Search engine optimization, the ongoing process of improving a site’s placement in organic search, has traditionally focussed almost entirely on maintaining visibility in Google’s top 10 results.

However, with the evolution of search engines, there are an increasing number of ways to drive meaningful traffic organically:

  1. LOCAL 3-PACK
    The local 3-pack, which is a list of three relevant companies based on the user’s location, appears before the first regular organic result in many searches. This element highlights the growing mobile trend, and to show up in one of the coveted spots, it’s important to claim your business on Google and confirm that correct, consistent contact information for your company appears throughout the internet.
  2. KNOWLEDGE PANEL
    The appearance of a knowledge panel, an informational box appearing next to many search results, won’t necessarily increase your site’s ranking, but its prominence on the page will increase click-throughs to your site. Successful optimization for this item allows a company to post small updates that can drive conversions directly from the results page.
  3. VOICE SEARCH
    Voice search, which is being adopted by a growing number of users, is heavily influenced by the rise of virtual assistants such as Amazon Alexa. Companies must adapt their SEO strategies to guarantee that their sites remain applicable as users provide longer, more conversational voice search queries. These searches often relate to hyper-local information, for which a thorough Google My Business listing is valuable.

Many websites share a goal of increasing search traffic, regardless of how that traffic is generated, and as always, Google wants to ensure that it is providing relevant, useful information to its users. In order for businesses to improve its overall organic search traffic, they must keep up with technological trends to properly optimize their sites for the latest search features.