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Search engine optimization is the pathway to increasing the quality and quantity of online traffic by enhancing the perceptibility of the web page to consumers of a web search engine. A significant aspect of this optimization lies in the competitor analysis and ranking factors of keywords. Hence, this article provides an overview of the trends to follow in 2019 for SEO.

Be Aware Of the Latest E-Commerce SEO Trends

The most relevant trends to know about according to the 47% of top SEO professionals are:

1. Figure Out What The User Wants:

What does your audience prefer- audio or image or simple text? According to the experts, it is vital to understand what the audience wants in 2019. CEO of Market Mindshift, Miny Weinstein says that one needs to understand the user’s query and answer them accordingly.

Content won’t grow if it’s meant for the wrong audience even if it’s superbly written. As the CEO of Express Writers states that if one’s website heightens the user’s journey, then it is successful. The new-age high-ranking websites are all about the requirements of the users worldwide. It is essential to focus on the content and how it can reply to the queries of the target audiences.

2. The Key Is Structured Data Markup:

Structured data is added straight to a page’s HTML markup. Search engines use standardized data to produce rich snippets, which appear in search results. For example, if someone searches for a restaurant, they can view the details about it along with its name. So structured data markup is essential to magnify the success of the website.

3. Invest In Technical SEO:

Technical SEO has gathered itself quite popularity and will be very important in 2019. The key areas to consider in technical SEO are Speed, JavaScript, and the Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). Users won’t prefer websites that take forever to load. Hence working on technical SEO is vital in 2019 to enhance the visibility of the website.

4. Move Past The Google Search:

Google has always dominated the search market, but recently Amazon is getting a massive share of the e-commerce traffic. So to boost up your business, get into the field to fight out the different search engines in the cyber world.

One needs to optimize its content according to the users’ gadgets too. That refers to enhancing it for gadgets like mobile phones, speakers, etc. As studies suggest, 55% of houses would have smart speaking devices. So to keep to the race, enhance features of the site to satisfy the user’s requirements.

5. Construct Brilliant Content:

As Jeff Bullas states that quality content allows the creator to establish a special bond with their readers. 2018 saw the focus shifting to the content of the articles which need working in 2019 too. Content will always be the king, and proper content will always attract the right audience for it. Correct content also helps to get appropriate links to associate them with the website increasing its popularity.

6. Increase The E-A-T:

Another key trend to follow in 2019 is E-A-T. It refers to Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness in terms of Google’s search quality rating rules. Few tips to optimize the E-A-T signals are:

• Ensure the security of the website
• Make investments in generating reviews and user management
• Take advantage of the in-house experts
• Display the credentials
• Look for established and experienced journalists and writers
• Do a thorough research
• Make investments inaccuracy
• Make accessible communication with the public

7. Importance Of On-Page Optimization:

On-page optimization is another feature to work upon in 2019. This feature ensures that web pages are ranked superior to attract high-end traffic consistently. On-page optimization refers to both HTML source code and the content of a website or page which can be enhanced concurrently.

Some critical webpage optimization includes:

• Shortening the conversion process,
• Content that replies to the general users’ questions,
• Usage of chatbots
• Enhancing the content of the site
• Appropriate heading and titles, etc.

8. Enhance “Voice-Search”:

People now prefer searching using their voice rather than typing. That is because it is easier to ask the search engines to look for answers rather than typing them. Even this feature is gaining popularity among people who prefer their native languages. Hence enhancing this feature would garner more popularity among the users.

9. Shift The Focus On Machine Learning:

As there is a rise in the artificial intelligence system, there is a steep rise in machine learning. Machine learning is the ability of the machines to study and improvise from previous experiences automatically. It is a process that can utilize data, learn from it, and make decisions without much human intervention. As it eases out the problems faced by computers, hence shift the focus on machine learning for better results.

10. Incorporation Of Featured Snippets:

Featured snippets have been there for an extended period of time but only a few years back gained popularity. They respond to specific questions but don’t just directly resemble the relevance algorithm of Google search.

Featured snippets are of 3 types:

• Paragraph Snippet which appears during a voice search
• List snippets appear mostly during recipe searches
• Table snippets come from customized tables relevant to specific searches

SEO trends, by their very description, are recurring. However, they’re also a product of the continuous developments of the SEO concept. For this, you need a professional SEO agency that will take care of your business. Hence, it is worthy of investing in the study and researches governing such events.

The constant incoming of new technologies and ideas ensures that the digital marketing landscape continues to evolve in 2018. Though it is always important to know the latest trends going on in the market, according to digital marketers, this year the best approach is to go for a good blend of the basics and the upcoming trends. After all, simply getting the latest technology at your disposal is no good if you are unable to use it rightly. And it is not wise to write off all the old methods thinking they have had their run because the focus still remains on product, customers, and what works for a business.

