Did you know that search engine optimization actually requires that you update your knowledge periodically? In order for your site to be optimized and deemed worthy by search engines for specific spots on their results pages, you need to be relevant in their eyes. In order for this to happen, your pages need to be on point when it comes to what they deem is relevant to the keywords that you use.

Search engines instigate changes in their algorithms regularly to encourage sites to constantly improve on what they offer visitors in terms of content and value. It is then the job of an SEO to know what needs to be done when it comes time to improve a site in order for it to still be relevant when these search engines pass judgment. For this to happen, you need to be aware of the trends and changes in the SEO landscape year after year.

Where to Find Information on SEO Trends and Updates

If you are serious about keeping your sites (this includes the sites that you manage for others and the ones that you own) from disappearing off the first or even second page of SERPs (search engine results pages), you will need to constantly check for these trends. Where do you look to find the latest news on SEO and what you need to do?

There are a lot of authority sites that you can trust when it comes to these updates and rumored algorithm changes that may require some site and page tweaking on your part as an SEO specialist. These include such sites as Search Engine Journal, Moz, and even KissMetrics. Of course, you will still need to trust your instincts when it comes to what will be important in the eyes of search engines in the coming year since a lot of the reports and articles regarding these trends will be somewhat speculative in nature.

To be able to know which trends will indeed be worth following in the coming year, you should check across a number of different sources to see what other SEOs have to say. If you find trends that are similar across these different sites, these are the ones that you should definitely look into and consider using on your pages. You should also trust your gut and common sense when reading these trends in order to avoid doing work that may actually be more detrimental than beneficial to your site.

What Should You Do With These Trends?

As mentioned earlier, you can try and integrate the new SEO ideas into your sites provided that more than two or three sites state that these will be relevant in the coming year. You should also check back to these reliable sources every month or so to see if there are changes in these trends and to see which ones actually work and which ones are duds. Not all trends will fit with the sites you are handling as well, since some do not use local SEO, video integration, and the like. So this will mean that you will have to be somewhat selective in the trends that you do follow, depending on what your site needs and can use.

Keeping yourself abreast of the trends when it comes to search engine optimization will indeed help keep your site relevant in the eyes of search engines. This should be done at the start of the year, after the first quarter, and every quarter thereafter.