Mobile majority
Mobile users now account for more than half of all website visits worldwide; mobile use passed desktop in October 2016. In the US, mobile user share was “only” 37% in December, but that’s up from 27% at the start of the year. The trend’s clear:
Consumer sites in our client portfolio already show a mobile-majority user base. B2B web audiences remain PC-centric, but even those sites still see 15–25% mobile use.
Google is now mobile-first
In 2014, Google started indicating “mobile friendly” sites in search results. This helped users find easy-to-read sites. As of a few months ago, though, that marker is gone. Google says more than 85% of sites are now mobile-friendly, so it’s no longer a meaningful label.
That also means that having a mobile-friendly site is no longer a differentiator that could help you gain traffic. It’s simply expected that your site will work well on mobile.
Search results will use mobile content, not desktop
If a site publishes different content for mobile vs. desktop visitors, Google will now prefer the content from mobile when deciding whether or not to show your site.
If you have a mobile site with only some of the content that’s available on the desktop site, your search rankings are about to take a hard fall.
If your site is responsive, you have nothing to worry about. The days of the “m-dot” limited-content mobile site are numbered.
Algorithms, knowledge and truth
In 2016 there were, as always, some significant changes to Google’s ranking engines. Penguin 4.0 made disavowing spam links critical, the mobile-friendly site signal got stronger, and Possum improved Google’s awareness of local business and searcher location while filtering duplicates more effectively. (Aside: Moz maintains a comprehensive history of Google algorithm changes. Check it out.)
For years we’ve saidcontent is king. It’s a lot of work to creategreat content.
Google and Bing have become very, very good at understanding both the meaning of content on a site and the intent of a searcher. This has made keyword stuffing less effective as an SEO tactic, and quality of writing and density of information is much more important.
The One True Answer
For some years Google and Bing have been providing answers right in the search results screen — no extra clicks needed. Whether referred to as “featured snippets”, “rich results” or anything else, what they do is encapsulate the answer to a question.
Despite initial concern that this would “steal” clicks from websites, it turns out that sites providing featured snippet content get a higher click-through rate than they did even when they were the #1 search result.
Targeting your pages’ content for featured snippets is a worthwhile goal, once you’ve managed to get your page into the first page of results. But there’s another reason you want to be there other than just clicks…
Meet Alexa, Cortana, Siri and OK Google
Voice search started almost as a novelty on Android KitKat in 2013, and has been a minor part of Apple’s Siri since 2011. In the past year we’ve finally seen some more mainstream products gain toeholds in our homes.
Amazon’s Echo sits quietly in your home, listening to everything. Just say “Alexa” and you can play music or ask for information, and it tells you. It’s ambient, always-there search. Echo completely sold out before Christmas. (I borrowed an Echo for a few days to check it out. Months later my kids are still asking me to bring back Alexa.)
Google’s answer to Echo, Google Home, works much the same way and has been supported with heavy advertising on prime time TV. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Microsoft start selling a Cortana-powered Echo-like gadget this year. And, don’t forget that all of Apple’s current iPhones are constantly listening for their owners to say “Hey Siri”.
The obvious case for voice is “Cortana, turn on the living room lights”, or “Alexa, play Geidi Prime by Grimes”. But when backed by intelligent systems that can understand the intent of your query, and are reasonably certain they have the one true answer to your query, the whole picture changes.
Ambient Information
When your always-listening digital assistant can answer nearly any question, answers become ubiquitous. And whoever provides that best answer is rewarded with not just traditional web search traffic, but very low competition referrals:
Earning top ranking position has just become a lot more valuable.
One in five searches from the Google App on iOS & Android are voice searches, but don’t think this is a phone-only thing. One quarter of Bing searches in Windows 10 are voice searches. Siri now runs on most Macs. Amazon Echo continues to sell like hotcakes. Voice is real. It’s here.
What to do in 2017
SEO has long passed simple keyword optimization; it’s now pretty standard to use rich, meaningful content to targeting search phrases.
Voice queries tend to be longer than traditional queries, and tend to be natural language, not series of keywords. Instead of “recipe taco seasoning”, think “What spices are in taco seasoning?”, “What kind of sauce for fish tacos?” or “Where can I get good taco seasoning?”.
It’s time to start adapting your content strategy to support voice search. A few tips:
- Write with a natural, conversational tone. Look for natural language searches in Google Search Console to get a sense of how visitors talk about your subject/product/service. And pay attention to Google’s “People also ask” search suggestions.
- Answer the Five W’s: Who, What, Where, When, Why. FAQs are well-suited to this, but not required. So long as your content answers a question usefully and clearly, your page will be a good candidate for top results.
- Make sure your local listings are correct. Does Yelp have the right phone number, website and street address for your company? Are there good photos in your Google Local listings?
- Use voice search yourself. You don’t have to run buy an Echo, but do use the voice search already present on your phone, tablet or PC. Whenever you have a question, try asking your voice assistant before you turn to your web browser. It will give you a much better sense of how people are using voice to find answers, and what your answers should be.
- If you buy an Echo, choose your house guests carefully.
