Google's 2019 SEO trends focus on mobile-first indexing, voice search optimization, and high-quality content. Other trends include optimizing for first impressions through featured snippets and RankBrain, strengthening brand reputation through mentions and links, ensuring technical SEO standards around speed and security, and expanding optimization beyond Google to include Amazon and YouTube. The document provides an action plan for each trend, advising site owners to understand how the trend affects their industry, ideate ways to implement related optimizations, and monitor results.

1. 2019 SEO Trends
March 12, 2019 @ tyntec GmbH
Munich Digital
Marketing InstituteX

3. Focus on your strategy first!
But...get inspired by the trends

4. About me: Baptiste Hausmann
TravelPrintsDesign

5. Today is going to be about...
Mobile
Content
Voice
Brand
Data
Technical
SEO
1st
impressions
Going
Beyond
Status Quo - Explanations - Actions

7. #1
Mobile-First

8. #1 - The facts are...
Not a new trend, it’s been a focus for ages! (in SEO-years)
More Mobile searches than Desktop searches (Google)
Google Efforts: Mobilegeddon (April 2015), Speed Update (July 2018), ....
Still most websites are not properly optimized for Mobile Traffic

9. #1 - Mobile-First Indexing?
You may have received...
If not...
+
More than 50% of pages shown in search results use mobile-first-indexing (Google)

10. Desktop-First Indexing Mobile-First Indexing
Crawl desktop
version first
Determines rankings
for mobile and desktop
Mobile version?
⇒ Boost mobile rank
Crawl mobileversion first
Determines rankings
for mobile and desktop
No mobile version?
⇒ Crawl desktop version

11. #1 - Action Plan
① Understand
❏ Is your niche/market that mobile-friendly?
⇒ Monitor your current mobile traffic share: is going mobile-friendly your top priority?
❏ How search engine see your mobile pages?
⇒ Crawl them with a mobile bot user-agent: Googlebot for smartphones

12. #1 - Action Plan
② Implement
What system to use for showing mobile site to mobile users?
⇒ Any mobile version type is fine. But best practice (Google): Responsive-Design
⇒ If your site has separate desktop and mobile content (dynamic serving and separate URLS):
❏ Your mobile site should contain the same content as your desktop site
❏ Structured data should be present on both versions of your site
❏ Metadata should be present on both versions of the site
Google’s best practices: https://developers.google.com/search/mobile-sites/mobile-first-indexing

13. #1 - Action Plan
③ Improve
★ Speed: Loading time, AMP
★ Content: unordered list, images,
keywords and related phrases in body
★ Social signals
★ Local search optimization
★ Structured data
GOOD FOR YOUR SITE
➔ Flash
➔ Technical errors
➔ Intrusive interstitials
➔ Small font
➔ Small touch elements
➔ Keywords in external links
AFFECTS RANKING NEGATIVELY
➢ Internal links
➢ Word count
DEPENDS ON YOUR APPROACH
https://www.webceo.com/blog/an-ultimate-guide-to-seo-mobile-ranking-factors-2017
/

14. #1 - Action Plan
④ Monitor
Loading speed:
PageSpeed Insights
Website Audits:
Lighthouse (Google Chrome)

15. #2
Voice Search

16. #2 - The facts are...
By 2020, 50 per cent of all searches will be voice searches (ComScore)
Massive surge in artificial intelligence device sales
Natural language vs. typed queries
Not only for local searches, but more and more for other search types

17. #2 - Voice Search vs. Typed Search
29
Words in typical
voice search result
Some connection between voice search
optimization and Google’s featured snippets
Unknown & new queries
- Higher potential for more ‘weird queries’
- Higher variety in search queries
Key-phrase vs. Keywords
Users can get super specific in their queries
Work on
user intent optimization

18. #2 - Action Plan
① Understand
❏ Like for mobile traffic, the adoption of new technology varies greatly across
industries
⇒ Consider who your audience is and what they are doing in their moment of need for your products and
services
⇒ Would your user use voice search, and how would
they use it, if they did?
https://www.pageonepower.com/linkarati/how-voice-search-affects-seo

