Key SEO Trends You Should Know About
Voice and Visual Search
Google is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and this means that it is no longer just scanning words and text, but other elements as well. Equally, users are no longer only searching by typing some words into a search engine. One of the key trends for SEO in 2020 will be voice search: as it is becoming increasingly common for users to conduct a voice search from their smartphone or home voice assistant, their queries are evolving. Now it is more common for searches to be in the form of a question rather than a few keywords, and SEO must adapt to this. Visual search is also going to become important in 2020, with AI technology has evolved to the point that search engines can now scan images for information.
Snippets and Content Diversification
Google has been evolving for years now to present search results in such a diverse way that it is no longer just a place to find basic answers to a query, but rather a one-stop-shop for everything you need to know. This means that your Google search results page is now a rich tapestry of images, maps, videos, interactive results and snippets relating to your search. Content diversification will hit peak levels in 2020, and businesses will need to turn their attention to not just organic listings but to optimize for all search elements. Snippets, in particular, will be critically important next year, and something businesses need to pay attention to if they are to use SEO to drive traffic to their site.
Mobile UX
Optimizing for mobile has been important for some time: as more and more users are using their mobile devices rather than desktops and laptops to search and browse (figures show that over half of smartphone users prefer to access the internet on their phone rather than a computer), businesses have learned that they need to provide equal UX on mobile devices for their site in order to keep their users happy and to convert them into sales or whatever their goal may be. Google has adapted to this too: switching sites to mobile-first indexing in mid to late 2019.