Top Voice Engine Optimisation strategies that help your website rank higher

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Voice engine optimisation is the future. According to the Search Engine Journal, over 25,000.000 smart speakers were sold in 2017. The reason behind simply being that businesses realised that consumers now prefer voice search over text search. With voice search, there is no need to type, the answer is read back and it’s faster. As such, in order to develop a good relationship with Alexa, Cortana, Siri or any other smart speaker, it’s crucial for the business to come up with effective strategies that will make smart speakers pick up their content as the first answers. If you can have a look at Novibet, you will see that several sites are already working hard to build fruitful relationships with smart speakers.

Woman conducting voice search on mobile phone at home

Long tail keywords

With typical (text) search, it’s possible and in most occasions advisable to use a single word or small phrases keywords. However, when it comes to voice search, it’s a completely different ball game. Evidence shows that when people use voice search, they often use at least four keywords onwards. It is for this reason that when creating your content, you need to have long tail keywords.

Meet SEO best practices

It’s crucial in typical searches to meet the top SEO best practices for effective results i.e. higher search ranking but this is more so important when it comes to voice search. When it comes to voice search, there is no settling for second best but for the best i.e. pole position in search results. In order to attain that pole position, you, therefore, need to meet the following schema markup, secure your website with SSL encryption, images with alt tags, highly responsive website, site authority, solid site hierarchy, local pages optimised with Google My Business, and mobile-friendly site.

Understand what Google is looking for

When you use voice search, you will realise that Google or Bing or any other search engine you are using release the search results in the form of a snippet. This snippet gives you a guideline on what the search engine looks for before returning the search results, therefore, you need to take into consideration these guidelines if you want your page to return higher. Common things that search engines look for before returning results include keywords in the Universal Resource Locator (URL), keywords located at the start or inside the first paragraph, unique titles and description tags, use of headings, conversational language i.e. your content should be written in such a way that seems like you are talking to a real person, use of trigger words such as best, what or how, long tail keywords (5+ words), highly detailed content, and content answering a specific question or addressing a specific topic.

Use of semantics

You also need to master semantics in your content i.e. you need to be able to effectively use different words in your text that mean the same thing. This is to say if someone searches for ‘things to do in autumn’, s/he is going to land on your page even if the title of your page, Meta description and keywords read ‘things to do during fall season’.

Hottest Web Design Trends in 2018

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The best web experience is as a result of different factors; most of which take place behind your screen. However, there are also those factors that are presented on the screen which makes it worthwhile to spend hours surfing the internet and doing whatever you want, such as online banking, online shopping or even playing online games. Online games particularly need great responsive sites coupled with the best web design trends.  As such, you can visit games sites to play now and check out the best online games and web designs. Most of these sites incorporate the following web design trends that are currently making waves.

Adventurous colours

Coming to the fore in late 2017, bold colours in web design is the new default as the trend has transcended into 2018 as well. Bold colours are being used across all digital platforms therefore not only in web design. Branding themes for many sports programmes including the 2017/18 Premier League commercial ads and online games are taking on bold colours. Internet browsers have also joined the bandwagon taking on bold colours in their new versions. One such example is the new Mozilla Developer Edition which has a standout dark blue colour.

Inventive typography

A trend just in its infancy but expected to grow as the year wears on pertains to the rise in custom fonts. Devices, computers, tablets and smartphones’ resolutions are getting sharper by each update and new version. As such, there is a growing need for typography with great aesthetic effect and with tons of personality. This is where inventive typography comes in as it seeks to subtlety is pushed aside paving way for more customised fonts. In addition, 2018 is to see the return of serif and sans-serif fonts as the web developers search for the perfect typefaces.

New flat design

Flat design was the in-thing during the first days of the web. However, subsequent innovations led flat design to lose its lustre but 2018 is the year in which flat design makes it return albeit with a lot of changes. The new flat design comes with more depth in its prior ascetic identity and nuance. With the return of flat design, it also marks the return of shadows and gradients which had been cast aside by 2D design and minimalism. Shadows and gradients come with subtler transitions and updated vibrant colourpallets. Shadows and gradients will be more visible in logo designs and web headers.

Playful illustration

There is a general feeling among web developers that web design in recent years had focused more on commercialisation and in the process had become detached from the people. However, 2018 is going to change that as the web looks to inject more personality through illustrations. The illustrations will come in infinite styles, shapes, and sizes and will not affect the functionality of the web rather will just aim at humanising the web. Playfulness is also to be injected in collaboration with the illustrations as there is a belief that humane illustrations come better in a playful manner. In addition, the illustrations will also aid in explaining and presenting information on the web.

Is it better to use Infinite Scrolling or Pagination when it comes to SEO

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Does pagination work better than infinite scrolling for SEO?

Increased numbers of leads, and increased sales profits. These are two of the main aims of any business, and your website is there to help you achieve them. You are never going to achieve either of these aims if people do not visit your website. This is where good SEO comes in; to help you gain the highest possible search engine rankings.

There are many aspects which go hand in hand to create effective SEO. We are going to examine one factor; whether to use pagination or infinite scrolling.

What is pagination?

Google itself uses pagination on its results pages. You can see numbers across the bottom of the page, indicating how many pages of results there are. You can also see a next and previous option, so that you can simply choose the next page, or the previous one.

What is infinite scrolling?

If you have ever taken a look at a news page on a social media site, you have probably seen infinite scrolling at work. In order to read content on the page, you simply need to carry on scrolling. As a story continues, so updates can be added to the top of the screen; as can more stories.

What is the best choice from an SEO perspective?

Pagination and infinite scrolling are both used on a regular basis; but which is the best choice when it comes to SEO? You have to make the decision based on your requirements, and what you want from your website. But, there are some things you should consider.

  • When infinite scrolling is used, content is hidden until it’s visible on the screen. Although Google does index hidden content, it’s not as easy to find as content that is always visible. This can be a disadvantage for SEO purposes.
  • When pagination is used, there are direct links between content which makes it easier for Google to find it. Using next and previous indicators also makes the process easier.

Generally, if you want to make your content easier for Google to find, it makes sense to use pagination. This does not mean that infinite scrolling cannot be useful at times. It’s easy for people to trawl through all of the information present, without having to click from page to page.

You should be able to clearly see the difference between infinite scrolling and pagination. If you need further help deciding which the best choice is for you, it’s a good idea to speak to an expert in marketing online in Sydney.

They can discuss your SEO with you in detail, and explain the effects of using pagination or infinite scrolling. You can get advice that is specific to your situation. This should help you make a decision which results in you increasing traffic to your site, and thereby increases leads and sales for your business. This is the most important aspect of your website’s performance.