Big data is one of the most popular management buzzwords today, but buzz is not all there is to it. Big data is having a huge impact on virtually every aspect of the world, and search engine optimization is one area that this is particularly true.

What is big data?

Before delving into how big data is influencing SEO, here's a quick outline of what big data is.

Big data is the collection and analysis of large groups of data that can be used to improve how we solve problems. This phenomenon has quickly become an integral part of today's decision-making process.

Even though there are quite a number of big data companies out there, Google is considered to be the biggest of them all, and a major player; hence the major influence on search.

How big data is changing the SEO narrative

Content is now data

Content has always been one of the ways to get noticed on the internet. This integral part of the SEO process is aptly summed in the maxim "Content is King". But Google, as the major curator of data, sought to convert content into measurable entities, and so content becomes data.

These days, content goes beyond published information that relates to your online business. Once it leaves your PC, it automatically becomes data that search engines can analyze. This makes it easier for people to find what they need online, and for businesses to get the best results out of their content.

This result of big data taking over content is that search results become more structured, giving birth to rich snippets, search packs and other results that are more accurate than before, resulting in a big win for both the content owner and the content user.

Big data results in better SEO insights

Big data has succeeded in taking away guessing from the SEO process.

Thanks to big data, it is now easier than ever before to keep track of keywords, analyze topics, do on-page SEO and focus on the other important aspects of site optimization, because you have better insights into your SEO and marketing strategies.

For example, tracking and analyzing a certain keyword will provide the insight that could make your SEO campaigns more successful. It has become easier to see what works and what does not.

Additionally, analytics tools like Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools provide a comprehensive account of your web content and web traffic. From these analyses, you can see how your online business fared compared to the competitors, and you can easily determine the changes you need to make to enjoy better results.

All in all, big data provides valuable insights that make your SEO more effective, which can be pivotal to the success of your business.

Of course, there is a price to pay for access to these helpful insights. SEO experts will have to overcome a steep learning curve if they want to stay ahead of the latest changes and updates. Fortunately, there are services like that in www.discountdomains.co.nz/web-hosting, that are able to help with the task.

Social media is becoming a major SEO tool

Social media platforms boast some of the largest collections of data in the world.

Social media giant, Facebook, boasts over 2 billion users, Twitter comes next with almost a billion, and other major social media platforms and blogs sharing a few hundred million between them. That makes them a huge source of big data insights.

It makes sense, therefore, that Google, as a big data curator, cannot afford to ignore social media if it is to stay on top of the data industry. As a result, social signals are becoming increasingly important as a search ranking factor. Positive social signals on top social media platforms like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest and so on will amount to better search rankings.

Because of this, it is crucial that website owners and content marketers pay more attention to social media as this is an important source of viable traffic and rankings.

Improvements in user experience

One of the many advantages of big data influencing the dynamics of SEO is that it will result into better user experience.

If you look at user experience as meeting the demands of the user in terms of website performance, relevance of content and user-friendliness, you will agree that leverage on big data for better SEO can only make your users happy.

For example, by leveraging on the insights provided by big data, search engines will be able to deliver results that are more targeted, perhaps by a number of criteria such as: location, gender, preference, previous searches and so on. This means that website users will be able to get what they want, quickly and with minimum hassle. This is what makes for optimal user experience.

Already, we are seeing this happen in major ecommerce websites like Amazon, but with time, the effect of big data will become more internet wide.

On the other side of the coin, Google can investigate what characteristics of websites reduce bounce rates, and what ‘great' user experiences look like, and reward sites that keep visitors with higher search rankings.

Wrapping Up

While it may be impossible to say exactly what SEO of the future will look like, we can confidently say that big data is going to make it easier for search engines to analyze content, user behavior on websites, and the language of the web and deliver the most relevant results for queries.

You don't have to understand big data to make it work for you. All you have to do is keep on creating content that is valuable, and endeavor to stay up to date with what Google is using as ranking signals.