“My dear, SEO is alive an well. But it’s changing as we speak,” replied the mirror.

And the mirror would be correct. SEO is a constantly moving target. Some who don’t understand the “science” would go so far as to say it’s snake oil.

But SEO is alive and well…if we can keep ahead of Google.

We’re spending $65 billion annually on SEO service, so the money will drive the industry. There’s plenty of motivation to stay ahead of the game. So, let’s look at what we know about the future of SEO so far.

1. AI is the Future of Search

“Clever, girl” we’ll be saying as we watch Google’s RankBrain get even smarter.

“The Age of the Smart Machine” is upon us and we will grovel at our robot overlords. But secretly we’ll be plotting to double-cross them and get our content in front of our customer’s noses, nonetheless.

While Google isn’t 100% ML yet, we need to prepare now. Starting thinking about search on a more individual level. Get personal with your clients and your search terms.

2. Search sUX in the Future

User experience or how easily your customers can navigate your website will become one of the top things Google starts ranking in 2019 and beyond. Just as adding quality content changed the way we write for search, Google’s focus on UX will change how we build our websites.

I say this is a good thing because I navigate a lot horribly designed sites in my day to day and I can tell you, things need to change.

What do I mean by making UX better? Let’s take seoexplode.com for example. You can quickly navigate their products, their website loads hella fast, and they grab people immediately with a stellar video.

The future of SEO is going to be incredibly challenging. Make sure you stay ahead of the game by checking back in with Shoemoney on a regular basis.