Where Will SEO Be Going in 2013?

Talk to any SEO expert and you’ll get many different answers in regards to what they think will be important for search engine strategies for 2013, but there are a few things that everyone seems to agree on; the world of search engine optimization has changed.

As for me, I am watching and moving into several things in a very strategic way for key clients and my own business this year.

Here are a few things that I like and that others are talking about:

1. Mobile Search
My Google AdWords company rep. tells me that Google expects mobile search to eclipse regular search this year. If you have not already moved into to the mobile space with a mobile version website you should soon. If you aren’t testing AdWords advertising for mobile I would recommend considering doing so fairly quickly before your competition moves in.

2. Google+ Communities
I think this will be a new landscape with serious SEO benefits for those who strategically move into moderated communities. I am actively working towards this goal for my own business and several key clients.

3. Additional Emphasis on Personalized Search Results
We are already seeing this happen right in front of our eyes. If you are not on Google+ building your circles you are missing one of the biggest opportunities to be an advocate for your own business and to skew other’s search results to show what you like. Activity on Twitter, maybe Facebook for Bing but probably not Google, and social media interaction and sharing will impact the search results of others in your networks.

4. Excpect Organic Click Through Rates to Impact Search
I fully expect Google to start using organic search click through rates to impact the search engine results in the near future. If you’ve followed Google’s patent disclosures over the years this was in one over three years ago as was AuthorRank. We are just now seeing the some of these technology improvements impact search results this year. I expect to see more emphasis on these two areas AuthorRank and Click Through this next year.