and useful result, it gives them an idea about the kind of business you are and if they should do business with you.

Intent optimisation is the future because they year 2019 and beyond will be driven by voice search. Voice search is expediting the cleanup process for user intent search. Thanks to voice search, a searcher can now clearly state what they are looking for concerning products, services and information.

The best way to capitalise on voice search is to think of yourself as the one performing the search. What would you be looking for? What call to action would drive you to take the desired effect? What would be the most relevant benefit you would gain from a webpage?

Once you understand your business from a searchers perspective, user intent optimisation will become easier.

Trend 2: Mobile Optimization

In 2018, 52.2% of all worldwide online traffic was generated through mobile phones (Statista, 2018). So, it’s safe to say that people are turning to their mobile phones for online searches. To support this growth in mobile use, 2019 will be the first year of Google’s mobile-first index. Therefore, if you don’t want to fade into the background of the world wide web, it’s crucial that you are prepared.

Mobile first indexing means that Google will first consider your businesses mobile website content to decide where the content should be placed in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). This doesn’t mean that websites not optimised for mobile will be penalised or delisted. It merely means that your odds are better if your website is optimised for mobile devices.

Therefore, our search engine marketers and website developers are constantly trying to optimise their websites to attract more mobile users.

Trend 3: Featured Snippets
Featured snippets are taking over the top spot on Google for a lot of keywords. In other words, this prime estate is no longer a guarantee. This is, naturally, a big deal in the digital marketing ecosystem. According to Ahrefs, most featured snippets come from pages ranked in the top 10 results. Therefore, to get your content in featured snippets, you’ll need to get to the first page of Google first.

Furthermore, question keywords almost always show up in the featured snippet section on Google. Therefore, the best practice is to frame short, concise paragraphs as authoritative answers to common and relevant questions.

Trend 4 - Voice Search
An estimated 50% of all searches will be done by voice by 2020. Your audiences are already looking for answers with the help of Siri, Alexa, Google Home and other electronic assistance apps and devices.

Therefore, now is the time to pay attention to voice search optimization. The first place to start is to to make your website HTTPS since most sites that are on top of search engine results are HTTPS. The next thing to focus on is speed. If your website takes a long time to lead it won’t show up on voice searches and you will lose visitors.

There you have it. The top SEO trends that will rule 2019. It will be an exciting year for Search Engine Marketing and Optimization, and for an SEO company like us as new updates roll in.