2019 is finally here. Are you prepared to stay ahead of the curve as far as your SEO marketing strategy goes?

2018 was the year for going mobile and bulking up on serious link juice. These practices will still hold great merit this year. If you haven’t made use of them yet, now is the time to do so.

But which SEO trends should you also prepare to implement in the new year?

Here are 5 must-know trends that will dominate the SEO industry in 2019.

1. Video Content

You should continue to publish high quality, SEO content on your blog in the coming year. But you’ll want to pay special attention to your audio and visual content.

Video content will likely account for 80% of all web traffic in 2019.

Modern consumers are using their mobile devices now more than ever. They want to be able to process information with convenience. Videos are the best and most entertaining way to do so.

Create videos to build awareness around your brand – and do so on a consistent basis.

2. Voice Search

Artificial Intelligence is already shaping the SEO industry in huge ways.

Blog content and social media are becoming more automated. Personal assistant devices like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Play are here to stay.

The ways in which we search online are also changing because AI Voice searching is on the rise. And as a result, the content we curate must appeal to the ways consumers speak and use voice search.

3. High-Quality Content

Voice search and video content may be taking over. But you’re still going to need to up the ante when it comes to your long-form content.

Google wants to provide users with the best content now more than ever. There have been major changes to their algorithm as a result.
Poor-quality, short content is taking the biggest hit. Longer content will continue to rank the highest in 2019.

So long as it’s of the highest quality, that is.

Include high-quality backlinks as opposed to stuffing your site with low-quality links. Delve deep into your niche and publish content people really care about.

This leads us to our next point in the latest SEO trends…

4. Search Intent

A few years ago, you used to be able to rank on the SERPs by including keywords in your content. This is no longer the case.

Nowadays, Google is better at filtering out content based on what users are searching for. This is all largely due to Google’s RankBrain, which will continue to reign in 2019.

RankBrain is smarter when it comes to interpreting the intent behind searches. It’s better at picking up the context of information on a page and ranking for it.

With all that said, hit the brakes on keyword density. Focus on incorporating the best keywords as naturally as possible.

Most importantly, produce useful and meaningful information people will enjoy reading. After all, the mantra in 2019 for search engine trends is all about quality.

5. Google’s Mobile-First Index

Google is not only looking for the best of the best when it comes to content. In 2018, they debuted their mobile-first index. With this new index, they’ll rank mobile-optimized websites above all else.

If your website is not responsive for mobile devices, get on that as soon as possible. Make sure your site’s structured data is the same for mobile devices and desktops.

You should continue to produce easy-to-read content for mobile users. When you publish videos and images, make sure they resonate well on mobile devices.

Dominate the SERPs with 2019’s SEO Trends

The ways in which websites rank on search engines may be changing. Luckily, there’s still time to go into 2019 with your marketing game on point.

By following these SEO trends, your business will reign on the search engines. But don’t forget about your web design strategy! To make sure your game stays strong, put these web design trends to good use in 2019.

The post 5 Must-Know SEO Trends to Look Out For in 2023 appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

If so, you know how hard it can be to stay up to date. Missing an update may mean that your website’s ranking starts to fall.

If you’re not keeping up, now is the time to start. But knowing all the updates can be difficult to do on your own.

Lucky for you, we’ve written a short guide to help you know the SEO trends of 2018. Read on for the top 5.

1. Voice Search: The Newest Search Trend

One new search trend is the option for users to do a voice search. While this is a new trend, it’s one that is becoming quite popular.

In fact, 1 in 5 online searches comes from a voice search. This is astonishing because voice search came out 10 years ago.

Searches that come this way are more conversational. This means you should start optimizing some pages to the way people ask questions.

This also means that you can’t rely on keywords alone. While they are still valuable, you should focus some of those efforts on voice.

2. Site Speed: The One We Knew Was Coming

For some time, experts have expected Google the make site speed an important factor in SEO. This year they made it official.

You have to be able to make your site work quick. While this is important for SEO, it’s also important for your users. Nobody wants to stay on a slow site.

3. Video Seach: The Search of the Future

Experts also expected video search to be a new factor in SEO. Predictions say that this aspect of SEO will continue to grow in importance.

In fact, by 2021, over 80 percent of consumer traffic will be video content. That far surpasses any other type of content.

Part of this is because YouTube continues to grow, and at the moment, it is the second largest search engine. Google owns the company, so this may be why Google is emphasizing this.

Video content is a great way to show your knowledge off. If your site isn’t taking advantage of this format, you’ll need to do so soon.

