Search engine optimisation is constantly in a state of flux, with disruptive new trends emerging on a regular basis and requiring the rule book to be rewritten before the ink has even dried on the last set of ‘essential’ tips.

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With that in mind, what are the tendencies with the most influence at the moment which are worth being prepared to tackle? Here are just three things that could counterbalance SEO in a big way.

Unstable Ad Ecosystem

Paid search is still immensely popular, but Google’s persistent tinkering with new ways to format and display its ads presents a problem for those seeking to dominate the organically ranked search results.

This is especially problematic on mobile devices, where there is less screen space available for SERPs and thus the privileged positions that ads enjoy at the top of the page often mean that organic links are usurped entirely and remain unseen.

New Ways to Search

Another factor at play is the fact that the way people search the web is changing in the age of the smartphone. So traditional text-based queries are no longer the only option available, and results are not necessarily delivered as a list, especially when digital personal assistants like Amazon’s Alexa are involved.

When people make a search query in a long-form sentence and then their device of choice delivers a single top result in an audio response, the chance for organic SEO to succeed seems slim. But with the help of trained professionals, like Dublin SEO agency http://www.rycomarketing.ie/, it is possible to better navigate the ebbs and flows of this industry.

The End of Optimisation

From the point of view of Google, SEO itself is problematic because it is ultimately a sign that its search engine is not good enough at doing its job. It forces sites to work around perceived rules and ranking signals rather than focusing on actually providing the kind of user experience and content that they want to offer.

In the long term, this means that as Google gets better at assessing the quality of a site and determining the true intent of its search users, the need for SEO will be reduced. This may not happen for many years, but it means that there will always be change on the horizon.