How will digital marketing change in 2019?

As technology evolves, so do digital marketing techniques. It’s essential that you are up-to-date with these trends so you can make the most of your portal. We’ve listed some changes that we predict for 2019.
SEO will look different
We previously stressed the importance of voice search and its significance to SEO strategies. By 2020 – around 50% of all searches will be done by voice. Is your affiliate portal prepared for this?  It’s not only people speaking into the microphone on their mobile device you need to think about. There are much more people than ever before searching through Google Home or Alexa to factor into the equation.  The reality is that the conversion rate on voice search will dip – as rather than going straight to your website, Google will provide the user with the answer. To combat this – make sure you get ahead of other marketers and do as much research as possible on it.
Algorithms will be more complex than before
Some of Google’s older updates were easy to beat.  With Panda 4.2 for example, the main focus was getting of sites that were spammy and featured content that had no value to the user.  With the Penguin 4.0 update, they would devalue any links that were spammy – they wouldn’t necessarily penalise you. This means if you were building out spammy links – your whole site wouldn’t get banned.  As technology is evolving, Google’s algorithms are more sophisticated. They don’t just take into account basic metrics like backlink count or content – they consider a broader scope of user metrics, such as whether or not a user is spending more time on your site over other sites that are ranked on Google,  whether people are quickly bouncing off and returning to Google, or what your CTR is from SERPs.
Blogging needs to be more sophisticated
We are sure you have heard of the phrase “Content is King” before.  This is most definitely still the case, but as Google is now saturated with content, they can be much more choosy about what they rank. Material can’t merely be spun or regurgitated from somewhere else – it needs to be unique and add some value to the user that they won’t find elsewhere.  Your strategy can no longer simply be writing a lot of content – you need to prepare a solid content marketing strategy and update your portal with high-value content regularly.
Focus on new search engines and content types
Google is everyone’s main focus – but it’s vital that you don’t forget new content types and search engines.  Text-based content is becoming over-saturated – and other forms of content are less competitive. With video and audio – you can maximise your traffic on less common search engines such as YouTube and iTunes.  We predict that affiliates and operators will be placing a significant focus on this – due to the nature of these mediums, you don’t yet need a big budget to make an impact. Instead of studio quality videos – you can get traction from simply taking videos on your phone.  This can appear more authentic for the user.
For more information on the ever-changing digital marketing landscape, attend our Digital Marketing Forum on the 21st March at Stamford Bridge. Here you will have the opportunity to hear from industry leaders and to network with people who can help grow your business.