4. Long Form Content: No Suprise Here

Although video content is growing, Google search continues to reward long-form content. Users also tend to like long-form content over any other kind.

Long-form also tends to have more information than shorter articles do. Because of this, there’s a good chance other websites will link to your long-form content.

This content has to be more than long though. It also needs to have great SEO, and because it is longer, you have more opportunities to include keywords. Make sure to begin doing this soon.

Looking for More About the SEO trends of 2018?

Are you looking for more about the SEO trends of 2018? Check out our SEO blog for more information.

Doing SEO and online marketing on your own can be difficult. If you’re searching for a professional service to help, please give us a call at 866-999-4736 or request a quote from us on our website.

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In 2016, Google announced it would change the way its search index operates, gearing its algorithms toward the mobile version of sites. Google began a test run in December of 2017 and announced it’s conducting its first wave of transitioning as of March 2018.

According to Google’s Webmaster Central Blog, mobile-first indexing means Google will utilize the mobile version of a web page for indexing and ranking, to better help primarily mobile users find the answers to their search queries.

Simply put, as mobile search has surpassed desktop search, Google wants to ensure that mobile users are shown content that is formatted to fit their screen and a website they can navigate efficiently. This is due to desktop sites often having features that include elements that are missing or created to be viewed on mobile devices. If a mobile user clicks on a Google search result and the page loaded is optimized for desktop, this can cause issues with reading content, site navigation, and conversion (forms & phone calls). Google wants to make its search engine results pages (SERPs) are as efficient as possible for all users, regardless of device.

Although Google claims that the mobile-first indexing won’t directly impact website rankings, it does note that having a mobile-friendly site will likely help it to better perform in mobile search results.

Google’s transition to mobile-first indicates a lucrative opportunity for businesses to update their site’s mobile optimization to adjust to Google’s new ranking methods.

There are many facets to mobile optimization including but not limited to

• Responsive Web Design
• Avoid using interstitials
• Maximizing Site Speed with Search Engine Optimization
• Using Schema Markup to Create Knowledge Graphs

Google’s entire business and foundation is built upon the principle of giving users the information they want as fast and accurate as possible. If a user searches “home A/C repair”, they want to see a compiled list of the closest a/c repair businesses in their area and the phone number easily clickable (no one has time to memorize a number and manually type it in their keypad).

Whether you’re a local business looking to drive foot traffic, or an online retailer looking to increase sales, ensuring your website is mobile responsive is more important than ever.

Not sure if your website complies? Contact Exults Internet Marketing to see how we can bring your website to the forefront of search engine results and bring you the business you want today!

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Keywords Still Indicate Relevance

First, you can rest assured that keywords still indicate relevance, which is one of Google’s main ranking factors. Good, accurate keywords have always helped Google determine whether your content is relevant to an internet user’s search, and they still do. The main difference is that keyword relevance (Page rank) isn’t the only ranking factor now. Google’s algorithm uses over 200 factors to rank your website. Now Google uses a mixture of content quality, inbound links, outbound links, social media shares, website navigation, site speed and much more to determine your authority.

Google No Longer Requires Exact Match Keywords

In the past, content marketing strategists would typically strive to identify specific niches by targeting keywords and incorporating them as much as possible throughout the text. After the Google Hummingbird update, the search engine moved away from exact match keywords. Google is becoming smarter and more human making it easier for the search engine to understand natural language and not only specific keywords. Repeating keywords over and over is no longer useful and will actually devalue your content or deem it less trustworthy. It’s actually more helpful to gear your content toward what is natural to read and how a user would search it on their mobile device. Longtail keywords are still helpful in Meta Data, title tags and throughout the content, but it’s more important to focus on the relevance of your content and it reading in a natural way.

Keyword Placement May Matter More

Exact match keywords may no longer be necessary, but helping Google and other search crawlers determine the intent of your content as quickly as possible will almost certainly help your page. Placing relevant keywords as high on the page as possible, such as in the title, description, and introduction, is likely to be more important than keyword density. When Google indexes your site, having relevant keywords in the titles of your main pages, in headers and h2s and in alt tags will definitely make your site more identifiable and easier to crawl for Google.

Search engine optimization is always changing and Google will continue to update it’s algorithm, therefore, it’s important to stay on top of any industry updates and how to make sure your website is adapting as soon as possible. If you’re unsure of how to tackle your website’s SEO, contact Exults for all your SEO needs.

