{"id":143521,"date":"2021-09-15T12:44:40","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T12:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginewatch.com\/?p=143521"},"modified":"2021-09-15T12:44:40","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T12:44:40","slug":"the-future-seo-boardroom-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2021\/09\/15\/the-future-seo-boardroom-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future SEO: Boardroom edition"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"well\">\n<h3>30-second summary:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>SEO&#8217;s dynamic nature and Google&#8217;s mysterious algorithm specifics keep the industry on its toes<\/li>\n<li>Is it possible to simply spot the inefficiencies of SEO in its infancy and foresee trends?<\/li>\n<li>With over 20 years of leadership roles, SEO pioneer Kris Jones taps into his experience to help SEOs derive more strategic value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pretty much anytime we speak about something\u2019s future, we\u2019re doing something called extrapolating. By definition, extrapolating involves extending existing data or trends to assume the same procedure will continue in the future. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s a form of the scientific method that we probably use every day in our own lives, quite reasonably, too: the summers will be hot, the downtown traffic will be bad at 9 AM, and the sun will rise tomorrow morning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But how can we look into the future of something as complex and ever-changing as SEO? As with all cases of hindsight, we are clear on how SEO began and how it has transformed over time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We see the inefficiencies of SEO in its infancy and how advancing search engines have altered the playing field.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The catch is this: how can we surmise about the future of SEO without having access to all the mysterious algorithm specifics that Google itself holds?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The answer is simple: we have to extrapolate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve seen SEO from the boardroom perspective for more than 20 years. I\u2019ve seen the old days of keyword stuffing to the semi-modernization of the late 2000s to the absolute beast that Google has become now, in the 2020s.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given that, where do I think SEO is going in the not-too-distant future? <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some thoughts on that.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>User intent will remain crucial<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One aspect of SEO that is essential right now and will become only more vital as time goes on is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2019\/06\/05\/using-search-intent-for-seo\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">user intent<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in search queries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s an antiquated view to think that Google still cares much about exact-match keywords. Maybe 15 to 20 years ago, getting keywords exactly right in your content was a huge deal. Google matched queries to corresponding word strings in content and then served the best of that content to a user.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, trying to optimize for exact-match keywords is a futile effort, as Google now understands the intent behind every query, and it\u2019s only going to get better at it as time goes by.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you recall Google\u2019s BERT update from late 2019, you\u2019ll remember that this was the change that allowed Google to comprehend the context of each search query, or the meaning behind the words themselves. And the latest <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2021\/09\/02\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-google-mum-update\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Multitask Unified Model (MUM) update<\/a> adds further depth and dimensions to understanding search intent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No longer does Google look only at the words \u201cfamily attractions.\u201d It knows that that query references children\u2019s activities, fun activities, and events that are generally lighthearted and innocent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And all of that came from two words. How did Google do it? Its consistent algorithm updates have allowed it to think like a human.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All of this is to say that user intent has to be part of your keyword and content strategy going forward when you\u2019re doing SEO.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Produce more evergreen content<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes, over the years, I have heard people mention that devising an effective <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2021\/07\/28\/six-content-ideas-to-supercharge-your-marketing-in-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing strategy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is difficult because as soon as a topic\u2019s period of relevance is over, that content will never rank again. Use your data to analyze content performance and strike the right balance between content and formats.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you don\u2019t know any more about this subject, you might be tempted to believe that. Maybe, at one time, you got a content piece entitled \u201cTop Furniture Brands of 2019\u201d to rank for the featured snippet. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That makes sense. The post was probably a long listicle that described the best brands and linked out to the manufacturers\u2019 websites or retail stores that carried those brands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But maybe, as spring of 2019 transitioned into fall and winter, that post fell way down the rankings and now can\u2019t be found anywhere anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reason is obvious: you haven\u2019t made the content evergreen. The best furniture brands of 2019 may not be the best brands of 2020 or 2021 or 2022. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, what do you do? You put the work in to make the blog post evergreen by updating it. Go through and change out the best brands, change the content, change the post\u2019s title, and then republish the post.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can also just plain focus on subjects that will almost never need any updating at all:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cTop 20 Christmas cookies to bake this year\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHow to train a dog\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c10 Steps for Hanging Heavy Objects on the Wall\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether it\u2019s 2021 or 2050 or 2100, there are going to be people who have never hung a thing on a wall before and will need some help online.