The New SEO - Subject Engine Optimization

Posted by Myles Golden on Jan 11, 2017

There are thousands of ways to interpret the future, but the future of SEO can be limited to two. You can shake a magic 8 ball over and over looking for answers, or you can use logic and start working with the information that you have. It's no secret that SEO is changing. More and more, it's clear that SEO in 2017 will be a completely different landscape than even right now. It's also clear that most SEO predictions also relate to what changes Google will bring.

Understanding Google

Most people think that Google has some mysterious code that tells them what changes to make and how to make sure black hat SEO tactics are taken out of the game. Actually, there are some keys to the way Google conducts its changes and updates.

Google is addicted to advertising revenue. The search engine is very dependent upon massive amounts of people using Google search to find answers for everything. If people don't visit Google, then who is going to view advertisements and click on AdWords found in organic search results?

That's why Google looks for ways to stop spam, eliminate irrelevant search results and tame down bad SEO strategies. Ultimately, this gives people what they want whenever they use the search engine. However, Google will constantly make changes to ensure that SEO tactics don't get out of hand and do not take advantage of Google's users.

Relevant Search Results Now

Google is looking for more [relevant search results](https://cali-style.com/blog/seo-vs-machine-learning-algorithms "SEO vs Algorithms), and they are adapting new ways to get these results. They are going beyond the words in the queries to understand the relationship and intent of the user.

Results are tailored. Google has so much user data that it uses to provide the best results like semantic search and Trust rank that make sure results pages are what the user needs. Google's search looks for ways to understand how humans see the world and seek information. That's why the future of SEO is also tethered together with the future of mobile advertising.

Google provides results at lightning fast speeds. Answers must be delivered quickly and offer the user exactly what they are looking for. Otherwise, a search engine results page (SERP) is useless. SEO in 2017 must focus on being the most authoritative and relevant information available on topics for users. SERPs are now being constructed to have more information than ever. Google has made it so that finding information is quick and doesn't have to be clicked on, so SEO tactics have to change to provide the most interesting content to users.

Pages must have relevancy. SEO predictions have shown that it will be more difficult to encrypt search data and look for opportunities to game results. Instead, content will have to be authoritative, relevant and refreshed daily to produce the kind of signals that bring in traffic.

How Google Got All That Data

For many years, Google has been tracking its users and finding out various characteristics such as who clicks on what, how long they spend on a page, what pages they browse next and where they shop online. These are also the keys to highly successful SEO. Like Google, marketers have to constantly be learning more information about their users and looking for new ways to reach their interests. That's exactly what Google does with each update.

Google has a Knowledge Graph that it is constantly growing with information that comes from every point of the Earth. It's upgrading search results and looking for more meaningful ways to connect users with the right content. SEO predictions have to do the same thing. By personalizing content and making it more insightful, you attract more people, but you also have to understand where users have been and where they want to go.

What Happened with Hummingbird

Google's update known as Hummingbird made some significant changes in September 2013 to its algorithms. It uses social signals and hyperlocal search, mobile search and user intent to deliver the best possible results. If you aren't looking at your visitor's intent, you more than likely were affected by this subtle update.

For now, Google is proving that ultimately the user's experience on your page matters to how well you score for page rank. You have to go beyond targeting phrases and really analyze the needs of your visitors.

Google is also using Trust Rank scores that can be assigned to users or resources. Google can trust people, data and social platforms that it controls. That's one of the reasons that Google built its own social network. Google+ isn't Facebook, however. Facebook is more of a social media and picture sharing group. Whereas, Google+ is a way to spread your identity. It will have a great impact on mobile marketing in the future.

SEO in 2017 relies on all sorts of factors, but most particularly, it relies on the changes that Google makes. If you focus on providing the best content that users can trust and want to learn more about, the future of SEO is bright.

Contact us today to talk about how we can help optimize your desktop and mobile web applications for your industry utilizing the latest and greatest in SEO techniques. It's as easy as clicking the icon on the bottom right of your screen and starting a conversation.