These 3 Trends Will Impact SEO the Most in the Next 3 Years

As the old saying goes, good things come in threes. Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The Three Stooges. A package of Reese Peanut Butter Cups.

According to a SparkToro survey polling over 1,500 SEOs, there's another fine trio to add to that list, at least if you're an SEO or in the digital marketing industry. Google verticals, machine learning and AI advancements, and zero-click searches are three trends expected to impact SEO the most over the next three years.

Let's examine each emerging SEO trend more closely.

Google Verticals

When Google dives into verticals, it's a tectonic shift in the digital world. The aftershocks shake marketing best practices, especially in SEO.

Remember Google's acquisition of YouTube? YouTube is now the second-largest second engine behind you guessed it Google, with video becoming the most preferred way to consume content. Marketers had to adapt.

They expanded into travel in 2011 with Google Flights, and more recently, into hospitality with Google Hotels. The latter is heavily integrated with Google Maps, therefore increasing the odds you'll use Maps for everything travel-related, from booking flights to hotels to navigation. Because it's all in one convenient location, platforms like Facebook, Yelp, and TripAdvisor now stare at a formidable competitor in their sector. They'll need to adapt too.

Not everything Google does sticks Google+ was a disaster but when it does, it almost always makes a big enough bang to affect how we market online.

Machine Learning and AI Advancements

Machine learning and AI is already implemented in Google's properties, but as their search algorithms continue to develop with machine learning and tech advancements, SEOs and marketers may be able to focus solely on content creation. The technical mumbo jumbo meta data, alt text, keyword research can be left to the robots to figure out.

Zero-Click Searches

More than 50% of Google searches end without a click to another page, according to another study done by SparkToro. It goes without saying this will affect SEO and strategy for on-SERP optimization.

No clicks doesn't mean no opportunities. Focusing on creating content that can become a featured snippet, or the aforementioned on-SERP optimization strategies, will be more important than ever, and something you'll need to capitalize on in the future if you're an SEO.

Ensure your website is optimized for search engines with today's best practices. Bloomtools' SEO experts can implement today's best strategies, while staying on top of tomorrow's best tactics so you're always ahead of your competition.