Eight Key SEO Trends For 2021

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Before we cover some of the upcoming SEO trends for 2021, let’s address some SEO basics, shall we?  What is SEO?  Basically, SEO is an organic tactic that helps you to improve your site’s ranking on Google, Bing, etc. for terms (keywords) that are related to your business – which in turn helps to put you closer to the top of the search results where ultimately you can be found by the consumer or a potential client. Here is a quick little video that explains SEO click here.

How important is SEO?

To give you an idea, in a recent study by Databox – 70% of those respondents said that organic SEO is better compared to PPC (pay per click) for generating sales. It may be slow to grow your SEO organically, it will provide you with some rewarding payoffs.  For tips on how to improve your website’s SEO visit here.

Want to know the key things to keep in mind when it comes to SEO strategies for 2021?  SEMrush breaks it down for us with 12 SEO Trends To Know For 2021.  We highlight some of them here below.

Top SEO Trends for 2021

Focus on User Intent

Every year it is important to relook at user intent and behavior – because like everything else, it is constantly changing.  You will only benefit from learning more about user intent and other behaviors.  Learn more about the topic on one of our other blogs and why it is NOT about stringing a bunch of keywords together.  

Here are some high-level tips from SEJ on meeting the needs of the user: 

1. This often means forgetting about yourself and catering to your visitors. 

2. Use copy that addresses the visitor’s needs.  

3. Make sure your website renders and stabilizes quickly. 

4. Do not make people work to find your content. Avoid forced pop-ups and registrations.

Page Experience Optimization 

Page experience should be a focus when considering your SEO strategies (which also relates closely to User Experience). Things to consider when optimizing page experience.  Do your pages load smoothly and quickly?  How soon do your pages become responsive to user interactions?  How easy is your website to use and navigate on mobile devices?  Finally, how safe and secure is your site’s connection as the user browses through it? 

Focus on Local Search

Local search will be playing a bigger role in regards to SEO strategies. Do you have a Google My Business page? Especially if you have a physical location that customers can come to visit you or a location that you travel to, to visit with customers.

An example of Local Search Results – from Google.

It’s All About Semantics

Semantically related keywords will be even more important.  SEMrush offers a comprehensive tool to help to identify what semantically related keywords will be important to your business.  To embellish on what Semantic SEO is – it is a method of being thoughtful in regards to content and identify the intent of a search based on each of the words used in the query. You will improve the traffic to your website if you are providing meaningful metadata and semantically relevant content that can answer a specific search intent.  Semantically related keywords also help to create a better overall User Experience

It’s okay – talk their ear off!

Improve SERPs (search engine results pages) with your long-form content. From SEMrush’s State of Content Marketing Report the data shows over 3,000-plus words will get three times more traffic and four times more shares.  With that being said, focus on long-form content in order to obtain higher search rankings.

Mobile is Here to Stay

Optimize for mobile! Statista states, “Mobile accounts for approximately half of the web traffic worldwide. In the third quarter of 2020, mobile devices (excluding tablets) generated 50.81 percent of global website traffic, consistently hovering around the 50 percent mark since the beginning of 2017.”  You can check how effective your mobile site is with Google’s free mobile-friendly test.

AI: The New Kid on the Block

Artificial Intelligence will play a larger role in SEO. Make sure your content is engaging and well-organized.  You can use an on-page SEO checker to help you assess page strength based on points like readability, backlinks, and more.  AI, more specifically machine learning – has become a crucial component in how search engines rank pages. This means it’s important to understand AI when optimizing for search. AI is ultimately a tool to improve the accuracy, efficiency, and performance of search engine optimization strategies.

Alexa: What is…?

Voice search will impact search queries. 55% of people use Voice Search in order to obtain the information they are looking for. The technology for virtual assistants have been improving – which in turn is increasing their popularity in many homes and the use of virtual assistants on mobile devices.  Keep in mind the phrasing people use when thinking of keywords.  For instance… asking “Siri” to “locate the closest coffee shop to me” – that same phrase may be typed in as “coffee shop near me.”

SEO is constantly changing and to ensure that your site “checks all the boxes” you may not know where to start.  The team at AGC is happy to help!  After an audit of your current website and SEO, we can create a strategy and thoroughly update your website to help your target audience find your business quickly.

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