When it comes to SEO, you can never be as prepared as you should be. Google is constantly throwing out curve balls that affect ranking and they aren’t in the habit of announcing all of them. Some we’re aware of while answers to others will become apparent only as time goes by. Google’s end responsibility is towards their users – the company definitely won’t be making it easy for us to sit on page 1 without having us work for it.
With that in mind, it’s time to get prepared in 2017 and far beyond. This past year we’ve seen numerous changes happen to the Google algorithm. Those changes have affected how we do SEO, how we do paid advertising, and how and why we create content.
It’s time to check out the SEO trends we can expect this year. Word of caution – while these trend predictions are based on historical observation and experience, they might not all come to pass, or they might but Google might decide to throw something else at us. We can never know so it’s important to constantly measure things and stay in the loop.
Importance of Dense Content
At one point, Google got fed up with short snippets of text posing as posts and articles. They were short, uninformative, and served only one purpose – to clutter the Internet. So, with a few tweaks to the algorithm, Google made sure that these extremely short pieces of content would have a tough time ranking. They still have their place on the Web but they will be buried deep below long texts that cover topics in more detail.
However, this created another problem. Crafty content makers and SEOer started creating long, drawn out guides and articles that are well over 2,000 words. While in some cases this is necessary to cover the topic, most of the time it’s done because there’s an understanding that this type of content will rank better.
Why? Or better yet, who has the time for all that?
This year you’re going to have to focus on creating dense content – content that brings value with every word that’s on the page. No frills, no fluff and filler, just pure value. People have less and less time to read but they will still want detailed guides that aren’t borderline books. It’s going to be a challenge but a one that you’re going to have to tackle head on.
Accelerated Mobile Pages
Google is intent on bettering user experience at all cost. Their Accelerated Mobile Pages initiative is all about building a new standard of content creation that uses light versions of HTML and CSS. Because AMP pages are delivered from Google’s own hosted cached versions and thanks to their lightness, they load much faster.
Speed matters, folks!
Slow loading pages see a lot higher bounce rate and around half of your visitors will simply jump the ship if the page loads more than 3 seconds. This is particularly true for mobile users. In addition to ranking better, AMP content also performs better in terms of CTRs.
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