19. #2 - Action Plan
② Implement
1. Optimize for Local Search
If makes sense for your brand: use geo-targeted keywords, build up your positive customer reviews, and
make sure your NAP (name, address, phone number) are consistent
2. Make Sure You’re Mobile-Friendly
https://www.leightoninteractive.com/blog/okay-google-how-do-i-optimize-for-voice-search

20. ② Implement (cont’d)
3. Content pages answering direct questions from your customers through
blog posts, articles, FAQ pages
#2 - Action Plan
❏ 7-9 words queries,
often a question
❏ Long-tail keywords
QUERY TYPE
❏ Organize content: prove that
your business is the one with the
answers
❏ Keywords to reflect how
someone would speak a search
❏ Good practice: some of those
questions in the H1, H2 or H3
headers on a FAQ page, or
forming blog post titles around
them
CONTENT CREATION
❏ Questions divided to lead the
searcher through the sales
funnel: what, how, when,
where
QUERIES IDEATION

21. #2 - Action Plan
③ Monitor

22. #3
Content Optimization

23. #3 - The facts are...
Higher than ever competition in high-quality content
Quality over Quantity
August 2018 - Google’s ‘Medic’ Update - YMYL pages - E-A-T standards
Need for a better SEO competitive analysis on SERPs

24. #3 - Content optimization in 2019?
“Perfectly
Optimized”
Page
Improve E-A-T “Scores”
LSI Keywords
In-Depth & Engaging

25. #3 - Action Plan
① Understand
❏ Study your SEO competitors
⇒ Who ranks in the top 5?
⇒ Which content/topics rank?
⇒ Which type of content is linked (eg. body text, tables, videos)?
⇒ Is there a content gap, meaning content that is useful to the user but not covered by the competition?

26. #3 - Action Plan
② Ideate
❏ Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI)
⇒ Find your LSI keyword family
⇒ Distribute them throughout your website
⇒ Beware of keyword stuffing!
❏ Improve E-A-T “scores”
⇒ Offer fascinating blog posts, thorough knowledge bases, and engaging video materials, for example
⇒ Find the format that fits your industry
⇒ Devote time and energy to delivering new, quality ideas for content on a regular basis
⇒ Internal links to other pages on your website
⇒ Follow the new guidelines and make updates to your website per the document that Google released
❏ High-Quality content
+

27. #3 - Action Plan
③ Create
❏ Close any information and knowledge gaps of the user with content that he may
not even know he needs
⇒ Start with cornerstone content
⇒ Based on this, a whole series of additional content that is related in content
➤ Internally linked with the Cornerstone content and thus strengthening its position as an authority
③ or Adapt?
❏ Is everything still up to date and relevant?
❏ Is there something that makes the competition better now?

28. #3 - Action Plan
④ Monitor
Traffic Performance & Rankings
Content Optimization

29. #4
Optimize your 1st impression

30. #4 - The facts are...
Google’s aiming to give answers the fastest way possible
RankBrain
SERPs are evolving at every instant, with new/improved features & tests
Depending on device, lesser space for organic results

31. #4 - Position 0 is the new Position 1
➔ Paragraph
➔ List (numbered & bullet)
➔ Table
➔ YouTube
Rather for informational queries
Goal: answer a user’s question in the
fastest way possible

32. #4 - RankBrain?
Machine-learning AI system, part of Google’s Hummingbird algorithm update.
Launched in 2015
Concerns all languages
It helps Google:
➔ Handling Complex Searches
➔ Handling Ambiguous Searches
➔ Delivering High Accuracy
Does mainly 3 things:
★ Evaluates search queries
★ Determines user satisfaction with the
search results
★ Processes the feedback to improve
the future results
It can “see patterns between seemingly unconnected complex searches
to understand how they’re actually similar to each other.”
Danny Sullivan - Google (ex-Search Engine Land)

33. Matches terms
relevance
Google Ranking
Algorithms

34. #4 - RankBrain (before/after)
BEFORE
Google would scan pages to find exact match keyword you searched for
AFTER
Google knows what you mean when you enter search queries that could have more than one meaning.

