The biggest change in search marketers’ lives is arguably how search has morphed and is becoming more and more integrated into our daily routines. While Google innovates, we find ourselves harder to keep up.
For example, do you remember Yahoo and MSN were the alternate competitors to Google? Then, MSN (amongst many rebrands) become Bing all to leave Yahoo in the dust start taking back some search share. Or do you remember how searches were about “things” vs. “strings”? For example, we used to type “lumber utah” to find firewood for sale in Sandy, Utah. Now we ask Google “Where can I find lumber for sale for my fireplace near Sandy, Utah?” Voice search has aided the morphology of that.
Today, what we say and ask Google starts to matter less and less. Google tries to understand us before we even ask. It’ll morph or results based on our location, device we’re using, previous behavior, and more. It’s truly an engine of matching intent vs. matching keywords these days. And, of course, that’s changed how SEOs work.
Watching those keyword rankings go up and down are no longer as meaningful as they once where. Below, my company MWI highlighted some of the most common theme changes over time.
Let us know in the comments if you know of any others.
Editor’s Note: Jordan Kasteler is the Digital Marketing Strategist of MWI.
Image Credits
Featured Image and infographics by MWI. Used with permission.