Future of SEO; Will SEO Remain As Effective As It Is Now?

SEO is the most effective marketing tool now. Companies and businesses invest considerable amounts of money to enhance their website SEO. When talking about SEO marketing, the main search engine people want their website to be seen on is Google. Google has experienced a significant steady growth over the last two decades. The more searches on Google, the more users enter into websites through Google search results. However, frightening changes are occurring on Google recently, which must be considered carefully, as these changes are not about any drop in users’ utilisation of Google, but the website’s portion of attracting these users has been lowered.

Having users on websites through Google is now more difficult and jumping up to Google’s first rank doesn’t have the same value as before. In case this situation worsens in the future, what would be the plan B? How shall we get prepared for such a situation?

As SEO marketing knowledge is updating constantly and we should spend time and money to cope with the changes, the question is, is it worth it?

How Google changes are affecting the SEO concept?

There are a number of new features provided by Google which might affect SEO marketing strategy negatively. Here, we will discuss them further.

  • Instant Response

There are some inquiries that Google responds to, in a separate box on the top of the SERP (Search Engine Result Page). This feature is quite interesting for users, though sounds to be a threat for website owners, as users don’t need to enter into websites anymore. 

For instance, if you search for “World CUP 2018”, all information about teams and results will be displayed on a table on top of SERP, so users won’t have the intention to enter into websites that provide such information.

 

  • Google Ads; SEO Silent Killer

Google is allocating more spaces to paid Ads these days. Adwords were on the page side bar previously, however it is now moved to the top of SERP and the number of Ads increased to 4 at top and 4 at the bottom of the page. Furthermore, adding more features such as direct contact, related links, etc. to the Adwords, causes more users to be attracted to Google paid Ads. 

Currently, once you reach first Google rank on a specific keyword, it is actually equivalent to fifth, as there are 4 paid Ads on top already! The sad story is that the number of clicks on 5th rank is almost 16 times less than what it is for 1st rank.

Such circumstances of displaying this type of information, particularly on mobile phones with smaller screens, has led to less users entering into other websites. 

 

  • Most strange feature; Search with no result

Another feature Google has provided for users, is responding to users’ questions directly. In fact, no website is shown once searching for some particular information. For instance, if you search for USD to EUR conversion rate, Google would respond directly and relevant websites will be shown on the bottom of Google’s response. Obviously, no user would click on the websites listed under, as they have their required information already.

Even though such a feature is not widely used now, it can be concerning for website owners, as there is no guarantee of not being utilised for more subjects in the future.

You can check our academic SEO blogs and read “SEO is more than techniques” to find out more.

How to get prepared for future changes?

As a website owner or an SEO consultant, you should take the situation seriously and think about alternative ways to keep your audiences and take care of your business. Let’s talk about these alternatives further.

Branding is more important than SEO

On top of your efforts to enhance your SEO, you should pay high attention to your branding improvement as well, so users in need of a service or product relevant to your business, will come over to your website rather than look for it on Google. Branding effectiveness is proven in the advertisement industry. As an example in the real world, when you go to a store to buy toilet paper, the known brand will be selected most of the time. Also, as for the online world, users usually log into Amazon and then search for their needs, rather than searching it on Google. That is the power of advertisement and branding if accomplished appropriately. 

Do not underestimate the power of Social Media

Users who come over to your website through search engines, are most probably not loyal users and making them come back again is not that easy. In contrast, your followers on Social Media will be in contact for a longer period of time. That makes the information transmission easier through popular Social Medias such as Facebook and Instagram. 

Social Media are now a powerful marketing tool and will be stronger as we go forward. To be more specific, if SEO loses its functionality, Social Media will be the most powerful alternative. It is highly recommended to start a proper activity on Social Media now, in order to be prepared for any possible changes that may occur. We Suggest you read “Improve Your ecommerce Through Social Media” to find out more.

Online Advertisement; low efficiency but still considerable

There are many news and online magazine websites out there with a high number of daily visitors. They make money through advertisements only. They might be a good alternative to work with, in case SEO loses its efficiency. Even though the effectiveness of such marketing strategies is far less than SEO and social media, it could be a good substitute under special circumstances. Google Ads is also a good idea, though the cost is high and might not be beneficial for some businesses. 

Lastly, you should bear in mind that SEO and Google are the most effective digital marketing tools at the moment. You must keep the good work of improving your SEO performance and Google rank. However, you should be smart enough to not limit your marketing activity to one strategy only. You check SEO Cost to find out more about the SEO Services Pricing.

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