SEO Trends for 2018: What to Focus On

2018 is here. For many of us, a new year means a fresh start, and a fresh start means new resolutions. Most don’t survive past February. But if you keep only one, make it improving your rankings on Google. To help, here’s a roundup of the SEO trends that will shape 2018, following a busy year of Google algorithm updates in 2017.

12 SEO Trends for 2018

Of the 12 trends highlighted in an infographic published by Blogkens, these stand out:

• Voice search and digital assistants
• Google’s mobile-first index
• RankBrain
• Featured snippets
• Link quality (over quantity)
• Artificial intelligence
• User experience

The 3 Pillars of SEO in 2018

A fresh start is also a good time to revisit the three pillars of SEO: content, authority, and age. Links still matter, but they’re no longer the be-all and end-all of SEO.

For effective SEO, keep these three pillars in mind. High-quality, well-crafted content, relevant and carefully earned links, and time will help your website outrank its competitors.

15 SEO Rules for 2018

Effective SEO follows strict rules. Among them:

• Test the speed of your pages and improve it if needed (see our guide to website speed optimization)
• Create content that adds real value
• Make sure your website is mobile-friendly

7 SEO Tactics to Avoid in 2018

Some practices are highly recommended; others should be avoided at all costs. Stay away from keyword stuffing, unnatural links, spammy comments, and duplicate content. These shortcuts can lead to a manual action; if that has already happened, see our guide to Google penalty recovery.

Have the motivation but not the time or expertise? Référenceur is a French-speaking digital marketing agency from Belgium and Luxembourg that works with U.S. businesses remotely. Get a free assessment of your website’s SEO performance.

Source: Blogkens.

Where Things Stand in 2026

Several of these trends became the norm. Google began moving sites to mobile-first indexing in 2018 and announced in October 2023 that the transition was complete. Page speed became part of Core Web Vitals, where INP replaced FID as the responsiveness metric on March 12, 2024. For today’s priorities, read our guide to SEO in 2026.