Mobile SEO trends to look out for in 2018

The rise of the mobile internet needs no introduction, but did you know that 2018 is the year that Google is expected to complete its transition from its current default desktop index to a new mobile index?

Already started to some degree, the mobile index will mean that web pages are judged on how suitable and optimised they are for mobile devices – making a mobile SEO mind set key.

With this shift, it’s fair to say that mobile SEO will take on a whole new level of importance in 2018 so, here are our predictions for the biggest and most important trends to be aware of and optimise for over the next 12 months.

Mobile apps and the mobile web will become more integrated than ever

We’ve already stressed the rise of progressive web apps (PWA) and, this year we think millions of people will agree with us. They don’t require download or installs, are easy to maintain and provide the functionality of an app with the ease of the web. You heard it here first – expect PWAs to be the mobile standout of 2018.

Everyone will go mobile first

Google has already started to transition to its mobile index which means that any switched on business is about to follow suit. That means we’ll see a much more mobile-friendly mindset pervading usual SEO practises. Expect more content to be created that considers not just the smaller screens of mobile devices, but the different search patterns of voice search (more on that next).

While the implications of the new index for SEO are somewhat of an unknown right now, we think that the fog will lift throughout 2018. That means a better understanding of link building for mobile prominence, a greater understanding of how to write and serve mobile content and a much greater focus on page landing times, image compression and mobile-friendly calls to action and forms.

Voice search will be bigger

Hand in hand with mobile SEO comes voice search. It currently accounts for around 20% of all mobile search queries but this is likely to spike in the next 12 months.

Voice search is, as the name suggests, where users tell Siri or Alexa what they want and their voice assistant goes off and finds it. Voice search is especially useful when hands are tied- such as driving – which means searches for things like ‘near me’ are on the up. With this comes a need to adapt content and keyword research, as the way we say search phrases and speak to our mobile devices differs greatly to the way we type them.