A winning strategy for e-commerce marketing is definitely ambitious but not immeasurable and unattainable. According to certain statistics, the global e-commerce market is going to grow by 21% this year and that presents massive growth opportunities for your business. The following are the top ideas in writing an e-commerce marketing plan that you need to try out in 2018.

Defining Your Resources

Before you get into the details of the marketing strategy, the first thing to consider is the resources that you possess and that includes everything from tools, team, to budget.

Tools: There are ample numbers of tools present to help you with the marketing strategy. These are the tools that help in boosting the revenue.

Team: The work of the team or yourself (if you are that one man army!) is to sort out the tasks according to priorities and set the plan for reflecting the skills and size of the team. The key lies in making the most of your time.

Budget: The budget, regardless of the size of your business, has a limit. Make sure that a marketing budget is set early on before you chalk out the rest of the plan. This guides you to a real plan.

Search Engine Optimization

For all the times that you have heard that SEO is longer relevant, it is time to negate those statements as SEO is here to stay for the year 2018. Did you know that about 87% of the clicks for organic searches go to the first five links? Still thinking not considering SEO as a marketing factor is a good idea?

The foremost factor driving SEO is the content and that incorporates all the keywords, product titles, and written copies that you have in the website. The first step of setting up SEO practices for your website is through running a thorough audit. The audit includes off-site and on-site analysis, keyword search, and technical analysis. After you are done on the points of auditing, the picture is clear in your mind about what you need to do. During the audit itself you will understand that it is not all about the keywords but rather the focus should be on creating relevant and high quality content.

However, do not let that give you the idea that keyword search is any less important. You need to choose the keywords carefully. The ones that are too popular would make you get lost among the big rivals in the game but at the same time, you need to set up something that people are actually searching for.

Pay Per Click Advertisements

If you are a new e-commerce store that wants to promote the business on Google, going for Pay per Click adverts would be a sound decision. With all its advantages, it is also true that SEO takes time to show you the results. PPC, on the other hand, is one of the quickest ways to come on the first page. Another good thing about pay per click is that you can easily check the results and also track the click rate on that page. The campaign can accordingly be modified according to the budget constraints that you have. Thus, it also saves you from overstepping your budget. It starts from barely a few cents and the end results make it highly cost efficient option and it is one of the best ways to get to the top of the search results.

There are two pointers that you need to keep in mind right here:

It is different from search results: When you are paying to come in the search results, the results do not appear in the same way as the organic results. A sponsored list comes on top of the actual organic search results.

It is not an add-on to SEO: Such advertisements do not have any direct bearing on SEO. You might be spending on Google but that does not guarantee that your rankings will be bumped up. Having said that, you will definitely have a good position in the search results thus, the extra traffic will come to you site.

Content Marketing

When considering on a long-term basis, the greatest way of ranking on the search engines is through having the consistency of creating relevant, high quality content. This includes all of the things that are written on your website. So, if you do not have a blog yet, start creating it right now.

Having a maintained and fresh blog that is constantly updated with interesting posts will help you in standing out from the competitors. The algorithms of Google are really smart at finding and ranking good content. In terms of ideal content, it by and large depends on the business that you have. In a survey done in 2016, it was seen that the pages ranking in the top ten of Google pages had about 1,890 words. Strong evidence also suggests that customers prefer to read informative and authoritative posts. So, the general consensus holds that long content with enough information has a good chance of standing out in the crowd.

Even if you cannot update with great frequency, do not move your focus from informative and unique content. It helps if you research beforehand on the type of content that your audience wants to read and deliver accordingly. Keep the comments enabled and engage with the readers as it works to your advantage in getting the ranks.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the most classic strategies of e-commerce marketing but it still holds its ground this year. The reason why email marketing is not going to lose its popularity anytime soon: you get a return on investments at the rate of $44 for every dollar spent. This is higher than all other forms of marketing that you can try for your business!

In this year, you can expect email marketing to develop and get merged with artificial intelligence (AI). AI is already making the impact felt through optimization of the subject lines, testing, and copy. AI will even help in the collection of data for a business and thus, you will be able to reach out to the audience in a much more personalized way.

For an e-commerce site, email marketing does work to an advantage as it lets you communicate with the buyers directly. But, the way to success is having a fresh listing of interested customers. The emails need to be segmented so that they cater to recipient’s interests and that is only possible through a deep understanding of the buyer’s personas.

Social Media

Social media is actually one of the major things that make the world of digital marketing go round. There are already more than 2.46 billion people on the social media platforms all over the world and this is one number that is only expected to rise in the times to come. You can already fathom the huge marketing potential that lies there for any e-commerce platform. But do not let that give you the idea that your aim should be to stay on every possible social media pages out there. The trick lies in managing the resources and using the ones that help you in reaching out to the target audience.

