Preparing a modern SEO strategy that allows you continuous growth in the SERPs is going to be on the hot list of every organization in the year 2021. Getting customers to your website or online platforms and converting sales isn’t something that happens in a blink of an eye. The SEO trends are constantly evolving and the strategies need to evolve too.
For the organizations that relatively focus over organic practices of getting ahead in the search engine rankings, they need to pay attention to the metrics we will be sharing in this article. As more than 28% of organic SEO practices can convert in sales, not paying much attention to optimization might be a bad idea since the competition is getting tougher by the day.
Here are some of the most essential SEO Trends to know in 2021:
1. Google’s AI-Based Algorithm will Rule SERP Rankings
It's been quite some time since Google has unveiled its AI-based algorithm named RankBrain that plays an important role in deciding the search engine rankings for web pages. Though the tech giant hasn’t necessarily revealed many details on how to optimize the website to match the RankBrain criteria, the research statistically says that the optimization depends on factors like page loading speed, click-through rate, user engagement, time spent on the page and more. Thus, the organizations now need to pay more heed towards technical SEO aspects in this year.
Since voice search has already started to make an impact with the launch of Google’s assistant as well as other AI-based virtual assistants like Amazon Alexa, people now tend to search for words using normal and long-tail phrases. It is now important for organizations to use long-tail keywords to rank for voice search as compared to the short-tail keywords that are only used while typing.
The search engine rankings are now majorly dependent on mobile-friendliness of a website. With mobile-first indexing launched by Google, the mobile version of the website has taken the primary one as compared to the desktop version. Since major users are going to access your website from their mobile phones in the coming years, the SERP optimization strategy must involve making your website mobile-friendly. Use Google’s mobile-friendly test to determine your website status in terms of mobile-friendliness while making sure to use the same meta robots for the website and mobile version of your website.
Quality content has always been one of the major factors determining the search engine ranking and optimization measures. But, what does Google mean by quality content? It simply means following the “EAT” principle which represents the content to weigh in “Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness”. These are the factors Google use when determining if the website features quality content useful for the users and rank the pages likewise. Your website content must ensure to feature the search intent of the user. Creating a buyer persona before mapping out an effective consumer journey is one of the most advantageous steps one can take. In addition to this, the website content quality also depends on the internal and external linking as well as the overall appeal.
5. Long-Form Content Will Win
This is one of the most crucial and deciding optimization factors that help websites to rank better on the SERPs. According to recent research, the long-form content ranging around 3000 words gets more traffic when compared to the content of shorter length. In addition to this, long-form content also features additional backlinks that help them get higher ranking by being optimized better. The organizations have to keep in mind the content quality while writing long-form content. Apart from this, thorough keyword research, semantic keywords, on-page optimization that includes proper headings, subheadings, linking and more must also be considered. The long-form content that the blog or website features must also be easy to share
6. Features Snippets Will Rank Better
For the newbies, a featured snippet is a combination of a webpage's URL, a little description, and a title that is effectively shown at the top of the SERPs, even before the organic results. They are a little larger in content as compared to basic organic snippets while some of them also feature images relevant to the search query. A featured snippet is showcased to the user based on the search query and features all the information related to it. For optimizing the website for a featured snippet, the organization needs to publish questions and answers on the keywords they want to rank for. If Google thinks your website features all the answers related to a search query, it will automatically display a featured snippet of your website on the SERP before organic results, making it easy for the user to find the answers. This allows the website to gain more traffic.
7. Image Optimization and Videos will Affect SEO Strategy
As per the new year, the reports suggest that image optimization will play an important role in getting higher ranks on SERPs. Since major users are now inclining towards image search, the organizations need to keep the image optimization strategies running. Offer a proper alt text to your images to help crawlers find them, easy, label your images and more. Always make use of high-quality images and make sure they are relevant to the content. Apart from this, add images to your sitemap to make it easy for the crawlers to crawl them. In addition to the relevant images, the videos are now playing major roles in optimizing the website to rank better. According to research, the video content is expected to be at the top of the list as compared to the text content in terms of getting ranked for the user intent. Always make sure that the video added to your web page is optimized with proper tags as well as keywords.
8. Google 3 Pack will Ace the Show
For the unknowns, Google 3 pack is the method used by Google to display the top three results related to a search query on the local SERPs. The better is the website optimized locally, the more is the chances of your business to rank on the Google 3 pack. This can start by listing your business with Google My Business. Make sure your website is updated with enough backlinks for the crawlers to suggest your name for a local search query. This increased traffic on the website while also helps in maximizing sales.
With the SEO metric constantly evolving day by day, it is high time for the organizations to stay updated with the current SEO trends to rank higher on the SERPs. Using data and analytics can help organizations have a better understanding of their audience, the areas they lag and the areas they are good at. Staying on top of every SEO prospect can only help them get the relevant traffic and a guaranteed ROI.