35. #4 - Benefit from Google SERPs features
From... To...

36. #4 - Action Plan
① Optimize for RankBrain
1. Improve your CTR:
a. Superb meta-titles, meta-descriptions and headlines
i. Right keywords are there to get it found
ii. Phrasing is enticing enough to get searchers excited about your page
b. Microformats/schema markups
i. Is it pertinent to your website/pages?
ii. Rich snippets can help for Mobile-First & Voice Search
iii. Examples: reviews, author, recipes, dates & events, copyright information, etc.
2. Up your metrics
a. Revise web design & UX to improve: dwell time and bounce rate
b. Use Google Analytics to track & measure impact of design tweaks

37. #4 - Action Plan
② Up your featured snippets game
1. Create content that ranks on Page 1:
⇒ Choose the right keywords, write great content for your audience,
and provide value.
2. Focus on answers to questions:
⇒ Frame short (~40-60 words), succinct paragraphs of text
as authoritative answers.
3. Use numbered and bulleted lists, especially for subheaders
⇒ Use properly formatted subheaders (H2s and H3s) to break up
and organize your text.
Important to consider:
★ What are you already ranking for?
★ Which SERP features are there in your niche?

38. #4 - Action Plan
③ Video optimization
Similar for featured snippets:
1. Good keyword research,
2. Formulate those words into likely questions a curious mind might pose
3. Structure your video’s title and description to reflect what you’ve found out.
Hint: ‘How To’ videos have had a lot of success making it on these carousels.

39. #5
Technical SEO

40. #5 - Secure Websites
For years (~ 2014), Google confirmed HTTPS would have more importance for its users and websites
Since Chrome 68 in July 2018: OR
+
Non-HTTPS sites load with that warning & seen less favorably in Google’s ranking preferences
=

41. #5 - PageSpeed
Now, based on (for desktop and mobile):
★ Optimization
★ Speed (new)
Loading speed:
PageSpeed Insights
Before, based on technical parameters
Speed score:
➢ Metric’s taken from Chrome User Experience report
(real users’ performance database)
➢ Reflects how your site loads for each visitor
➢ Hard to measure how fast each visitor’s device loads your site
⇒ Metric is impossible to get through local tests

42. #5 - Action Plan
① Enable HTTPS
② PageSpeed
❏ Run a speed audit: PageSpeed Insights, WebPageTest.org, GTmetrix
❏ Prioritize & improve from results, ex:
❏ Minify resources
❏ Optimize images
❏ Remove render-blocking JavaScript
❏ Leverage browser caching
③ “Classical” Technical SEO
❏ Crawlable by Googlebot (Mobile and Desktop)
❏ Eliminate all crawl errors (server reponse, robots.txt, URL errors, redirect chains, sitemap
legacies…)

43. #6
Brand Reputation

44. #6 - The facts are...
“Google uses online brand mentions in its search algo” (Gary Illyes)
Brand mentions & awareness is growing in influence (in SEO)
Links (a.k.a. backlinks) are still amongst the Top 3 ranking factors
Links are important, and so are brand mentions

45. #6 - Links Are Important, and So Are Brand Mentions
https://searchengineland.com/now-know-googles-top-three-search-ranking-factors-245882 3
RankBrain
1&2
Content & Links
Google’s assessment of brand authority via brand mentions
Analyzes all properties
mentioning it
Context of the mention:
reputation, trust, advertising,
complaint-solving, etc.
+
“Google prioritizes domains with more authority
and consequently more direct traffic” (SEMRush)
BUT

46. #6 - Action Plan
1. Understand the competition
2. Linkless mentions on relevant active threads
3. Active social media presence
a. Customer support
b. Engage with clients
⇒ Not only exist but show you’re actively involved
4. Reach out to social media influencers
5. Mention your brand name online whenever you have a natural opportunity
6. Track mentions
⇒ GOAL: send a clear message to Google that you exist and are well-trusted

47. #7
General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR)

