Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most effective ways for attracting potential customers to your website. To generate organic traffic, you need to rank on page one of the SERP. And that’s where you need SEO. The SEO industry is unpredictable just like algorithm updates that Google launches from time to time. While some aspects are always considered best practice, like ensuring metadata is properly attributed, some SEO trends come and go. Here is a breakdown of the most significant SEO and Google trends to inform which tools you use and strategies you prioritize for 2021.
1. Core Web Vitals as a Google ranking factor: - In May 2020, Google announced three new metrics, called Core Web Vitals to be used for measuring user experience: Loading, Interactivity, and Visual Stability. Core Web Vitals are a set of user experience criteria based on page load speed, responsiveness and visual stability.
2. Google’s BERT looks for intent matches: - Google's BERT algorithm (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) uses machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to better understand searches and what users are actually looking for. Google’s BERT is set to make an impact on the SEO game. BERT was released in 2019, and in 2021, these updates are finally making their mark.
3. Keyword research will become more important: - More than 50% of searches are zero-click searches. It means more than half of the Google searches end without any click. This is due to the reason that consumers can get the answers they need without even having to click a result or even finish typing out a query. Given the competition out there, it’s crucial to invest some time in keyword research to find keywords that can actually drive traffic and sales for your business.
4. Google My Business: - For any business trying to immediately increase visibility, and especially for local businesses, Google My Business (GMB) is an invaluable tool. GMB is a portal created by Google that allows business owners to provide important business directory type information such as Type of business, Description of services, Location, Hours of operation, Websites, Social media pages, Services & Customer reviews. And because GMB integrates with Google Maps, if a prospective customer taps on your business on the map, all of that information is instantly synced to your business overview.
5. Voice search: - Whether people ask their voice assistant from a smart home device or on their phone, we all tend to speak more conversationally than when we enter search terms on a desktop or laptop computer. Around 27% of the entire global population is using voice search on their mobile phones. Since voice search optimization is still growing as more people are opting for it with the passing time, it is expected to continue trending in 2021 as well. So this can be a necessity in terms of SEO.
6. Artificial Intelligence Tools: - A growing trend worth nothing is the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) for SEO. Google utilizes AI to provide the searchers with results they are looking for. AI isn’t magic, and AI tools aren’t replacements for tried-and-tested SEO strategy. Think of them more as supplementary tools to support your overall strategy rather than a catch-all solution.
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