SEO or search engine optimization is probably the most consistent and valuable marketing channel of all marketing. As recently as 2019, SEO accounted for 22 percent of all website visits.
Even though many people have heard, SEO is not dying and, as you can take reference from above, is actually growing. SEO exists, but that does not mean that what you know about SEO today will be the same SEO you see in the coming years. So it is necessary to stay up-to-date and know what Google is launching in 2021 and beyond. Like, if you want to get more organic traffic to your site, don’t ignore these major SEO trends in 2021.
User Focus
“What’s good for the user is good for SEO (and Google).” This phrase was accurate ten years ago and is still true today. Google wants to provide the best possible experience for our users or search engines. Therefore, when Google sends a user to your site via a search engine result page (SERP), you wish the user to be satisfied. If so, the user will return to Google the next time they need to search for something. A great SEO strategy is all about putting yourself in the shoes of the user and ask themselves if the content is precious for them, the brand is trustworthy, and the website is easy to use.”
Search Intent And Conversion
When content or SEO groups sit down to write new content, it is better to look at the search engine result page (SERP). Before looking at SEMRush, Google Search Console (GSC), or any other SEO tool, visit SERP. SERP tells you what Google thinks is the best result that fulfills the user’s intent. Google tells you what kind of content you need to create when searching for a query or related search terms. If you do not learn to fulfill that intention, you will be sure to fall behind.
Google can identify even better when a visitor seeks advice from an expert and ranks on posts written by content writers lacking E-A-T”. “SEO professionals will succeed in 2021 who can truly understand how to meet the needs of search engines.”
If you meet these needs, you will get more conversions when the user is ready. The goal of SEO is to get more organic traffic and get more potential customers. A site is worth nothing if you can earn millions of sessions without earning revenue. Therefore, when the user is moved to the lower funnel side, it should make it easier to reach the destination, ensuring that the funnel is simple and fast. If a user searches for information and finds an article, don’t push the funnel too much because it’s probably not ready – and you could lose your edge forever. Once you know the user’s intent by page type, use this information and direct the user to the next most logical page in the product funnel.
Page Experience And Core Web Vitals
Last year, Google announced that the page experience and the main web vitals would rank Google’s algorithms by May 2021. It’s a long story; Google officially uses the site’s speed as a ranking factor.
If you ask an experienced SEO, they will probably say that your site’s speed is already a direct ranking factor. Ultimately, this is an indirect ranking factor in the fact that if you have a slow site, the user bounces back and goes back to Google. Google calls it “pogo-sticking.”
The Core Web Vitals report found in your GSC account focuses on three main metrics:
Largest Content Paint (LCP): measures the loading speed of the main content of the page. It should load in 2.5 seconds.
First Input Delay (FID): It measures the rate at which users can interact with a page once found. It should be within 100 milliseconds.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): measures how often users experience unexpected layout shifts. CLS must be less than 0.1.
One of Google’s top SEOs, recently stated that all three core web vital benchmarks have to be met to increase ranking. Google could even display a badge in the SERP for faster pages. If you search on Google and argue between two similar datasheets, won’t you click on the speed bar?
Google has given nearly a year to SEO Experts for improving the speed of their site. This advanced notification can be a significant shift for a company with many SEO changes on its chest.
Adapt soon
When you focus on the SERP, notice what is changing. Google runs A / B tests every day. But when you see Google changing the SERP, you want to stay ahead of the competition. Highlighted snippets are still relatively new to Google. Yet, you can see that inserting another snippet of code or adding relevant links to your highlights will lead to greater engagement. You need to use this information and adjust your content and design strategy. If Google does, then you need to do this on your site.
Also, Google is investing more and more in structured data. Structured data can not only help Google understand the context of a page but can reward you with more qualities in SERP. Today, Google only rewards certain types of structured data on the SERP, but this list is growing rapidly.
Contact Deepness
Both Google and users should be assured that you know your stuff. Ultimately, EATs – namely, expertise, authority, and reliability – are ranking factors. But outside of Google, users have to see that you know everything about your niche. If users are looking for information about artificial intelligence, they do not want to visit more sites to get the information they need. Think about how the underlying Artificial Intelligence content is presented. If a page is available with all available content and links to other related content, this is an ideal informative blog layout.
You often need long content to show your expertise. In fact, according to a 2019 SEMRush recently updated this month, long adders (articles with 7,000 or more words) are the absolute leaders in terms of content performance as compared to articles of average length (900–1200 words).
Short content is not infrequent in SEO. Show your users that you know more about your area than anyone else. It will be sure to feel the impact on users, Google, and your organic ranking.
Internal Linking
You have not seen internal linking on many SEO trend lists because it has been important to SEO for decades. However, just because it is an old strategy does not mean that it no longer works. Internal linking is essential to help users, and Google finds the pages that matter to you. Although Google can use XML Sitemaps to find all the URLs on your site (if set correctly), users do not use them, so they have to navigate from one page to another.
If you have too many content or product pages with millions of search features, this can be not easy. Whether you have a clear site hierarchy that allows users to move from one page to another quickly, both users and Google help you discover important, new, and updated content. To do this, try the following strategy:
- Content hub: A column page and articles related to that topic are linked to that page.
- Accurate navigation: The filters and criteria used by e-commerce sites allow customers to quickly narrow the color, style, or other product features.
- Link Package: A package of links at the bottom of product pages that indicate similar products.
- Related hyperlink: link to other similar content on your blog.
Automation
AI, machine learning, and natural language processing (NLP) are all growing rapidly. It is no secret that it is expensive for our general market organizations to write a lot of content and generate reports while performing many other important business functions. Therefore, many (including Google BERT updates) turn to these automated tools to make it faster and more efficient. According to a recent report by Data Protect, 37 percent of businesses and organizations are already using artificial intelligence, and the AI industry is projected to earn approximately $ 118 billion by 2025.
It is time to research and try AI software for keyword research, content writing, reports, and anything else you can think of. However, do not forget to ensure the quality. GPT-3, one of the latest developments in AI, showed unsafe bias, as shown below.
Local search
Local SEO has in the past helped traditional, individual retailers increase traffic. However, local SEO has expanded rapidly over the years. Recently, Google started showing more local news in search.
Highlighted snippets and zero-click searches are becoming common every day. Many zero-click searches are local searches that show results on the SERP called “local packages.”
Other ways to leverage local SEO include:
- making money with local keywords.
- Take advantage of an online business directory.
- Develop content based on local events, news, and location-specific locations
Creativity
Finally, it is time to get creative with SEO. The most important theme of this entire piece is changed. SEO is not dying, but it is evolving rapidly. Most of the work that we have done for years will not work. After all, keyword stuffing and content syndication used to be a beautiful SEO strategy. Today, however, these age-old tactics will not only work but may also impose a fine on Google.
Therefore, it is necessary to keep up with the trends and test new strategies. Do not be afraid to test new water. But never go until you prove that your experiments are working.