5 Important Tips for Your SEO Strategy

Note (October 2026): I wrote this post in December 2017 as an SEO strategy for 2018. The voice search shares are forecasts from that period, not verified current data. Google's search results now include AI-generated summaries (AI Overviews), as described in Google's AI features documentation.

An SEO strategy for 2018 needs five things beyond quality content and high-quality backlinks: search engine results page features, RankBrain, on-page SEO, voice search and channels outside Google.

As the new year approaches it is time to think ahead. Here I will go through the newest factors and how new technologies are changing search. I will cover the tactics and trends you can fold into your strategy so you do not fall behind.

1. The SERP revolution and rising competition for visibility

In Moz's analysis of clicks on the search engine results page (SERP), Rand Fishkin notes that 66% of distinct searches query Google's results. The other 34% of searches receive no click at all. Looking at all queries, the ratio is closer to 60/40. I expect us to move even closer to Google over time.

Google answers informational queries itself on the results page: search for "how to remove an oil stain" and Google meets the user with a snippet, handing over the information faster.

Four recommendations for SERP visibility:

• Research the SERPs for your sector, your content and your keywords. Look at what kind of results each keyword returns: shopping results, ads, product details, images, knowledge panels. On those pages organic results can be nowhere in sight.
• Keyword analysis alone is not enough for the SERP. You need new strategies for search engine marketing (SEM), shopping results and snippets too.
• Use tools such as SEMrush or SEOMonitor to track your snippet visibility.
• Make sure Google fully understands your page for those SERP features. Use schema.org structured data for that.

Start by learning what users are searching for, in other words their user intent, then hand them what they want faster through snippets.

2. RankBrain and machine learning

Read this Moz article if RankBrain is new to you. Since 2015 RankBrain has been a significant ranking factor. Data such as click-through rate, time on site and bounce rate heavily influence UX signals. Update (October 2026): Google's guide to ranking systems describes RankBrain as an AI system that helps Google understand how words are related to concepts.

RankBrain will see it if users click the third result for a query and spend time on the page (reading the whole article, say). Google will probably rearrange those rankings if users click the first result for the same query and bounce immediately.

Three recommendations for RankBrain:

• Focus on improving your titles and descriptions. Make your content as appealing as possible for users rather than for keywords, and raise your CTR.
• Make sure the content on the page genuinely satisfies the user, that the page loads fast, and aim for a flawless experience.
• Competing sites now optimise their pages well too. You have to differentiate with creativity to stand out.

3. Let go of the "old" on-page tactics

SEMrush's ranking factors study found that 35% of the pages ranking for high-volume keywords do not carry the keyword in their title. That share shows how much better Google has become at understanding synonyms.

SEMrush found that user signals and direct website traffic matter enormously.

Two recommendations for on-page SEO:

• Make sure your site gives users what they were looking for and more, and try to build affection for the brand. Good UX and good content are what bring people back.
• Do not rely on on-page optimisation alone (keywords or page speed, for example).

4. The growth of voice search

Voice search accounted for around 20% of mobile searches in 2017, when I wrote this post. According to comScore's forecast at the time, 50% of all searches would be voice searches by 2020.

Google Home, Siri, Cortana and Alexa recognise human speech with 92% accuracy. As these assistants improve, the popularity of voice search looks set to climb further. Update (October 2026): Microsoft retired Cortana as a standalone app in Windows in spring 2023.

Two recommendations for voice search:

• Optimise for conversational language and add the questions people would ask out loud to your content strategy.
• You can use BuzzSumo to find the questions users are asking.

5. Think beyond Google

Think about all of the results (the ads, the shopping units, the featured snippets), not just the organic rankings. Every result in the SERP adds to your brand's visibility.

Because winning visibility is more competitive than ever, widen your net: I would suggest working on Amazon, Bing, Alexa, YouTube and, for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) alike, Pinterest.

All of this is worth keeping in mind for 2018. Remember too that quality content, a good user experience, high-quality links and a technically sound site remain 100% essential to any SEO strategy.

Which SEO strategy tips still apply today?

The SEO strategy tips that still apply today rest on foundations Google documents itself: keyword research, people-first content, technical SEO and measurement. User intent, structured data and user experience from the 2018 list above remain valid. Track the results in the Search Console Performance report, which shows clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position for each query and page.

What is an SEO content strategy?

An SEO content strategy is a plan that assigns each target search query to one page built to answer it. Google's SEO Starter Guide describes SEO as helping search engines understand your content and helping users find your site. Without a plan, several pages can end up competing for the same query. My SEO guide covers the fundamentals.

Keyword research and topic clusters

Keyword research shows which phrases people type into search and how often. Google's Keyword Planner, a tool inside Google Ads, suggests related keywords and estimates their monthly searches. Group related phrases into topic clusters, with one page for each intent and internal links between the pages.

Experience and expertise

Experience and expertise are two of the four parts of E-E-A-T in Google's guide to creating helpful, reliable, people-first content. The other two are authoritativeness and trustworthiness, and Google names trust as the most important. People-first content, in Google's words, is content created primarily for people and not to manipulate search engine rankings.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO makes sure Google can crawl, index and understand each page. Submit an XML sitemap in Search Console and check that robots.txt does not block pages you want to rank. Google indexes the mobile version of a site, and its ranking systems use Core Web Vitals, so test page speed on phones. Structured data can make a page eligible for rich results.

Is SEO dead now with AI?

No. SEO is not dead now with AI. Google's AI features documentation says SEO best practices remain relevant for AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no additional requirements to appear in them. My post on measuring visibility in AI search explains how to track it.