With constant changes in Google algorithms and hence SEO techniques, it is not possible to be at the top as what worked for you earlier might not work for you now. So, staying at the top would be typical and SEO 2018 would be difficult and challenging.
SEO in 2018 must be align towards:
The rise of SERP features
Most importantly, SERP features seem to attract the audience. So, why not work on those features which can help you in getting traffic and hence ranking.
Survival of the fastest
UX is the major factor in getting ranked on Google. With good website speed UX also improves which eventually land up in good Google ranking. Google expects the page to be loaded in 3 seconds. So, try optimizing your website for mobile phones with the help of SEO professionals.
Structured Data
This is considered as an important part for website ranking as the structured data gives high degree of information about the organization through a relational database system. Once the audience finds the relevant information at one place it increases the UX and eventually improves the search ranking.
Relevance 2.0
Google loves the content but only that which is relevant and useful. Getting back links could be a challenging game in 2018. Use that website which uses 2.0 directories to generate the back links. This would then be beneficial to get the ranking. Google take a keen look at the related terms and posts according to the website.
Voice search
This will definitely have huge impact on Google ranking. It has been reported by Google that 40% of the adults and 55% of the teenagers uses voice search for general requirements.
Mobile is next unavoidable thing
More than half of the Google searches come from mobile as voice search has occupied the market. This is an important ranking factor, so, ignoring mobile responsiveness could be a big problem.
So, with the advent of 2018, the given SEO techniques for 2018 will also emerge and make SEO and ranking process difficult and challenging. In this respect a webinar is going to held on 30th November, 2017 at 1:00 PM ET. Do attend the webinar and get the most important updates about SEO 2018.