48. #7 - The facts are...
Went into full effect in May 25, 2018 (EU only)
It entitles users to more control over their private information that’s
used by sites
Only the beginning, can expect more data protection initiatives
Not directly related to use of HTTPS, but points towards an overall
trend of getting more serious about Internet security

49. #7 - Action Plan
❏ Review all the sources collecting user data on your site. Make sure you don’t accidentally send some private data to
Google Analytics;
❏ Update your Privacy policy and Terms pages by GDPR requirements;
❏ Revise your cookie consent form. It should have the following content: what information you collect, why you do it,
where you store it, affirm the info’s protected;
❏ If you use Google Tag Manager, activate IP anonymization.
You will still have a general idea where your traffic comes from. It just will be a bit less precise.
❏ It is also best to beef up your website’s security just to make it less vulnerable to data hacking attacks.

50. #8
Go Beyond Google-SEO

51. #8 - The facts are...
Amazon numbers (Kenshoo)
★ 72% of shoppers now use Amazon to find products
★ 56% of consumers visit Amazon first if they have shopping in mind
★ 51% check with Amazon after finding something elsewhere
By 2021, online video is expected to account for 80% of all online traffic (Cisco)
More prominent place of YouTube videos in SERPs
Other-than-Google SEO often neglected in SEO strategies

52. #8 - Amazon & YouTube in SEO strategies?
Amazon
➢ NOT a universal search engine
➢ Similar algo as Google but for internal search
➢ Huge competitor for Google
➢ Users don’t need another search engine to find
what they need or want to buy,
➢ Users don’t need another search engine to do
proper research before making a purchasing
decision
➢ People favour Amazon because of its
convenience, prices and ease of shipping
(BigCommerce)
⇒ Big threat for Google & Google Ads
YouTube
➢ More people are heading straight to YouTube
before trying their luck on Google’s SERPs
➢ Increasing real estate in SERPs for YouTube
videos
➢ Some videos make an appearance in Google
Image Search
➢ Video featured snippet

53. #8 - Action Plan
① Amazon
1. Keyword research
➢ To be more industry-wise, use Amazon itself,
➢ Or: Sonar, Rank Tracker
2. Title & description: efficient and user-friendly (+ smart use of keywords)
3. High-quality images
4. Cater to “backend keywords” (i.e. meta tags).
➢ Tell Amazon algo that a specific item targets
a specific keyword on the site
5. Track customers’ reviews and address complaints

54. #8 - Action Plan
② YouTube
1. Steps to getting featured snippet (i.e. answer a question, in-depth keyword research)
2. Video idea:
a. FAQ answer with a video tutorial for a common question your customers have regarding your product
b. Numbered lists How-To
c. Or combined?
d. Whatever you would have previously written as the header text for a blog post simply becomes the
title of your new video
3. Because “bots” can’t read your video:
a. Title & description
b. Video transcript
c. Add your own closed captions

55. Phew! That’s it!
(almost)

56. And so, now, what’s next?
❏ Focus on your strategy FIRST!
❏ Does any 2019 trends follows your strategy?
Yes? Go for it!
❏ Monitor any changes
❏ Stay up-to-date
❏ Don’t forget about your competition; have a real SEO foundation

57. Announcement

58. Upcoming SEO Short Course
2-day ‘Intro to SEO’ course in English
Get certified at the end of the class
For: Entrepreneurs and Marketing Professionals
Dates: Saturdays 23rd and 30th of March 2019,
10am-5pm
New European College
Wolfratshauser Str. 84
81379, Munich
More infos on seosmann.com or ask me directly!

59. Let’s keep in touch!
Email: letsdoit@seosmann.com
+49 163 975 3357
@seosmann
seosmann.com
Contact me to:
➢ Help with your SEO strategy
➢ Answer any SEO questions
➢ Exchange about SEO topics
➢ Help You Grow in SEO
➢ Audit your website
➢ Learn more on the SEO Short Course
➢ Get updated on my upcoming SEO online
courses
➢ Work with me!
➢ Grab a beer/coffee for any reason!