Many businesses are focusing a substantial proportion of their SEO efforts on mobile. Mobile SEO is no longer just a trend or something that needs to be worked into the rest of the SEO strategy, it’s at the forefront. 2017 saw many changes to mobile SEO and as the arrival of Google’s mobile-first index is imminent, it’s time to look at what is expected in the world of mobile SEO in 2018 according to Cindy Krum.
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Progressive Web Apps
PWA’s are sites that make it possible for a shell and file of an app to be downloaded on a mobile phone. This makes it possible for the site to love on the web but yet provide all the best characteristics of a native app for the user. There are several benefits to using PWA’s, which include:
- The addition of the app icon on the phone screen
- Full screen display
- No address bar
- Fast response times
- On and offline functions
- Push notifications
- Can be used on the web or Android phone (iOS coming soon)
The trend in 2018 is expected to see more companies move away from native apps towards PWA’s.
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Cross-Device Convergence
More information being held in the cloud makes it possible for cross-device convergence to take place. Being accessible on an app and a website isn’t enough, there’s now a need to embrace the Internet of Things. Expect to see mobile and desktop stores to converge, providing up to date responses for their customers regardless of how they are being accessed and this includes the use of voice search.
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Mobile First Indexing
The mobile first index will not only be an algorithm update, it will also update the overall architecture and organisation of the entire system. PWAs and native apps don’t need to have different URLs and therefore Google needs to create a new form of index that will incorporate this new technology. Furthermore, Google is focusing the index on content that can be accessed easily and the cloud, where Google has been focusing a lot of their time and energy. The reason for this is because content in the cloud is easier to manage and process with AI – which is important for Google Now and Google Assistant, two precursors that have given an insight into what mobile-first indexing might end up being.
In 2018, structured data mark-up importance will significantly increase as mobile first indexing is launched. This is because not all data have URLs, which have always been used in previous indexes. Google needs to come up with a brand-new index that allows for dynamic links to be used as the unique identifier so they can be included in the index along with web and app URLs.