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whatever your market niche is, do some topic research in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Answer the Public<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Semrush<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BuzzSumo<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to find relevant subjects for you. You can also mine the SERPs to see what kinds of content are ranking already for your desired topics. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just remember to mix in plenty of evergreen content with your more timely content posts. Google will reward you for it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Mobile will remain first<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This final point is about mobile-first indexing, but you likely already know about that. It\u2019s certainly no secret that Google is going to rank your website\u2019s mobile version when it crawls your pages. About <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesearchreview.com\/60-percent-online-searches-mobile-devices-07212\/#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20report%20from,and%20Beverage)%20reaching%2072%20percent.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">60 percent of all searches<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are now performed on mobile devices, and so Google now prioritizes a site\u2019s mobile web pages over the desktop versions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As I said, you knew all that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What some people still may not know is that Google\u2019s new <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2021\/01\/13\/core-web-vitals-report-28-ways-to-supercharge-your-site\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Core Web Vitals<\/a> should be a major part of your mobile page optimizations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Core Web Vitals are primarily a web-dev task. Overall, the three vitals work together to give users positive, seamless experiences when they access a web page.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The vitals are Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), and First Input Delay (FID).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CLS refers to the amount of moving around that a web page\u2019s content does before it actually loads fully.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have a high CLS, that\u2019s bad. It means some elements are appearing before the page loads all the way, which increases the chances of a user clicking on something that then moves elsewhere. That, in turn, means the user will probably click on something unintended.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LCP, meanwhile, is the time it takes for a page\u2019s content to appear. It specifically refers to the amount of time between when you click on a URL and when the majority of that URL\u2019s content appears for you to see.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, FID measures how long it takes users to be able to interact with a web page in any way. These actions could be typing in a field or clicking menu items.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even if you don\u2019t work in web development, you can see how useful these three measures actually are. They all take user experience into account, which, coincidentally, is why they are part of Google\u2019s larger <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2021\/01\/04\/google-page-experience-update-is-all-set-to-launch-in-may-2021-webmasters-hang-in-there\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2021 Page Experience update<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Core Web Vitals are essential in and of themselves, but I think my \u201cboardroom\u201d perspective on them is one we can all safely adopt: that they are just examples of more great things to come from Google.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The search engine giant is always thinking of new ways to make users have better, more helpful, and more positive experiences on its platform. As SEOs, we need to be ready to respond so we don\u2019t get left in the dust.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>To know the future, look to the past<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We know that extrapolation can be taken only so far, but that\u2019s why the past is so vital to understand. It can give us hints at what lies ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What will Google think of next? It\u2019s going to respond to whatever need is out there for improved online search experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think of 2020, when the pandemic was in its infancy. People needed information, and Google responded. Within months, you could tell whether restaurants were requiring masks indoors, how many virus cases were in your county, and where you could go for more information or help.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What, then, is the future of SEO? It\u2019s going to be whatever the masses need it to become.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Kris Jones is the founder and former CEO of digital marketing and affiliate network Pepperjam, which he sold to eBay Enterprises in 2009. Most recently Kris founded SEO services and software company\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lseo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"0\">LSEO.com<\/a>\u00a0and has previously invested in numerous successful technology companies. Kris is an experienced public speaker and is the author of one of the best-selling SEO books of all time called, \u2018Search-Engine Optimization \u2013 Your Visual Blueprint to Effective Internet Marketing\u2019, which has sold nearly 100,000 copies.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Subscribe to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/#newsletter-modal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Search Engine Watch newsletter<\/a> for insights on SEO, the search landscape, search marketing, digital marketing, leadership, podcasts, and more.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Join the conversation with us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/61126\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sewatch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thoughts of an SEO pioneer on where SEO is headed in the not-too-distant future<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1092,"featured_media":143526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,5],"tags":[369,37,28127,6142,28065,986,974,22],"content_type":[],"class_list":["post-143521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","category-seo","tag-evergreen-content","tag-google","tag-google-mum-multitask-unified-model","tag-industry","tag-influencer-commentary","tag-keyword-optimization","tag-search-intent","tag-seo"],"acf":{"tad_independentcommercial":false,"tad_content_format":false},"post_info":{"name":"idris.nagri@blenheimchalcot.com idris.nagri@blenheimchalcot.com","title":"","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/The-Future-SEO-Board-room-edition.png","category":"Industry","timeago":"4y"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1092"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143521"},{"taxonomy":"content_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content_type?post=143521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}