4 SEO Trends to Look for in 2017


4 SEO Trends for 2017

It’s hard to believe that it’s time to start looking towards 2017, but this year is almost over. Now is the time to see what is going to be big in the search marketing industry in the coming months. We saw some big changes in 2016, and they are likely to carry over into 2017. We’ve compiled our top 4 SEO trends that we think will dominate the industry in the new year.

This isn’t to say that these are all new – you’ve probably already about most of these and even started working on optimizing for them. But whether or not these trends are new or not is beside the point, these are the trends that you need to keep your eye out for and get ready for in 2017.

SEO Trends for 2017

Mobile First Index

Mobile has already taken over the search marketing world. In 2015, mobile searches surpassed desktop searches for the first time ever. With this, Google said that mobile and desktop were equal. However, that’s not true anymore.

Google has since stated that it wants a mobile experience across all types of devices. Google recently announced it’s mobile first index. This is huge for the industry because now Google will crawl the mobile version of your site or responsive mobile version first, before the desktop version, and use that content to place you in the search results.

This shouldn’t be a problem if you use a mobile responsive version of your website. Also, there’s no need to start panicking right away – Gary Illyes, a Google engineer, has confirmed this update is still a few months away. However, this is something that everyone needs to be aware of and prepare for. For the entire guide on Google’s mobile first index, you can click here.

Video Content

Video content has been on the rise for a little while now, and it’s not going anywhere in the near future. In fact, a high power at Facebook even stated that video will become the main type of content by 2020. We aren’t sure about all that – as for right now, written content is still the norm, but that doesn’t mean that it will always be. It also doesn’t mean that you should have variety in your content either.

However, as new technologies keep developing, Snapchat, Vine, Periscope, and even Instagram, video is not going anywhere in 2017. Even Google is experimenting with video ads in the search results. There are multiple types of video content that you can implement into your search marketing strategy – webinars, step-by-step tutorials, Q&As, etc.

Try out a few videos in your content, maybe as an addition to one piece you already have and see how it does. If it performs well, which I think it will, you know maybe you should be placing more importance in video.

Voice Search

For a while, voice search was something that was floating around out there but wasn’t really playing a huge part in the search marketing industry. However, as mobile continues to increase and technology advances, voice search is gaining momentum. Today, 55% of teens say that they use voice search on a daily basis – with 56% of adults saying that they enjoy using voice search.

This trend is just going to continue to grow as we get into 2017. Why is this? As we stated earlier, with technology advancing, voice search is just another way that technology can make our lives simpler. Isn’t just talking to your phone a lot easier than typing, especially when you are on the go or trying to multi-task?

What makes this something to look for and optimize for is that voice searchers are not going to be entering the same phrases or keywords as someone who is typing on a computer or smartphone. Since voice searches are more like spoken word, you want to make sure you understand the searchers intent and market to that. Use question words like who, what, where, when, why, you need to optimize differently for voice search. Try reformatting your headlines into questions that include these question words.

Structured Data and Schema

Structured data really hasn’t been talked about as much as I thought it would be lately, but it is a very important in the SEO world. According to Search Engine Watch, structured data is information formatted in a way that can be universally understood. Through this structured data, search engines are able to understand a website easier and therefore gives them better SERP rankings.

Schema.org is structured data that was developed by Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Yandex, and it is a code that you can add to your website that allows all search engines to define it. While webmasters have been using this for a while, it’s been recently that Google has started to really use it to help crawl sites. Since it is making their jobs easier and helps them to display rich snippets in the search results, structured data and schema are going to continue to gain importance in the SEO world.

Look for structured data and schema to start playing an even bigger part in websites in 2017 and beyond. Search engines want to be able to crawl your website faster and easier, and with the advancements in this technology, they should start to implement it more.

Conclusion

Being mindful of these four trends will help you be more successful in your SEO efforts in the upcoming year. Make sure you optimize your search marketing strategies to account for these changes. Oh, and Happy New Year!

Search Photo via Shutterstock

48 Comments ▼

Ronald Dod Ronald Dod is the Founder and Owner of Visiture, an internet marketing agency that focuses on Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click management for eCommerce businesses. Ronald holds a Masters in the Science of Marketing from Florida State University and is certified in Google Adwords & Analytics.

48 Reactions
  1. Even for SMBs, getting on the mobile-friendly train is going to be essential and having some plans in place for voice search will also be key. Looking forward to some great posts here in the new year on those topics.

