This document discusses the evolution of SEO and how to succeed as a modern SEO expert. It covers where SEO has been, including basics like titles, descriptions and keywords. It also discusses current priorities like mobile-friendliness and AMP pages. The document outlines where SEO is headed, such as a new mobile-first index and progressive web apps. It concludes with recommendations for SEO best practices, including getting the basics right, planning for future technologies, and using appropriate tools.

1. STRATEGIC SEO
#C3NY
THE EVOLUTION OF SEO: HOW TO
BECOME A MODERN-DAY SEO MASTER
Simon Heseltine
VP of Search, ForRent.com®

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SEO – Where we’ve been

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SEO – Where we’ve been

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SEO – Where we’ve been
SEO

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seo is still a powerful traffic driver for most brands
seo is constantly evolving
SEO – Where we’ve been

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SEO – Where we’ve been
The Basics
•Title tags
•Description tags
•Keyword tags
•H tag hierarchy
•Alt tags
•Etc.
•OG:tags
•Canonical tags

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SEO – Where we’ve been
https://morguefile.com/creative/cheriedurbin https://morguefile.com/creative/Modnar

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SEO – Where we’ve been

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SEO – Where we’ve been

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SEO – Where we’ve been
Entity identification
• People
• Places
• Locations
• Events

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SEO – Where we’ve been

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SEO – Where we’ve been

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SEO – Where we’ve been

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SEO – Where we’ve been

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SEO – Where we’ve been

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SEO – Where we’ve been

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SEO – Where we’ve been

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SEO – Where we’ve been

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SEO – Where we’ve been – B2C
https://www.emarketer.com/Article/More-People-Multitasking-While-
Watching-TV/1014726?ecid=NL1001&utm_content=buffer2bb51

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SEO – Where we’ve been – B2C

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SEO – Where we’ve been

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SEO – Where we’ve been
• Pages must be mobile-friendly
• Viewport
• Buttons
• Images
• Responsive design preferred
• No Interstitials
• Affects only mobile ranking
• Implemented WW
• Page by page analysis

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SEO – Where we’ve been
Increased the mobile-
friendly ranking signal

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SEO – Where we’ve been
• Uses optimized AMP js
• Allows only asynchronous
scripts
• Sizes all resources statically
• Moves 3rd party scripts to
iframes out of the critical
path
• All CSS must be inline
• Optimized font triggering
• Uses the Google AMP
cache
• Does not currently impact
ranking… however…

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SEO – Where we’ve been
https://www.ampproject.org/roadmap/
Since then:
•Pinterest 1B+ AMP pages
•eBay e-commerce AMP pages

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SEO – Where we’re going
Currently
• One Index for all documents
• Serves both Desktop and Mobile queries
• Desktop factors are the primary ones used by the algorithm

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SEO – Where we’re going
New mobile Index
• Will be the Primary index – Mobile First
• The algorithm will focus more on mobile factors
• AMP may become more of a factor (speculation)
• If the desktop / mobile content is not the same, this may be an
issue, as the mobile version is what they’ll be crawling
• If the desktop / mobile metadata is not the same… i.e.
structured data not on the mobile version
• The old Desktop index will not be updated as frequently – “may
be hours old”
• This is happening “in months” – no definitive date

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SEO – Where we’re going
Progressive Web Apps
• Progressive – work on any device, using features on the device / browser
• Discoverable – It needs to be able to be found by search engines
• Linkable – It should have a URL that retains state information
• Responsive – It should fit the device regardless of screen size
• App like – It should look like an app and be built on the application shell model
• Connectivity independent – It should work offline
• Re-engageable – Push notifications, etc
• Installable – Can be installed directly on the device
• Fresh – When connected to the internet, content should be updated as required
• Safe – HTTPS:
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2016/08/a-beginners-guide-to-progressive-web-apps/

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SEO – Where we’re going
https://www.englishaccentsmap.com/

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SEO – Where we’re going
https://www.englishaccentsmap.com/gb/gb-vs-us/#wYmrg3owTRE

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SEO – Where we’re going

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SEO – Where we’re going
https://insights.hpe.com/articles/10-mobile-and-iot-
predictions-for-2017-1701.html

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SEO – Where we’re going

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SEO – Where we’re going
Interest Graph based SERP
Personalization

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SEO – What to do
1. All the stuff you should have done up until now
a) Do you have the basics right?

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SEO – What to do
1. All the stuff you should have done up until now
a) Do you have the basics right?
b) Are you monitoring your site? (GSC / BWT)
c) Are you mobile ready?
d) Do you have Schema in place?
e) How’s your speed?
f) How’s your link profile?
g) Do you have AMP in place?
h) Are you training everyone?
2. Go back and check #1

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SEO – What to do
3. Think about how your consumers can and
will interact with your brand.
a) PWAs
b) Voice Search
c) Wearables / IOT
d) Interest Graph Personalization

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SEO – What to do
4. Tools
a) Full Service Suites
b) Mix and match
i. Crawlers
ii. Link monitoring
iii. Rank checking
iv. A/B Testing
v. Competitive Analysis

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