When it comes to search engine optimization, change is the only constant. Obviously, it’s hard to keep up with these ever-changing SEO rules and trends, so fast that it becomes difficult for anyone to adopt them in a short period of time.

1. Mobile IS THE Trend

These days, mobile search has become a deep aspect of people’s lives. At the same time, Google aspires to be a reflection of user needs, come what may. Well, Google recently announced that it would start testing the mobile-first indexing strategy. This decision was implemented somewhat after the use of mobile compatibility was considered as a ranking factor. While there has been quite a bit of controversy regarding this, but 2018 will be the year that this will trigger a search engine results trigger. So with that comes the importance of the mobile version of your site.

Now, Accelerated Mobile Pages helps web pages load faster in a mobile-friendly way. That is why Google has introduced it to improve the loading time of your page on any device. This has an influence on a page’s performance on the SERPs along with interactions and conversions. Case studies reveal that implementing AMP improves the user experience and also factors such as CTR and bounce rates. So even if AMP isn’t a ranking factor now, it could become one soon.

2. Link Building is not dead, but stronger

These days, certain SEOs may claim that the link building strategy is weak or dead worse. But let me tell you that this strategy is not dead, it requires proper planning, hard work and patience. It’s more about earning your links than building them. Since good quality backlinks serve as one of the main ranking factors, it also discovers the direct correlation of website rankings with their backlink profiles.

3. Voice search is new!

Siri and Cortana have already won our hearts through their instant and non-stop help. Similarly, Amazon Echo and Google Home also let us shop hands-free. So now with the passage of time, the accuracy of speech recognition also seems to increase.

With all due respect to the convenience these voice recognitions offer, it’s also less frustrating when you want to search for something on social media. Initially, there would be at least a single voice search each week for each individual. But with the passage of time, the searches have multiplied by three or four. So, the reporters conclude that the importance of voice search remains intact and could consume around 50% of all searches.

4. Structured data has an important role to play

In this internet age, structured data markup is truly underrated. But at the same time, it is a great method to make your site crawler friendly and also makes it easy for search engines to index your content in no time.

There have been quite a few changes to the way data was displayed on the SERPs. Features include immediate and relevant response, relevant context, helpful nuances, and display in search results. All this depends on the data being arranged in a clear and logical way.

With the importance of user experience increasing by the day, SERP design is also evolving. Structured design is becoming essential. So, you have to consider structured data to a great extent.

5. Keep your crawl budget

Crawl Budget is all about optimizing your website both inside and out. It must look attractive to your visitors and search bots must also find it attractive. This will also affect the number of pages crawled, indexed and updated by Google or any of the major search engines. With this comes the responsibility of keeping your website healthy and not wasting any of your crawl budget. This will also help Google to crawl your website more frequently, which will also benefit your ranking factors.

6. Quality content on content quality

Change is just the constant when it comes to SEO. But, amid all the changes, the importance of content remains intact. But this time, you should focus more on the quality of the content than the quantity. In fact, content optimization goes far beyond keywords and requires a complex approach.