{"id":896,"date":"2018-12-14T12:19:03","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T20:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dickinsonent.com\/cortex\/?p=896"},"modified":"2018-12-14T12:20:59","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T20:20:59","slug":"top-seo-things-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dickinsonent.com\/cortex\/top-seo-things-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top 7 Things I\u2019ve Learned About SEO This Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2018 has been an eventful year for the SEO industry.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Steven van Vessum<\/a> at Search Engine Journal<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"SEO<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1. This Year\u2019s Google Updates Were Unparalleled (And No One Really Knows What Changed)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Search engines have been rolling out updates since the early days of the industry<\/a>\u2014 nothing new there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve seen big updates such as the Panda<\/a> and Penguin<\/a> updates, which had a massive impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet still, the frequency and complexity of the Google algorithm updates<\/a> we\u2019ve seen this year are unparalleled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. It\u2019s Google\u2019s World \u2013 We Just Live in It<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Everyday Google dictates the kind of SERP<\/a> we see, and what it contains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we have to deal with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re all just test subjects in Google\u2019s massive, continuously updating tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was borrowed from Search Engine Journal. To read the full article, <\/em>click here<\/em><\/a>! <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Google\u2019s Mobile-First Index Hasn\u2019t Had Much of an Impact (Yet)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Content<\/figure>
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Over the course of the year [while content was the ruler of the land],\u00a0the mobile-first index rolled out<\/a>, and\u2026 actually nothing much happened.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Back in November 2016, Google said they\u2019d roll out the mobile-first index slowly<\/a> and monitor its impact closely \u2014and that has turned out to be the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though the mobile-first index shift only changed how they gather their data, not how they rank sites, I still expected to see a lot more fluctuations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. SEO Pros Are Creatures of Habit & Dislike Change<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Even though we\u2019re part of a fast-moving industry, many SEO professionals are creatures of habit who dislike change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They don\u2019t like to change how they audit websites, the way they report, the tools they use, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know, SEO pros are human, too \u2014 and humans generally don\u2019t like change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you want to stay ahead of the curve, you need to innovate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was borrowed from Search Engine Journal. To read the full article, <\/em>click here<\/em><\/a>! <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. DuckDuckGo\u2019s Growth Has Picked Up, by a Lot<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

While they\u2019re still a small player in the world of search engines, DuckDuckGo<\/a>\u2019s growth has surprisingly picked up by a lot<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of November 26, they\u2019re processing 33.6 million direct queries per day, compared to 19.1 million a year before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Search Intent Is Extremely Important<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I think a lot of the Google updates we\u2019ve seen recently help Google serve the right results for the right search intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google has loads of user data, and they\u2019re continuously testing whether searchers are happy with the results that they\u2019re shown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never before has search intent<\/a> been as important as it is now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Google\u2019s Far from Perfect<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Google employs the smartest engineers and they\u2019re using the most advanced algorithms<\/a> to determine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n