As every year passes SEO continues to change and evolve to ensure relevancy is bought to the searcher, 2020 saw some big algorithm updates, proving that you can not simply leave your site to ‘do it’s own thing’ without truly investing in your SEO strategy. 2021 SEO trends see some interesting changes and a lot more technical SEO input to ensure you are ahead of the game in the SERPS (search engine ranking pages).

Making sure you rank in the search engines will increase the possibility of your business attracting and converting leads. To achieve this success it is essential to apply SEO techniques that are designed to meet the algorithms ranking criteria – which are never permanent and constantly changing so the user experience becomes simpler and more efficient.

User and search intent

This is by no means a ‘new’ trend but every year it is important to refocus as user intent and behaviour is forever changing and Google’s goal is to deliver content that meets users intentions.

It is time to better cater for your visitors by creating copy that addresses the visitors needs and concerns and not purely concentrates on content that talks about your products, your company or why your product is best for them.

Now is the time for businesses to focus on learning what users are looking for and this will require in-depth analysis of search data and the onsite journey of any organic leads acquired – not just search terms that were used to find your content.

Google is improving its effectiveness in delivering the most appropriate content, which increases the demand for quality and will continue to get even better at recognising when searchers are looking for expert advice and will rank these posts above articles written by content writers who are lacking E.A.T (Expertise – Authoritativeness – Trustworthiness)

How to utilise the E.A.T concept:

• Create professional documents with regards to your industry, market, trade, or niche
• Gain links from higher authority domains
• Hire experts and deliver content with facts that are relevant and accurate
• Keep content up to date
• Get reviews (utilise and ask for google reviews, don’t be shy!)
• Flash your credentials
• Demonstrate work that showcases your expertise (especially to Google)

Core web vitals and page experience optimisation

What are core web vitals?

In layman terms Core Web Vitals are a subset of factors that are part of Google’s “page experience” score – basically, the way Google looks at and determines your pages overall UX (user experience).

The factors analysed to understand your page experience score are:

• Large Contentful Paint (LCP);
• First Input Delay (FID);
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).

Again, put simply

• How quickly and smoothly your pages load
• How soon pages become responsive to user interactions
• How easy a website is to use and navigate on a mobile device
• The security and safety of a sites connection whilst browsing

Page experience should be incorporated into your overall strategy to future proof the performance of your website and rankings before algorithm updates take place.

Mobile SEO

ALL SEO is mobile SEO! You should continue to ensure your website performs effectively from a mobile perspective as the majority of searches are now conducted via a mobile device. A mobile search experience should be just as good as a desktop experience – so, now is the time to make sure you optimise all content for all types of search otherwise you could end up being penalised and lose your rankings.

Making your website mobile-friendly:

• Check your website speed and check it again and again and again
• Make sure your is responsive
• Keep web designs simple
• Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Testing tool for further recommendations

Local, local, local

Local SEO has become extremely important in digital marketing “open + now + near me” has grown by 200% and around 46% of all searches on Google are local. By optimising for local your business can take advantage of searches in the area looking for businesses like yours.

How to make a start with your local SEO:

• Create a Google My Business Account (you can find out more about this by reading our previous blog, Google My Business and how to set up an account)
• Optimise for mobile devices and voice search
• Take advantage of local keywords
• Sign up to online business directories
• Create content based on local events, news stories, and location-specific places

Structured Data is vital

Structured data allows your content to be better understood by search engines and is becoming increasingly important so you need to familiarise yourself with the concept and start applying structured data for your website and landing pages – you can use the Structured Data Testing Tool offered by Google to make a start.

Structured data will help to deliver rich results form your site to appear on SERPs and will help you to gain more traction from your users which will increase your click-through rate (and lead generation)

Create a killer video strategy

According to video marketing statistics by WordStream YouTube has over a billion users, and 82% of Twitter users watch video content on Twitter. With 30 million active daily users, more than 1 billion videos are watched on YouTube daily. that’s a big share of the market! Video is probably now one of the top media consumed by users.

To make a start with your video strategy:

• Create tutorials or demo videos aimed at your users
• Make sure you optimise your video content
• Include clear call to actions (CTAs)
• Try to avoid pushing ‘the sell’ – keep content informative
• The start of your video is the most important (keep the user engaged)

Long-tail keywords

Again, not a particularly new strategy but one to start using more in 2021, it has been suggested that long-tail keywords account for 70% of all web searches. Long-tail keywords give a good representation of how people are actually using search and by creating a long-tail strategy you can easily out-rank your competitors and improve your conversion rates – a long tail keyword is thought to produce a 36% conversion rate.

Tips for finding long-tail keywords:

• Research your analytics and your search query reports for insights
• Use Google suggestions and variations
• Go for questions, specially optimise your content for how-to questions
• Browse for topics on eHow, Wikipedia, and various Q&A sites

In conclusion, search is getting smarter and more advanced and every business with an online presence is fighting for position. To add to the above ensure you are implementing voice search optimisation, AI and machine learning strategies and keep producing content that will keep you ahead of the game. Implementing improved SEO tactics will get you more traffic and generate more sales.

Remember – Google is an ever-changing beast – there are already rumours of another algo update taking place (7th & 8th January) and things can change in an instant – make sure your SEO is best practice and please remember you can’t just build a new website set it live and hope for the best.