A few days back, the digital marketing industry was abuzz with developments made by Apple in its browser Safari and its personal assistant Siri. The changes made in both the products are really significant and can have far-reaching consequences for digital marketers.
Firstly it informed that henceforth the search results on Siri would be provided through Google. Previously the results were generated by Bing search engine. It is interesting to note that the change is for both: voice search and mobile, therefore it can have major implications for SEO’s regarding their marketing strategies.
Equally startling are the updates for Apple’s Safari browser. Apple has taken a strong stand on consumer privacy by introducing severe new measures to protect it. Henceforth Safari users will not be tracked for more than 24 hours through third-party cookies. Now, Digital marketers will have to think heavily and re-strategise their marketing campaigns to suit the new changes.
As search results via Apple’s Siri will move to Google, the traffic of the search engine will rise drastically. The main reason for the switch by Apple was that it wanted to provide a consistent search result as Safari results are already generated through Google.
How does it change the digital marketing industry?
As the number of searches on Google will rise and there will be a decrease in Bing searches, Digital marketers will have to re-allocate the budgets accordingly for paid searches. Also in the organic searches, for Siri to select your content, it’s important to provide a relevant answer to a query.
It could mean a tremendous shift as to how search marketers optimise for Siri, but the fundamental principles of Mobile SEO and the voice search remain the same.
Changes in Safari
The major changes in Safari for digital marketers are Autoplay blocking, Reader mode and Intelligent Tracking Prevention. With Google also moving in the same direction as Apple to protect consumers and their privacy, it is imminent for Digital marketers to search for innovative solutions to protect their clients’ interest and their own businesses.
What’s the solution?
The position of mobile SEO has significantly increased among the digital marketers due to these steps taken by Apple. It wants to be at the forefront in providing consumers seamless and fast loading content. Also, Apple wants to inform everyone that the content it serves is very much demanded by consumers and they are happily engaging with it.
The revolutionary sounding concepts may worry many SEO’s who may be new to these concepts. But it is important to understand that SEO transgresses many marketing disciplines and there is nothing much to worry about these new updates. By embracing the new ecosystem – where the consumer is king and has many privacy protection options available to him, the digital marketers will have to create wonderful experiences for users that can generate heavy engagement from them. If they accomplished this task correctly, they are in for significant gains in the long run.
