It’s a new year which means that if you haven’t checked in on what’s working in SEO in 2019, now is as good a time as any. Search engine optimization constantly evolves and becomes more complex with each year out of necessity as what worked in the past is exploited by less than reputable marketers.
Fortunately on the other hand, there are many evergreen pillars to SEO which never go out of style. Let’s talk about the state of SEO in 2019 and what is going to help you rank in the new year.
SEO in 2019
User Metrics
User metrics remain one of the biggest signals which directly influence search engines. This is because it’s a literal representation of how someone interacts with your content and how much perceived value it has from real people.
Some of the most important user metrics to create and or tweak your content in the new year are:
Site Speed – The faster your website loads, the better user experience you are providing for your visitor. The easiest way to deliver a faster loading website is to:
- Remove bloated, slow loading content from your website, particularly your homepage. This means javascript, any unnecessary forms, special site loading animations, videos, etc.
- Minify your CSS, HTML, Java, and any other code. Run a code check on your site, as well, to ensure that it’s error free.
- Compress/optimize images when creating them and uploading them using a free plugin.
- Use a CMS to load your website from virtual servers around the world to more quickly deliver content regardless of where your user lives.
Bounce Rate – I love bounce rate just like Google because it’s a great indicator of whether or not someone found what they were looking for when they clicked through to your site from Google.
If someone is leaving your web page as quickly as they came to it, then it’s likely an indicator that either you’re targeting the wrong keyword for that content or your content just isn’t as good as your ranking.
Either way, it’s a mistake which Google and other search engines will soon remedy (and it won’t be in your favor).
I cover many other user metrics in my article on user metrics which will affect your ranking in Google, so check that out.
Ultimately, user metrics are driven by good content. You won’t have strong metrics without having good content, so let’s move on to what that means in regards to SEO in 2019.
Good Content
Good content starts with a good title to draw in your reader. Whether that’s from your home page or in the SERPs to allure them to click through, either way this is a positive metric. Refer to my article on how to write a great title for more information on this.
Of course good content in 2019 refers not only to the quality of the written/image/video content itself, but in how it’s presented, as well.
For example, if you have the absolute best content blog devoted to newborn child care but its accessibility and organization is an absolute mess, you’re not going to rank very well and no one will find it.
Think about the design of your site and ensure that your content is easily accessible and your site easily navigable. Use menu systems effectively accordingly. Ensure that your website is mobile friendly, as well.
Use free related post plugins to recommend the most relevant other articles and posts on your site when someone gets to the end of an article. This will help to keep them on your site and better the odds of turning them into a regular visitor.
Keyword Research in 2019
No compendium on SEO in 2019 would be complete without covered keyword research in 2019. Keywords are the gateways to your website, and while keyword research hasn’t changed drastically, let’s talk about the evergreen concepts and the direction it is trending.
Voice Search – Keyword research in 2019 continues to trend toward voice search. As smartphones continue to become more ubiquitous, an ever growing part of the population are performing voice searches to find the information they need on the go out of simplicity.
This can alter your approach to keyword research as you might think about targeting “conversational keywords”.
You can do this by putting yourself in the shoes of your audience. Ask the kinds of questions your audience might ask Google aloud and base your keyword research around those keywords accordingly to see what kind of traffic you can expect.
Some niches lend themselves to being more heavily tilted to voice style search than others. Brick and mortar stores/local SEO options is an obvious example, but don’t assume voice search doesn’t apply to you depending on your niche. Again, putting yourself in the shoes of your audience is invaluable.
Four Pillars – Whether you’re targeting conventional or conversational keywords, don’t forget to implement the four pillars of keyword research to ensure that these keywords are worth targeting.
This simple means ensuring that each keyword you target ticks each of the four pillars, including relevance, low competition, high search volume, and commerciality. Refer to my post on what is a good keyword for more information.
Start Long, End Short – If you’re starting out with digital marketing for the first time or you’re simply starting a new site, you can’t rely on site authority to help you rank. Therefore, you need to target less competitive (and likely lower search volume) keywords.
Security
Search engines and web browsers are constantly vigilante in looking for any danger their users might be in if they visit less than secure websites. Let’s drill down a couple security tips to help your rankings in innumerable ways.
SSL – SSL, or secure sockets layer, creates a secure tunnel which information exchanges between your and your website’s visitors can pass through. This shields sensitive information from unscrupulous third parties looking to intercept this data.
Whether your website collects or sends any information from your users or not, it’s a good idea to get SSL compliant in the new year if you haven’t already. Plus it’s completely free, and I show you how to do it quick and easy in this article on htaccess SSL.
Just keep in mind that if you don’t update your site to an SSL configuration, the SEO effects in 2019 and beyond can be severe as web browsers flag these sites to their users. This effectively warns them to avoid your site which will cost you both traffic and rankings, not to mention search engines appreciate SSL configured sites, as well.
Brute Force Hack Protection – If you have a site which you log into from a static URL like with WordPress or Drupal then hackers can bombard the sign in form with millions of automated combinations until they gain access.
Do yourself a favor and get a brute force plugin to limit the number of login attempts someone can make before getting temporarily banned from further attempts. Here are a number of free options.
Malware Checks – In keeping in the same vein, make sure you have a malware/security plugin activated to notify you if anyone does gain access to your site that you don’t want. These plugins can let you know if someone makes changes to your site or even if someone tries logging in from an unfamiliar source.
Here are a number of free options for this, as well.
SEO in 2019
The main takeaway for SEO in 2019 is that search engines continue to get smarter and continue to put their audiences first.
With that in mind, creating the best possible product for your visitors using the tips mentioned above is the best way to ensure that you simultaneously please both your site’s visitors as well as the search engines.