These stats will help you to appreciate SEO
With more than 50% of searches being made on mobile devices, the importance of effective mobile search engine optimisation (SEO) is becoming increasingly important.
A brief timeline of search engines
Launched in 1993, the world’s first search engine was called Archie Query Form. Ask Jeeves, now Ask.com, was launched three years later in 1996, but Google didn’t arrive on the search engine scene until 1998. Bing was the final major search engine to launch in 1999, merging with Yahoo shortly afterwards.
A history of Google algorithms
In 2005, Google introduced personalised search, Google Local, XML sitemaps and the nofollow attribute. In 2011, Google rolled out its Panda update which affected more than 10% of search results and prompted many businesses and SEO professionals to clean up their digital strategies.
Penguin arrived in 2012, followed by the Hummingbird update in 2013. Google’s mobile-friendly algorithm launched in 2015, which significantly boosted the standing of web pages catering to increasing numbers of mobile browsers. RankBrain was released in 2016, which identifies the best webpage for every search by tweaking the algorithm itself and, finally, mobile-first indexing was rolled out in 2018.
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Consumer research
One in every three searches conducted on a smartphone is made immediately before a store visit, and more than 40% of consumers conduct online research when in store.
As 93% of all online experiences start with search engines, crafting an effective SEO strategy with the assistance of search professionals, such as White Label SEO services which can be found here http://digi-tel.co.uk/gloucestershire-seo-services/white-label-seo-services/, is critical to success in highly competitive digital landscapes.
Key ranking factors
Top ranking websites have an average page speed of 1900ms, which is approximately 17% faster than websites ranking 10th in search results. Pages with a 500ms delay will often experience an 8% decrease in engagement and create 26% more user frustration.
Long-form and informative content ranks higher in search results, with the average first-page result containing 1,890 words. 97% of all page one results incorporate at least one image and the average bounce rate of a rank-1 site is almost 9% lower than a rank-10 site.
Future trends
By 2020, half of online search queries will be conducted using voice search. With many searchers making the move to mobile devices, Google believes that every website should be mobile friendly, or removed from search results altogether.