Search Engine Optimization (SEO) remains one of the most efficient approaches to attract paying clients to your business website. However, you won’t see any significant results if you don’t use SEO properly. Think about it this way: over 3.5 billion searches are done on Google alone daily, and only 25% of these searches go past Google’s first page.
So, how can your site make it to the top of the search list on Google’s first page and capture the attention of internet users?
If you remain updated with SEO’s current and future trends, you stand a higher chance of knowing and implementing SEO best practices to ensure that your content ranks high in Google’s search results.
Keep reading to learn more about the most important SEO trends for 2021 for International SEO services and for local services targeting a location like SEO Charleston.
10 Important 2021 Trends
1. Load Speed
User experience is a critical element of success in SEO marketing. Your site’s visual stability, interactivity, and loading influence the user experience.
How stable your website is, how soon it gets interactive, and how fast it loads are essential aspects to consider for effective SEO.
If your site has equal relevance to your competitor’s content, then search engine bots will rely on the user experience to determine which of the two ranks higher. So, make sure you work on improving your site’s user experience for better ranking.
2. Mobile-First Indexing
Google and other search engines are implementing algorithms in favor of mobile users. Such a strategy is based on the fact that more than 52% of website traffic all over the globe is driven by mobile phone users. For this reason, your SEO strategy would work if you ensure your site and the content is mobile-responsive.
Start by evaluating how your content looks on mobile and make the necessary changes if it does not appear as well as it does on desktop. Then, to increase engagement and move your traffic up, format your content for mobile users.
3. Use of Artificial Intelligence
The use of artificial intelligence is a growing SEO trend in 2021. With AI, you can improve how users interact with your content online. As you develop your SEO strategy, you need to slot in Google’s AI algorithm, as the SEO AI field is significantly evolving.
Even though there are no specified approaches to determine how to adopt AI for SEO improvement, you can rely on user experience signals as the primary data insights determinants. Thus, by developing a positive user experience, you will be taking advantage of the growing role of AI in SEO marketing.
4. Voice Search
Voice search is another significant SEO trend to consider in 2021. Several innovations such as Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon’s Alexa show the potential role and growth of voice search marketing.
More customers are investing in voice-activated applications and devices. By the end of the year 2022, over 55% of households will have voice-enabled smart speakers. Therefore, start implementing this strategy early, so you capture users using voice search.
5. Using Snippets to Attract Users
Content curation is considered an excellent way of boosting your SEO strategy. But you can still adopt shorter snippets in showcasing your brand. Featured snippets are the short texts at the top of search results of any search engine that give your users a quick answer to a given question.
User tastes and choices are changing by the day, and so is their preference when it comes to getting a response for their search. Snippets are effective for SEO because they can draw traffic to your site from a competitor brand.
6. Video Strategy
In recent years, the number of users consuming video is higher than those using infographics and blogs. Considering the dramatic shift towards video consumption in content marketing, implementing video can improve your SEO strategy significantly.
Posts that do not have video get 24% fewer shares and 92% less traffic than those with a single video. Therefore, consider embracing video content in your SEO strategy for better traffic and ranking.
7. More Focus on Keywords
Keywords usage forms the bulk of your SEO strategy. The keywords you use influence how easily your target audience finds your page online. Usually, keywords effectively emphasize what your website is about so search engines can index it properly.
Start by carrying out in-depth keyword research to understand the most competitive keywords to consider for your content development. Even though keywords are necessary for helping search engines match your users’ searches to your content, it is advisable to focus on quality instead of quantity.
8. EAT and Branded SEO
Search engines have a high preference for quality content, especially when ranking sites. But can you rank higher on the first page by focusing on quality alone? Probably, not – and this is when the EAT approach – expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness – becomes necessary.
SEO is slowly moving the authority and branding way. As a result, your brand will more likely rank higher on major search engines if it is more authentic and popular. Thus, work on establishing your brand’s reputation for a better chance to improve your overall ranking.
9. Search Intent Matches
Google is using a more conversational approach to intent matches. The ability of search engines to interpret users’ intent makes it easy for them to match the searches to appropriate sites.
If your site has intent mismatches, it will be hard for Google to feature your content in search results. The focus here is to create content that matches your users’ search.
10. Using Long-form Content
The use of long-form content is another SEO trend that might take your ranking to a higher level in 2021. Longer content, ranging from 3000 to 7000 words, ranks well and gets more views than blogs of average length.
The secret to success using long-form content is to offer your audience more information to ease their decision-making process. In addition, this approach establishes your brand as reputable and credible in its industry.
Final Thoughts
Developing a successful SEO strategy requires significant investment in various tactics and being up to date with trends and developments in digital and content marketing. Whereas leveraging these tactics can help you grow traffic and rank high, you should be consistent in your SEO strategy.
Remember that having a website doesn’t mean that you will show up at the top of search results – you need to implement the right strategies to rank high. Does all this sound confusing? Well, don’t worry –instead, contact VIP Marketing, a reliable marketing agency Charleston, SC, to help you with your SEO strategy.
Eric Elliott the founder of VIP Marketing, the best law firm marketing in SC inspires his staff to harness their creativity and to never stop growing. He is the inspirational speaker and advisor of major growing firms in Charleston, SC.