  2. Well written article. Mobile AMP is one of the most major update from google this year.

  3. Thanks for the quick article, mobile is everything!

  4. Thanks for validation my, 100% on Mobile first and Video?

    We’ve used Duda mobile for the first one and slide.ly/promo for the second and are super happy with the results!

    Strongly sgeee about the point on co tent variety and experimenting with mediums and types,

    Happy holidays!

  5. Thanks for the post. I think we will hear more about structured data in 2017. When queried by Barry Schwartz, Google’s Gary Illyes indicated that the following will be important to digital marketers.

    1. Machine learning
    2. AMP
    3. Structured data

  6. Thanks Ronald – very useful

    as a QA tester, we cover this now, but I was not so aware of the significant Voice search growth – will definitely be using your last paragraph in improving the content checking!

    “Use question words like who, what, where, when, why, you need to optimize differently for voice search. Try reformatting your headlines into questions that include these question words.”

  7. Great post! I especially like the info on voice search…our SEO company is just getting started and this is some great stuff…keep up the good work!

  8. I started realizing that video,mobile first index and schema started to dominate search engine rankings.

    But , I have no idea how voice search is going to dominate in 2017.

    Many people don’t prefer voice search because the person next to you will also be listening to what you are browsing.

    I don’t expect voice search to beyond the current stage.

  9. Great Post Ronald,

    2016 Has been a remarkable year for SEO world. We have seen Penguin 4.0 runs in a real time and much more drastic changes. Mobile indexes and AMP will definitely going to play a major role in 2017. Thanks for the update.

  10. How do you think the voice search will impact the keywords? I believe that im may be beneficial for some long tail detailed phrases, or questions.

  11. Hi Ronald,

    Nice post with all of the important SEO trends that may affect internet marketing industry in 2017. However, I think you skipped some of the latest SEO updates in 2017 including Google’s new “Crowd Control” feature, AdWords Visual Sitelink Extensions feature and its newly Audience Targeting update.

    Keep us updated with more SEO updates for 2017!

  12. Voice search is gonna be big! I’ve noticed I barely even type messages, I just record my voice and send that to people – so much easier. I wonder how this is going to affect SEO of the future.

  13. Great article. As someone doing SEO myself, I couldn’t agree more that SEO is more of an organic process rather than a mechanical one that relies on keyword repetition. Keep us updated with more SEO updates Thanks for the post.

  14. Hello Ronald

    I seem to like the video will play the crucial role in 2017. The percentage of the people engaging with videos is more and increasing.
    The Google is also encouraging and giving more importance to the mobile optimized pages i.e., AMP pages in the SERP. Thanks for sharing the post!

  15. I do agree with most of those points, however I don’t see voice search catching on that quickly since voice recognition technology is not that advanced today. It will be hard for non native English speakers to effectively use that option and it will take a while for most languages to be implemented in the software. I think that focusing on video content and on mobile friendly is far more important since those trends are set to dominate 2017 and many more years to come.

  16. It is one of your great post. I am very impressed with voice search and implementing for website also. Hope 2017 will be another great year for SEO and more interesting thins will come. Thanx

  17. The schema is really a great SEO trend that are going to rule SEO world. Voice search and AMP are also important terms.
    Kep us updated with latest SEO trends in future also.
    Thank you.

  18. Great article, Ronald. Everyone’s using their mobile for browsing the web these days, but the number of non-responsive websites is still too high.

  19. Thanks A lot, I am looking for a perfectSEO for my new site. Finally got an idea with your article. And I really enjoy it.
    So, I want to thank you.

  20. I can say that mobile and videos are really the trend these days! Although I’m still doubtful about Voice Search. Anyway great article tho! Thanks for all the info and tips! Thanks!

  21. WOW !! That voice search never even occurred to me that keyword structuring would even need to be different. Thank God I read this post and thank you for sharing

  22. Great post! Especially the info on voice search. Thanks for sharing with us it really help us.

  23. Good article to read!! Your article insights are really impressive, however there are some new SEO updates that will help you to grow your business. Have a look: https://www.techmagnate.com/blog/latest-seo-updates-and-news/

  24. Thanks for this information. The reason I avoid using video content on my websites is that it can drastically slow down the websites load time.

  25. That was a very interesting article. Thanks a lot. Keep doing this great job with important material. As I am doing SEO by my self, I believe that this will trully help me.

  26. Thanks for the good write up! I appreciated… 🙂

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  28. Thanks for sharing the article. it is really helpful for the SEO. you always provide the great content thanks a lot sir.

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  31. Voice Search was one a huge trend which was hugely over estimated at the time in terms of adoption. Would love to see an update version of this article for 2021.

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