Successful SEO now involves much more than simply investing in a solid foundation and incorporating a number of highly valuable keywords throughout your copy. With search engines now employing and enforcing rules in much firmer ways than ever before, all unethical practices must be left firmly in the past.
Search engine best practices are subject to change and keeping up with potential new developments may help you to get one step ahead of your closest competitors. As this Forbes article explains, sitting down now to plan for 2018 can help you to solidify your focus, and here are a few things to keep in mind.
The increased importance of accelerated mobile pages
Although not yet technically classified as an official ranking signal, all signs suggest that Google has plans to ensure accelerated mobile pages become increasingly important throughout 2018. With more users browsing on mobile devices and typically abandoning websites with pages that are unable to load successfully within two seconds, ensuring your website loads quickly on small screens must form a key component of every successful SEO strategy.
Meeting needs and expectations
Google is spending much more time understanding how audiences interact with websites. You need to prove that you are investing time and resources into understanding how to best meet the needs and expectations of your audience and users conducting common search queries, without simply relying on keywords and link building techniques to ensure your website is visible in key SERPs.
The significance of design
With increasing numbers of users quickly leaving websites which don’t have an appealing and user-friendly interface, investing time and resources into refining design elements and other visual content is imperative. There are many ways to ensure your design reflects your brand values, including investing in personalised imagery, deftly employing video content to quickly provide important pieces of information, and utilising the services of a professional team specialising in web design in Sheffield, such as the one that can be seen here www.dearnevalleywebdesign.co.uk, to ensure each component works smoothly and effectively to deliver the best possible user experience.
Step away from spam comments
Encouraging conversation and community is an inherently more effective way to build relationships with your audience and your peers than injecting a few promotional comments here and there without really engaging in the discussion and sharing of interesting ideas.