Trying to figure out what’s going to be hot in the world of SEO requires a crystal ball. Those of us not privileged enough to have such psychic abilities must rely on the experts and analysts at various search engine focused websites to help us predict what to expect. Staying on top of the latest tech news, industry press announcements, optimization-focused boards, and other related data can help give you the edge over other optimizers and developers - and assist you in anticipating what your next move should be... So when does Google next dance, you ask?
While SEO is never an exact science – and WiredGuy still publicizes a quote from WebAccess Santa Monica where a panelist stated there was no money to be made in SEO, it should be stated for the record that NOBODY has the ability to accurately predict the future – but certain SEO trends can always shed some light on what’s to come.
- In the on-going search engine wars, most analysts feel that Google will continue to pull ahead of both Yahoo and Microsoft despite efforts by both to further penetrate the markets. Yahoo and Microsoft have lots of strategies planned, including cooperative efforts with other popular Web properties such as Firefox, but Google has much planned as well. 4th runner up Ask.com continues to plow ahead, attempting to launch more ‘Web 2.0’ features to increase relevance and appeal. Google however, vaunted due to its widespread popularity having gained it a place in the Webster’s New Millenium English Dictionary, will keep leading the pack.
- Semantic and standards-compliant Web development trends will keep plugging away, with more users paying attention to tagging and reaping the SE benefits of relevant mark-up. In addition, due to the renewed interest in standards-compliant development with the onset of Web 2.0, more developers will be building more “accessible” sites that cater to visitors with disabilities and users that surf via mobile devices just for starters...
- Statistical analysis service OneStat.com released a report last year that revealed that only 11% of all online users are searching with one-word inquiries on the major search engines. This means that keyword phrases and relevant text content has become even more valuable as users learn how to tweak their search entries in order to gain more applicable results. The report also revealed that two-word queries were conducted nearly 29% of the time and three-word queries were conducted nearly 28% of the time. Searching habits were also broken down by country, revealing that Canadians are more likely to use four-word queries and Germans are more likely to use two-word queries – and you can stay tuned to JoeD for more information on EU search engines and message boards.
- Jupiter Research released a report of its own which exposed that online advertising has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years and is expected to comprise nearly 9% of all advertising by 2011. But the best news comes for those of us who work in search marketing and/or buy and sell search-based advertising: Which ever side you are on, by 2011 it is expected that SE-based marketing will comprise at least 43% of all online advertising at an estimated $11.1 billion...definitely something to consider…
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