We’re still a couple of months away from 2018, but that doesn’t mean there is time to sit back and relax; not if you want to stay ahead of the changes happening in the digital marketing landscape. Search engines are starting to implement new approaches that will turn your SEO strategy upside down next year. The same big changes are happening in social media and content marketing.
Don’t let these changes and the new trends forming on the market catch you off guard. Here are the 5 game-changing digital marketing trends to anticipate in 2018.
Focus on SERP
2017 (and a couple of years before this year) is the year of organic traffic. Businesses who invest in organic SEO presence and focus on delivering valuable contents to the audience are the ones who are most successful. This kind of organic-first approach will still be very effective next year, but you must not ignore the growing popularity of SERP features either.
Local results, panel of answers (Knowledge panels), featured snippets, business location and Maps integration, along with other SERP features, will be even more important next year. Organic traffic is the best, but you can reach so much more potential audience by focusing on these features.
Structured SEO Data
It is also worth noting that Google now ranks websites with structured data better. When your site includes better snippets and meta tags for displaying reviews and recommended pages as part of its Schema, it is more likely to appear at the top of search results.
User Engagement First
No more chasing after big numbers and trying to inflate your social media presence. 2018 is the year of user engagement. Inflating your numbers on social media will actually have negative impacts on your digital marketing efforts.
When you buy views in an attempt to appear more popular on YouTube or Instagram, for example, you lose opportunities to get featured generically. The algorithms behind social media are changing and taking steps to really engage the audience is the way to go moving forward.
Speaking of social media algorithms….
Pay for Exposure
There have been a lot of debates about Instagram’s new algorithms. Content creators are seeing a steep decline in exposure and user engagement and they can’t seem to figure out why the decline is happening. For businesses, however, the changes are much easier to understand.
As mentioned in the previous part, user engagement is the primary metric nowadays. The more users engage with your content, the more visible the content will be in return. What about exposure? You have more advertising options to use (at lower prices nonetheless) instead. Work with the best search engine marketing agency to reach new potential customers and attract more viewers.
Be the Best
Last but not least, you really can’t put user experience in the back seat any longer. To survive the competitive digital marketing landscape of 2018, you have to work twice as hard to ensure maximum user satisfaction.
User experience is about maintaining a smooth flow and providing maximum usability. Achieve these two goals, and the rest of your digital marketing goals will follow. Better user experience translates to more user engagement, which in turn will help you gain more exposure on all platforms.
So, are you ready for 2018? Be prepared for the shifts and new trends forming on the market. Start right now and stay two steps ahead of the competition.