Social media actually acts as a customer service instrument for an e-commerce platform. An e-commerce platform having a strong presence on the social media forums pays off immensely. The buyers who get a positive experience on social media also suggest that company to other friends of theirs and thus, the efforts pay off.

92% of buyers read online the product reviews and thus, it will help your business to stay on track if you continuously monitor social media for feedback. It is all about going and pleasing a wide audience.

A successful e-commerce marketing plan begins with having a good understanding of the target market. And this is something that will remain unchanged through the years. There can never be such a thing called enough research as you need as much information as possible to set your plan of action. Start the strategizing process as soon as possible rather than getting into the thick of the things and then planning the next move. This is the ideal e-commerce marketing plan for the year 2018, and as it seems, even beyond this year.

The Skyscraper Technique is the brainchild of Brian Dean, founder of Backlinko. The first time he used this technique, his website witnessed double the traffic in no more than two weeks. The technique is named Skyscraper as it has the potential to create 10x the value of competition.

What is the Skyscraper Technique?

Briefly, the technique is all about finding the right and popular content, creating a better copy of it, and getting backlinks naturally as well as after reaching out to a targeted audience. That is exactly how this technique is so popular. You are taking the tallest building that exists, adding a few more floors to it, and it is sorted.

Luckily, you need not hire too many engineers to build a new team merely for creating Skyscraper posts. Only a handful of people can do it if they know the technique well.

What makes the Skyscraper technique so popular?

• Create high-quality content that benefits users
• Increase social shares
• Increase backlinks to blog posts (the most important aspect of off-page SEO)
• Enhance authority
• Increase blog comments
• Improve blog exposure
• Increase overall blog traffic from all search engines
• Build stronger and long-lasting relationships with fellow bloggers

Overall, this technique uses a proven and strategic content creation framework, which allows you to achieve higher Google rankings and get more number of blog readers. That is exactly what you need to build a profitable site and business.

How to Use the Skyscraper Technique to Build Quality Links

Following a step-by-step guide, you can build a Skyscraper technique to acquire quality backlinks and create exceptional content.

Step#1: List of High-Quality Sharable Content Ideas

The first and foremost Skyscraper technique is to ensure you find link-worthy content – that is content with a proven track record of excellent performance in a specific niche.

For instance, if an article, blog post, infographic or video in your niche is performing exceptionally well, it means that piece has great potential to attract more and more visitors, perhaps in millions. Shift your focus to “viral ideas.”

How would you find sharable content in your niche? What do you need for that?

You can use several blogging tools for Skyscraper technique such as Buzzsumo (for highly sharable topic ideas) and MoZ (for top pages with more links to the competitor sites).

There are some more handy tools to find brilliant content ideas in any niche, such as Twitter and Topsy. While Twitter is a powerful social platform for microblogging, Topsy is a free tool that shows you what is trending and the articles getting more comments and retweets.

Step#2: Create Exceptional Content Based on Your Ideas

Once you are ready with the list of most popular topic ideas, you have to create unique and attractive content for best results. The idea is to create exceptional and epic content in order to get exceptional results from this unique SEO technique. If your readers do not benefit from the content, or they do not find it useful, you cannot get good results with the Skyscraper Technique. Without quality content, your business won’t be noticed and link to your niche posts won’t be shared.

So, what to do to make sure your content performs better?

• Add an exceptional value to your content
• Create detailed content citing everything you want to share with your target audience
• Make the content more attractive by adding images, infographics, or videos
• Use data backed up by research to create authoritative content

Step#3: Contact the Right People for Links

Are you ready with a brilliant post? Then, it’s time to out your Skyscraper tactic into action.

The right time to contact bloggers and webmasters might take interest in sharing your post. However, before going ahead, bear these things in mind:

• Target only those people whose blogs and website are relevant to your niche
• Get personal and communicative; it works
• Be polite

You can communicate through emails or webmail, as you prefer.

Here, the key is to find out the right kind of people who would take interest in promoting or linking your content to get rewards from the same. Here, you can use tools like BuzzSumo, SEMRush or Ahrefsto spot websites having links to your competitor’s articles. In fact, you can have an entire directory of targeted people with email addresses for fast and effective communication.

Step#4: Pitch to your Influencers and Follow Up

For a guaranteed success rate, you have to send “personalized” emails and messages to your influencers. In this case, the one-size-fits-all pitch does not work; influencers can easily spot such mundane efforts. So, here’s what you should do:

• Create personalized emails covering all the information on influencer’s content. Include the real value you are willing to provide them and to your audience linking to your blog. Your cold emails can do it right.

• Follow up, always. As per the USC Viterbi School of Engineering study, 90% of relies are sent within one or two days of receiving email. Hence, if you don’t get a response within two days, you probably won’t receive it ever, unless of course, you follow up. The 3-3-7 formula works well here. You would be following up there in two weeks, twice in the first week and once in the second week. If done properly, chances are that you would get 10% to 20% positive response.