Industry & SEO Updates for 2013

In the ever evolving industry of online marketing, everyone is always looking forward to what is going to be the next big thing in the online sector. Here at Yoma we are no different, we need to have our finger on the pulse and know what is going to impact the industry so we can ensure our clients are well prepared to maximise conversion.

In this  post, we will be focusing on two main areas of interest for 2013; Mobile websites and algorithm changes.
Mobile Website
For the past couple of years, everyone has predicted that mobile websites will be the next big thing and this year is no different.
During 2012 we have seen mobile website traffic increase at an outstanding rate. Using client’s data the percentage of mobile traffic ranges between 25% and 40% of overall traffic and on average having a conversion rate 30-50% lower than that of desktops. These figure are too high to ignore.
As you are probably aware browsing websites on a smartphone is a completely different experience to browsing on a desktop or laptop. On phones, people want to see large stunning images, rather than small unreadable text. The navigation needs to be simplified and user friendly, avoiding small links and onsite search.
There are two options to a solution,the first is an app, these can can be expensive and have to be marketed which again, cost money. The second option is to create a mobile version of your website. This option is cheaper, more accessible to your customers, simpler to create and manage.
There are also other benefits that need to be considered, first Google will favour sites that accommodate for their users. Having a mobile friendly version of the site with almost certainly have a positive effect on rankings.
This leads us onto our second point, the dreaded Google Algorithm updates…..
SEO Algorithm changes
As we are all aware by now (and if not, where have you been hiding). Google enjoys keeping everyone on their toes by updating their ranking algorithm’s to provide the customers with a better online experience. Amongst others the two main updates have been the Panda update followed by the Penguin update and with Google’s love of black and white animals beginning with P, don’t be surprised to see ‘Puffin’ or ‘Pelican’ update in 2013. Discussions have already begun to what this update will entail with many people favouring AuthorRank being heavily involved.
AuthorRank rank is designed credit good Authors for writing Google content. The general consensus that sites that have content written by Authors that have good AuthorRank will rank better than sites that content written ‘joe bloggs’. Which if you think about it, makes perfect sense, users want to read content written by reliable trusted sources and Google wants to rank sites that meet users needs.
Keep an eye on our blog for more information on what 2013 will bring for the online industry.