The Top 10 SEO Trends
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) trends constantly evolve, continuously adapting and changing according to user preferences. SEO is one of the most effective ways to attract customers to your site. However, it’s not always easy to know what’s best for your company without a bit of background knowledge. Let’s get started with what SEO is and the latest trends that you need to update for.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization is a fundamental practice to drive traffic to your website. It ensures that your site can be quickly found on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), making it more accessible to users and potential buyers. However, if you think that SEO isn’t beneficial, here is some evidence to back up the importance of using it for any business:
70% of respondents say that SEO is better than PPC (pay-per-click) for generating sales
Nearly 64% of marketers actively invest time in SEO
SEO drives 1000%+ more traffic than organic social media
51% of shoppers surveyed say they use Google to research a purchase they plan to make online
Whether you are a small shop getting started with an online presence or have a well-established website with various social media platforms, search engine optimization is critical to ensure your business gets the attention it deserves. With that said, let’s take a look at the most recent SEO trends that you should be implementing now:
1. Mobile SEO
According to Hubspot, to improve site performance, marketers’ top technical SEO tactic is to optimize mobile performance. More users are searching through their mobile devices and expect the best possible experience from any business. You should be focusing your efforts on not just desktop but mobile ranking as well. If you find that your desktop ranking is higher, it may be an indicator to work on your mobile SEO. With a user-centric approach, you should focus on creating a website that is easy to use and navigate on mobile devices. This consists of speed, personalization, ability to find information, and valuable content. Don’t settle for the bare minimum or passing scores; improve the overall experience and use SEO as your partner in crime.
2. Buyer-Centric Content
Although SEO is primarily concerned with an algorithm, keywords, and searches, one of the best things you can do is to ensure that your content is searcher and buyer-centric, rather than focusing solely on sales and what you have to offer. Create valuable and helpful content that will help the buyer solve an issue or find the research they’re looking for. If your content is worthy, and consumers remain on your page for a long time, continue searching for more, and return often, Google will recognize this. Your website will perform better, rank better, and you may find your website moving up in the search ranks.
3. Intent Content
A significant trend for SEO that has been increasingly more relevant and will continue to be for years to come is creating “intent content” with the user in mind. To do this, spend time researching topics that people are searching for. This means keywords, questions, problems or anything relevant and current. You need to create something that others are wanting; supply and demand, right? The best way to go about this is to find heavily sought-out topics related to your business, check out what your competitors are producing, and create better content. Include unique information, personal insight, or anything that will make your content distinct. Throughout the process, keep the user in mind and precisely what they may be looking for.
4. High-Quality Backlinks
A backlink is a link from one website to another. Google will use backlinks as a ranking signal, registering that the content is noteworthy for sharing. Including high-quality backlinks in your content will help to increase your site’s ranking position and visibility in search engine results. There are two types of backlinks: nofollow and dofollow. A nofollow tag will signal to search engines to ignore the link, making them not so helpful for improving your search rank.
In comparison, a dofollow link is an HTML attribute used to allow bots to follow the links. That is the type of link you’re aiming for. Remember that the quality, not the quantity, of backlinks, is what will make a difference in your website’s ranking.
5. Influencer SEO
An influencer has a presence online and the ability to impact the purchasing decisions of others based on their knowledge, authority, or relationship with their audience. The majority of marketers believe that the ROI from influencer marketing is comparable or better than various other marketing methods. In addition, the influencer marketing industry is expected to increase by nearly $13.8 billion by 2022. If your business hasn’t taken advantage of influencer marketing yet, now may be the time. Focus on choosing influencers that can support your SEO strategy, ones with the right target audience for your brand.
Influencer marketing can impact your SEO in three ways:
Traffic: viral content on social media can generate plenty of traffic towards your page and website
Link building: obtain natural, high-quality backlinks from influencers
Brand engagement: content that is helpful and relatable to the influencer’s audience will increasing the likelihood of popular content and share-worthy information
6. Zero-Click Search
Zero-click searches do not send you to a third-party website from the organic search but instead, show the result at the top of the page. Local SEO is a critical element to the rising popularity of zero-click searches. These top search results will provide answers from the SERP itself. It is essential to build a strong backlink profile, set up a Google My Business account (if you haven’t already), and utilize the account to the best of your ability. Many zero-click searches are local, so this can be a massive advantage to your business to target local searches and potential buyers.
7. Long-Form Content
Long-form content is considered anything between 800 and 3,000 words that provides information or detailed research on any given topic. Long-form content has been found to boost traffic and positively impact the number of online shares. To achieve higher search rankings, focus your efforts on long-form content while still maintaining the quality. You want to create equally informative content as it is shareable to keep the reader entertained while also encouraging them to share it with others. To do this, make sure the content is easily scannable, relevant, includes authoritative sources, and is simple to understand.
8. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence, or AI, has been changing the SEO and marketing industry for quite some time. AI offers a level of personalization that is attractive to buyers and companies alike. Google also utilizes AI to provide searchers with exactly what they are searching for. So what does this have to do with you? Understanding search engine algorithms and then creating strategies accordingly is extremely challenging and time-consuming. With the help of AI-based solutions and machine learning, you can be much more efficient in developing effective strategies.
9. Video Content
With video content projected to surpass all other forms of content in terms of consumption, the time to use video marketing is today. YouTube has continued to impact SEO and should be kept in mind when creating video content. They should be attractive to the consumer, voice target keywords, and be optimized for search. Video content can include anything from product demos and customer reviews to how-to videos or live streams. Despite which content your business chooses to utilize, make it user-friendly, professional, and use the right keywords.
10. Voice Search
Voice search and commands are becoming increasingly popular as users frequently use their mobile phones to seek out information. Consumers use the voice search feature to ask for directions, dictate texts, find out movie times, or play a song. Where you come in, is hopping on this new yet growing trend. To optimize your business for voice search, identify longer phrases that people may use and consider the keywords linked to the associated topic. Getting the upper hand on a growing trend can put your company at a competitive advantage compared to others in the industry.
Go with the trends
SEO might be a brand new concept to you and your business, or you could be well versed in the world of search engines. Either way, the importance of SEO remains relevant and will continue to be a key factor for any business. If you want to build a reputable brand, gain awareness, make sales, and rank high, following these SEO trends will lead you in the right direction.
FAQs
How does SEO work?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving and modifying your website or any online platform to rank higher on search engines. You want your page to appear high up when a user types in a query to a search engine, like Google. To do this, ensure that your content is relevant for specific searches and that your website will be a reliable tool.
How has SEO changed recently?
With algorithm changes and optimization constantly in flux, SEO has had some major changes over the past few years. While keywords are important, it’s also a good idea not to overuse them. Natural keyword placement is often rewarded and can get your website to rank higher. Quality content over quantity is a huge focus since engines want to provide users with the best possible content to solve their problems and answer their questions. Along with that is the prioritization of mobile-friendly sites and a focus on local SEO.
What are other SEO trends?
There are countless other trends that you could look into, and each one has its purpose. Additional SEO trends that have been beneficial to companies are the importance of SERP layout, page experience optimization, featured snippets, and image optimization. Depending on your primary goals for your business, you can implement these SEO strategies to suit your webpage and other online forums.
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