I really do think that Conversational AI will change the face of the internet and search forever. I haven't been talking about it very much publicly because there is only so much time left to rank normally, to use the tools before anyone else, and to get ready for your competitors to become 10x better at everything once they figure out how to use this. The future of SEO is in brands. Content marketing that answers search queries is dead. You won't get ranked for your content.

Marketers always strive hard to boost website traffic. A significant metric which quantifies the performance of websites is the bounce rate, indicating the percentage of users who leave without delving any further than the initial page. In this context, it is important to understand web accessibility. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990. It prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities and provides equal opportunities for accessing the web to all users.

Let's escape the narrow mindset that Google and search engines only prize three primary ranking factors. As important as links and publishing content remain, search engines are growing far more complex than relying on traditional text and document analysis to rank its index. Instead, we should view SEO as an organic ecosystem, where each small snippet of code directly or indirectly ties into the performance of your website. Link building to a slow site becomes useless, as is publishing content that gets interrupted by obtrusive interstitials on a mobile device. Following the best practices is pointless, unless you're following all of them.

Let's escape the narrow mindset that Google and search engines only prize three primary ranking factors. As important as links and publishing content remain, search engines are growing far more complex than relying on traditional text and document analysis to rank its index. Instead, we should view SEO as an organic ecosystem, where each small snippet of code directly or indirectly ties into the performance of your website. Link building to a slow site becomes useless, as is publishing content that gets interrupted by obtrusive interstitials on a mobile device. Following the best practices is pointless, unless you're following all of them.

If you want to take your SEO to the next level – or even keep up – in 2018 and beyond, then you need to understand how artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping SEO, and how you can use this knowledge to boost your rankings. Up until recently, search engine algorithms were entirely hand-coded by engineers but this has its limitations, not least because of the sheer size of the task and the potential for human error. Artificial intelligence such as speech recognition and image classification software has helped to pave the way for integrating'machine learning' into search engine algorithms. Now new technologies are enabling engineers to push the boundaries even further. Artificial intelligence presents an opportunity to create an algorithm that learns from the behaviour of searchers and, ultimately, refines itself with minimal human input, if any. With the help of AI, search engines can consider factors such as your location, your search history, your favourite websites, and what other users click on for a similar query to give you the most appropriate search results for your individual needs. The AI can then analyse your behaviour in response to a particular search and how you interact with the results, and then improve what it offers the next time someone makes the same search.

Every business I know of wants to increase sales and make more money. In today's technical and online environment, the only way to be successful is to have a steady flow of traffic to your website. Because Google is a major source of traffic, ranking high in the search results is critical. You need to set up your website correctly to bring in qualified leads that can then be converted into paying customers. If you rank better in organic search, then you should get more website traffic from search engines. But when your website experiences a significant drop in organic search rankings, you will lose traffic, business, and revenue.

Data is the number one reason why digital marketers have a huge advantage over those that traditional marketing channels. I have noticed one common theme among them. They have constantly found that intuition doesn't bode with reality. They may think that a strategy that they took would work very well, but then discover that their data shows something very different. They live by the principle that you should always "build strategies around your data."

The universe of digital analytics is massive and can seem as complex as the cosmic universe. With such big, complicated subjects, we can get lost in the vast wilderness or become trapped in a silo. We can wander aimlessly, or feel a false sense of either accomplishment or frustration. Consequently, we lose sight of where we are, how we are doing and which direction is true north. I have experienced these challenges on numerous occasions myself. Even simple questions like "How effective is our analytics strategy?" That's because we have to talk about tools (so many!), work (collection, processing, reporting, analysis), processes, org structure, governance models, last-mile gaps, metrics ladders of awesomeness, and… so… much… more. There is another critical framework to figure out how you can take your analytics sophistication from wherever it is at the moment to nirvanaland. It is important to stress that none of these frameworks/answers exist in a vacuum.

If we learned anything from 2017 it's that no industry is immune to a downturn. However, "downturn" might be putting what happened in the retail market in 2017 lightly. According to a Credit Suisse report, when 2017 came to a close, approximately 6,800 stores will have shut permanently, setting a new, ominous record. While there may be a strong correlation between the rise of ecommerce giants such as Amazon and Walmart and this downturn, the reality is a little more complicated. All of the above are compounded by the fact that ecommerce teams have to deliver an Omni-channel experience without negatively impacting sales margins.

But have you considered how email can help you boost your performance in SEO? Marketing emails aren't ranked by search engines, and the goal of an email campaign is usually to get opens and click-throughs--not to boost your SEO. But considering 51% of people discover new websites through email, it's worth looking at how you can leverage those visits not just for one-off click-throughs, but for high-quality traffic that increases your search engine rankings. Let's look at a few of the benefits of designing emails with SEO in mind. Search engines know how long people tend to stay on your site and what percentage of them leave immediately (or "bounce") without checking out your content. Your bounce rate is an important factor in your overall search ranking.