The world of SEO is in constant flux – that much you know already. But things are changing fast, and we’re seeing new trends emerge as search engines alter the way that they provide services to customers. SEO changes a lot and you need to be on top of it to make it worthwhile for your business, if you struggle with this there are people you can get help from like an SEO company.

Some of these changes are welcome, but most of them can have you fretting. Don’t worry, though: Google and the others aren’t killing the ecosystem. You just need to know how to roll with the punches. When you do, you’ll come out on top. 

Zero-Click Searches Are Dominating

Google wants to provide its users with information as soon as it can. For that reason, it has started implementing “zero-click searches.” The idea here is to allow users to type in their queries into the search bar and for them to see an answer to their question immediately. They don’t even need to hit the search button or press “enter.” The solution they seek pops up automatically. 

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So what’s the response to this?

The first is to make sure that you’re the one providing the information. If a customer types in a question about your address or phone number, it pays to serve it up there and then. Users can then use that information to contact you and find out more. 

You can also investigate which of these zero-click searches are most likely to lead to follow-ups. 

If someone types in “what’s the speed of light?” and Google spits out an answer of “300 million metres per second” then people are unlikely to take it further. If, however, the question relates to a product, then they might seek more information. It’s always worth being the business that is behind the zero-click answer. 

Feature In Rich And Featured Snippets

Let’s suppose that a user decides to hit “enter” and proceeds with their search. Then what? 

Google has a penchant for serving up what it calls “rich snippets.” The idea here is to provide customers with a box in search results that answers their question. 

Notice again that the user doesn’t actually wind up on your webpage. Google just presents the answer to them upfront by lifting the text from your website. 

Rich snippets are becoming an increasingly important part of SEO. The aim of the game is to be the business behind the snippet. It might sound like a disadvantage, but the more you stand out, the more likely the user is to click through. 

To get on the rich snippet roster, you need to provide quick, snappy and accurate answers to annoying questions. Your web pages should feature quality explanations that let customers know precisely the answer to their queries. The better you can do that, the more likely you’ll feature. 

BERT Is Here To Stay

Google wants to bring an end to keyword-stuffed pages that don’t really add a lot of value. It recently introduced a new algorithm called BERT which effectively brings that practice to an end. 

If companies want to provide value in the future, they will need to construct well-written web pages, not just mindless junk.