SEO in 2020 – Voice Search, Knowledge Graph and More
By
2020, we will have entered an age of screen-less searches. Over the
next four years, 30%-50% of our searches will be through voice and will
not require a screen.
– According to Garter & ComScore.
That, briefly, is Google Search in 2020. Voice comes with some very
distinct advantages, but will make SEO a much harder task. It is easier
to utter instructions instead of typing them. Voice search returns an
answer to the question instead of links from which one may choose. The
answers are as precise as they can be. What this means is that Google
will focus more on answering queries instead of providing links. In fact
there is already evidence of this with Google rankbrain and what is
often referred to as “position 0” (an answer above all other results)
SEO, as we know today, will be alive and kicking even in 2020. Search
engines will continue with their “day jobs” of indexing sites. We will
still be using search to sort out information and sources of
information. Not all searches are purchase-driven. Search will continue
as a giant index striving to return spam-free relevant results. SEO will
drive organic rankings. If ranking for keywords and staying there is
difficult now, it will only become more difficult in the future. Social
media will become an even bigger influence for organic search. Article
directories, forum signatures, and other similar tactics will be buried
for good. In fact, ranking for targeted key phrases will become very
difficult. The algorithms will rank you for content, for engagement, and
the value of your brand. Trying to rank on the strength of keywords
will be next to impossible, unless the content drives engagement.
App integration into the overall consumer experience will increase.
Google is looking for ways to incorporate apps into the search results.
The focus on creating a satisfying mobile experience through responsive
sites and apps will influence how search operates in 2020.
Google’s desire to provide answers to questions instead of links to
websites is already a challenge for businesses. Those challenges will
grow significantly by 2020. Google launched
Knowledge Graph
in 2012 with the purpose of eventually answering specific questions by
users, especially local users. Your business will be competing against
Google itself in addition to your brick and mortar competitors. This may
lead to stiffer competition in PPC marketing, making it more expensive
to bid on popular keywords. That may deliver an all-round boost to PPC
players – including social media giants Facebook and Twitter.
By 2020, search algorithms will have acquired a degree of
sophistication that will decrease their dependence on backlinks.
Consequently, the value of links as a ranking factor may diminish. Links
will matter to direct users from one site to another and for brand
awareness, but their influence as a ranking factor could well plummet.
Search will respond to great content and businesses will have to get
creative with content marketing to make up for loss of traffic to Google
providing answers, a decrease in the value of links, and of course
voice search.
Here are some steps to take now that can help your business compete in search in 2020.
- Content, content, content. Google is looking for the best answer
to a user query. Your challenge is to become the company that provides
that answer. Knowledge Graph currently does not answer questions
pertaining to local companies, although Google Maps does. By 2020, it is
quite possible that questions with a local bent will be handled by
Knowledge graph.
- Use long tale keywords wherever possible. People aren’t robots,
they ask questions in conversational language. If your content reflects
normal conversations, you’re ahead of the game.
- SEO all your pages. If you’re a landscape supply store and only
optimize your home page, you may get lucky and show up in a search for
“landscape supply company near me.” If someone asks “mulch supplies near
me” you’re probably out of luck unless your mulch page shines with
proper placement of keywords, good Meta tags, etc.
- Provide answers to specific questions. Google wants to provide
the best, most accurate answer to a searches question. Write content
that is geared towards specific questions. Structure your content in a
friendly, easy to read manner. .
The way forward is to deliver as personalized an experience as possible.
Search is already highly local and this will continue. Focusing efforts
on reaching out to a local audience, even for businesses operating out
of multiple locations, is the best way forward to compete for positions
on SERPs. We are local search experts. Reach out to us with any questions at 203-882-0171.
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