Using predictive analytics to forecast SEO trends and performance

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a mix of on-page and off-page practices aimed at improving the site’s performance and content to get it to high positions in search engine result pages (SERPs). Being one of the core, high-ROI marketing tools of today, SEO is actively leveraged by companies of different sizes and across all industries. Yet, while most companies know how to leverage its basics, not all know how to make use of SEO analytics and strategies in the long run.

One of the major stumbling points facing marketers regarding SEO is its incredibly ever-changing nature. Regular Google algorithm updates, shifts in users’ search intent, and evolving competition make SEO trends evolve rapidly and constantly.

Staying ahead in such an ever-changing environment can be incredibly hard. But that’s where predictive SEO analytics steps in. It helps businesses overcome the competition by predicting trends and ensuring they are among the first to adapt. Let’s explore how it works!

What Is Predictive Analytics? Understanding the Concept and Elements

Predictive analytics is a subset of advanced analytics. However, unlike conventional information assessment, this subset does not deal with current information or with what has already happened. Instead, it’s here to let us peep into what is yet to happen. It leverages historical data, statistics, machine learning, and advanced algorithms to foresee future trends or outcomes, helping businesses make more data-driven decisions.

In terms of search engine optimization, predictive analytics can have multiple applications. Let’s say traffic management. We all know that traffic plays a crucial role in SEO, directly affecting your business success. Due to this reason, many companies are already using advanced tools to analyze SEO traffic and measure the outcomes of their past optimization efforts. While this is undoubtedly important, advanced models can give you even more insights for shaping your strategy.

It can help you use the data from your previous data collection and examination, along with real-time inputs and different external influencing factors, and forecast future traffic patterns. This can give you invaluable insights into what you can do right now to improve your site’s performance in the future.

Similarly, it can help you analyze other types of SEO data and anticipate trends and changes that can help you stay ahead of the competition.

5 Ways to Use Predictive Models in SEO

As mentioned earlier, predictive models’ applications in SEO are broad. Let’s look at the top 5 ways you can benefit from them.

1. Leveraging Historical Data to Anticipate Future Trends

Big data analysis combined with an advanced model can help you see which trends are going to surge in your market in the future.

For example, based on the historical data from previous years’ market changes during the festive season, advanced tools can help you oversee the current year’s seasonal trends. This can give you a significant competitive edge by letting you react to trends before they arrive.

2. Anticipating Keyword Performance and Trends

Since keywords play a massive role in search engine optimization, many marketers already use tools like SEO Google Analytics to identify and target popular keywords in their content. This is a crucial element of a successful SEO strategy. Yet, this kind of keyword assessment only lets you see the current information.

Predictive models, on the contrary, let you peep into the future. They take historical and current information related to your target search queries, such as search volume, competition, click-through rate (CTR), and rankings. And then, they help you anticipate the future performance of particular words and phrases to see which will be trending.

3. Foreseeing User Interests and Behavior

These days, search engines are seeking to satisfy user intent to the maximum by suggesting pages that best answer their needs. Respectively, if you want to rank high in SERPs, you need to ensure that your content perfectly matches the needs and interests of your target audience, and that’s where predictive SEO analytics and reporting can also help.

Predictive models can evaluate and interpret large sets of user data, including search patterns, use of specific keywords, on-site behaviors, and more, to anticipate future behavior. Businesses can use this to cater to their audience’s needs better. Good examples of harnessing the power of predictive models for foreseeing user behavior are Amazon and Netflix, which use it to predict users’ interests and offer personalized recommendations of products and content.

4. Predicting Upcoming Changes in the Search Algorithm

Needless to say, SEO is a dynamic, ever-changing field. Search engines roll out new updates and algorithm changes all the time, and the only way to keep your positions in SERPs high is to adapt to these changes rapidly.

But what if you could actually foresee them in advance?

Predictive models can make this happen. They can leverage the data of past algorithm updates to foresee the likelihood, type, and timing of upcoming updates. They can even predict the potential impact on rankings of a new update. This might be one of the biggest benefits of advanced analytics for SEO.

5. Measuring the Outcomes and Finding Areas for Improvement

Last but not least, by letting you deepen your SEO data analysis, predictive models can help you reflect on your SEO efforts more meaningfully and adjust your strategies for maximized outcomes.

Namely, with the help of historical data, advanced tools can help you determine future shifts in your site’s performance, rankings, etc. Additionally, they can provide valuable insights into emerging trends and changing user behavior patterns. Using all this information, you can implement a more data-driven, forward-looking SEO tactic that will let you stay ahead of the competition at all times.

Existing Technologies for Implementing Predictive SEO Analytics

Now that you know about the possible ways to implement predictive analytics for SEO goals and the perks you can get, the only question that must be there is how to start using it to your benefit.

Collecting, assessing, and interpreting large data sets is impossible without specialized technology, especially if you don’t want to fail due to poor-quality data. Luckily, some tools can help you start foreseeing the future now:

• Google Trends – This free tool offered by Google is simply invaluable for businesses seeking to obtain a competitive advantage. It enables you to monitor competitor interests, identify promising market opportunities and seasonal trends, and track emerging topics on the web.
• Google Search Console and Google Analytics – The importance of Google Search Console and Google Analytics for SEO is hard to undervalue. These tools enable you to mine a bunch of data about your SEO efforts, including your traffic, conversions, CTR, and more. When tracked over extended periods, this information can serve as reliable historical data for anticipating the future.
• All-rounded SEO platforms – 360-degree platforms for search engine optimization reporting, for example, Ninja Reports, can let you tap into even larger volumes of information than SEO Google Analytics. These platforms allow you to keep an eye on your competitor strategies, keyword rankings, backlink profiles, and many other aspects of your SEO strategy at once. All this info can be fed into advanced models to foresee future trends.
• Advanced data assessment tools – Lastly, apart from the tools that enable you to collect the needed historical information, you also need to leverage advanced data assessment platforms to process your data and extract valuable insights. Some such platforms are Watson Analytics, Microsoft Azure’s Machine Learning, DataRobot, and others.

Conclusion

Empowered by vast sets of historical data and advanced algorithms, predictive analytics is already changing the way we do business. It also seems to have an especially huge potential in search engine optimization.

As you now know, there are quite a few ways to leverage advanced models to assess your SEO and foresee future trends. Start using this to your benefit as soon as possible to dominate SERPs.