In the world of computers and the Internet, the future is all that matters. Technology is always advancing and tactics are always changing. Just ask an SEO expert like Brent Franson or anyone else working in the industry. The professionals know that you need to focus on what search engine optimization is going to look like in 10 years, not what it looks like right now. For that matter, it is important to think about where it will be in 2020, just six short years from now. What changes can be expected?

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Some experts think the surprising answer is that the changes won’t be as drastic as one might assume. Sure, things will have shifted, and companies need to be on the forefront of that. However, they warn that it is not as if search engines are going to evolve past the need for human assistance. That’s what search engine optimization is all about, after all: making sure that the engine really knows what someone is looking for and has the ability to find that site for them. That is still going to be the focal point in 2020, even with advancements.

However, professionals also warn that there are some serious shifts that can’t be ignored. For example, one expert has gone on the record saying that Pay Per Click advertising is only going to keep increasing in value. This is going to be a vital part of SEO and getting traffic. That does not mean it will be more important than anything else, but it also does not look like it is a trend that is going to disappear. Businesses have to be involved in PPC campaigns, and they need to keep an eye on it to see if this holds true.

Another thing stressed by many experts is focusing on how SEO is changing in terms of what is used to access sites. For one thing, this could mean new methods of actually inputting the search. One person referenced the use of voice technology and the role that it will play if people start to use text inputs less often. Another talked about mobile devices in general and how they are starting to dominate the scene. SEO will have to be aimed at not just the computer but at phones and tablets as well. Again, this trend just looks to be continuing.

Speaking of trends, the role that social media has will be important to the direction that SEO takes. It does appear that the main social media sites are not as fad-driven as they used to be. These types of sites sprang up and fell frequently in the late 1990s and the early 2000s, but they are everywhere now. They appear to be here to stay, and that means that SEO has to incorporate them. If they continue to grow in popularity, this incorporation has to grow, too. If they do start to wane, other things may replace them.

On the whole, the shift in SEO can take a lot of different forms. For people to be successful in this field, the most important thing to do is to watch the changes and embrace them as they come. It may be hard to predict, but seeing these changes first can give anyone an edge.