The post Is Keyword Density Still a “Thing”? appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Accelerated Mobile Pages

As SEO specialists have observed for years, the market share for mobile continues to grow. A mobile-friendly responsive design has been key for SEOs for years, but in 2017, mobile optimization reaches new heights with accelerated mobile pages (AMPs). This open-source protocol allows website developers to build pages that smartphones and tablets can load almost instantly. Sites that feature AMPs have already experienced a boost in Google search results and will likely continue to outperform sites without this functionality.

Featured Snippets

Seasoned marketers are already familiar with rich snippets, but featured snippets are positioned for big business in 2017. These text blocks receive a prime spot on search engine results pages (SERPs) and shine a spotlight on the corresponding web page. While you should improve your website’s featured snippets, you’ll also want to keep an eye on how they impact your site’s performance, since these results are still nebulous for many SEOs.

Context Is Key

While keywords are still important in SEO, context has quickly risen to the top. In 2017, this concept will become even more critical, as voice search and machine learning continue to advance. That means you will want to spend extra time ensuring that they use natural language and provide clear context in all of their high-quality content. Doing so is bound to set you up for success as voice search and machine learning continues to gain steam in 2017.

In the fast-paced world of SEO, you need an expert who can keep up with the latest trends. Contact Exults for more information on our SEO services and digital marketing products.

The post 3 Biggest SEO Trends in 2023 So Far appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

When you’re going somewhere new, you need a map. Even in a city you’re familiar with, you sometimes need a map because it’s impossible to know where everything is. Sure, your map might be in the digital form of Google Maps or Waze, but it’s still a map.

Google’s web crawlers that index your site are no different. They need maps to chronicle the pages on your site and where to access them. This type of map is called a sitemap.

If you don’t give the web crawlers a sitemap, it’s kinda like you trying to drive to all the Pizza Huts buffets in Los Angeles without an address or map. Good luck!

In case you were curious…

So I think we can all agree, your website needs a sitemap. The real question though is…

How do I install a sitemap on my website?

You just discovered you don’t have a sitemap installed on your website– YIKES! Installing your sitemap should immediately jump to the top of your to-do list for these two reasons:

1. The search engines don’t play around
2. The Pizza Hut buffet can wait

I’m going to hold your hand and walk you through the necessary steps to get a sitemap on your website.

Step 1: Sign into Google Webmaster Tools

Step 2: Once you sign in, click on “Add a Property” and type your URL.

Step 3: Verify that you’re the owner of the site

You’ll see the following options to verify your site:

We recommend the Google Analytics method because it’s the easiest.

Side note: If you don’t have Google Analytics on your website already, stop what you’re doing, step away from your computer, and contact us right now. 

Assuming you’ve set up Google Analytics and have “administrator” permissions, you can verify your site ownership instantly.

Simply choose the Google Analytics option, and click “Verify”

Step 4: After site verification, on the left column, there is a “Crawl” drop-down menu. Select “Sitemaps”

Step 5: Select the red “Add/Test sitemap” button in the top right of the page

Step 6: In the text box that appears, type “sitemap.xml” > click “Submit sitemap”

Step 7 (and final step): Pizza Hut buffet

It’s recommended to verify both the www and non-www versions of your website.

The data might not be ready immediately, but check back after a few days.

Additional resources

Here are a few additional resources to help you verify your site ownership and establish your XML sitemap.

• Get Your Website on Search Console: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6332964
• Verify Your Website: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35179

And of course, please give us a call at (866) 999-4736 if you have ANY questions regarding sitemaps. We’d love to help.

The post How to Add Your Sitemap to Google appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Google has made the decision to ban payday loan advertisements from July 13th onwards. Last year, 780 million advertisements were removed from the search giant’s AdWords platform. Now Google wants to practice some “corporate citizenship” by protecting their users from “deceptive or harmful financial products.”

Michael Scurato, VP for policy at the National Hispanic Media Coalition said, “Payday lenders have long preyed on Latinos and other people of color. It is important to ensure that the Internet, which holds great promise for improving economic outcomes among these communities, not also be used as an agent of harm.”

Specifically, Google will ban advertisements that promote loans with 36% interest rates or higher, and also loans that must be paid back in under 60 days. They feel this is in the best interests of the consumer due to the way the ads target the financially vulnerable.

Keith Corbett, executive VP of the Center for Responsible Lending and co-chair of Economic Security Task Force of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, says, “As a leading search engine and innovator, Google’s announced updated policy on financial services advertising is a major consumer coup. By removing ads that lure financially challenged consumers into long-term and costly debt traps, Google is displaying what corporate citizenship looks like.”

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