SEO Resolutions for 2017

The year is just about at end and the trends 2016 really shock up the world of SEO. Digital marketing changes year to year and if we look back at 2007 we can see how far its come. 2017 looks to be quite similar as Google changes their focus from desktop to mobile and refine their algorithms. So what does this mean for marketers? For many they have begun to utilize these trends, but for others these SEO resolutions should be the focus of 2017.

Content for users, not bots

An old trend in content marketing was to write content focused on the search engines. This means stuffing the content full of keywords, making sure content is around 1,000 words, placing keywords within all the meta sections. Many people will give different opinions on how long articles should be, but the overlying best practice is to make sure value is being added. Articles can be shorter as long as they are providing good quality information that users are finding helpful. Search engines will use metrics to determine how users interact with a page, they don’t base ranking a site on the length of an article.

This means the content should be aimed at the user’s, not the bots. Provide entertaining, helpful information that users will use. Give them something to share, like, and link to. Content that leads to click throughs to additional pages, longer time on site, and back links will show search engines that users enjoy the page, thus resulting in better rankings.

Video to dominate content

Many marketers plan to increase their spending on video marketing in 2017. With a more and more users viewing content through mobile devices video becomes a more acceptable form of content. Video can be easily viewed on a small device and doesn’t force the user to scroll through text. Video can also help increase the time on page, as a user sits and watches the video it tells search engines they are intrigued by what is on the page.

Google Accelerated Mobile Pages

Google launched their Google AMP in 2016 which aimed at bringing users content faster while browsing on mobile. Google has created AMP testing tools to help users see how their pages are performing, implemented a notification within Search Console, and created a website aimed at providing information for users. All in all Google wants sites to move to AMP and have given sites all the tools to do so.  

Guest blogging to relationship building

Marketers will argue if guest posting is dead, the overall answer is no, but it has changed. The old approach was to contact sites, ask to provide a guest post, then wait for a response. Now sites are working together to develop targeted content that is going to add value and attract readers to the page. Sites are building relationships and working together to bring in new traffic, rather than just sending a guest post and moving on. To build links in 2017 marketers will need to open up dialogue with other sites and provide some useful content followers are going to find valuable.