21 SEO Trends & Tips for 2021 (#8 to #14)
SEO 2021 Trend/Tip #8 – Artificial Intelligence, Search and SEO
One of the most important SEO trends in 2021 is adapting website optimization efforts in response to how Artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining the future of how humans interact with online content. Google’s AI algorithm, called RankBrain, plays a major role in determining Google’s search ranking factors for search engine results page (SERP) results.
RankBrain, has the unique capability to learn and interpret signals based on discoveries and insights and is designed to only improve with time, making Artificial intelligence a major SEO trend to follow.
So, the question is how to you optimize SEO for RankBrain AI? While Google will not share details, information technology experts believe that user experience (UX) signals are the primary determining factor. These could include variables such as click-through rate and/or time spent on a web page. One needs to engage readers with relevant, useful, well-organized content. On-page SEO tools are available to check and assess things like page strength, readability, backlinks, and more.
SEO 2021 Trend/Tip #9 – Voice Search & Search Queries
With technological innovations such as Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri, voice search is quickly becoming the defacto way that people search for information. As the technology improved, it’s become extremely popular. Experts claim that the percentage of households that will own a smart speaker device by 2022 will reach 55% or more.
When implementing SEO for voice search, the keyword queries that need to be considered tend to be longer phrases that are used in day-to-day conversation. Voice searches tend to return more relevant results with more natural, longer phrases. When people type a query in a search engine, the tendency is to abbreviate. For instance, a person may voice search, “What are the top SEO trends for 2021?” but when typing, input the phrase, “top SEO trends 2021.”
SEO 2021 Trend/Tip #10 – Mobile-Friendliness
In 2019, Google introduced mobile-first indexing, where it prioritizes a website’s mobile version rather than the desktop version. Makes total sense, considering that it is predicted that nearly 75% of internet users, if not more, will use the internet via a mobile device by 2025.
SEO in 2021 should include testing the effectiveness the mobile version of your website. To aid users, Google has a mobile-friendly test that it offers users for free. Regular review of your website’s “mobile usability” report via the Google Search Console is also strongly recommended. To ensure that your web page is user-friendly, Google must be able to crawl the URLs. Make sure there isn’t an inappropriate “disallow directive” active and be sure to use the same meta and robots tags on the mobile site and desktop site. Also, be aware that the Googlebot spider will not load mobile content that requires user interactions such as clicking and/or swiping.
SEO 2021 Trend/Tip #11 – Google E-A-T Principle
Content that satisfies Google’s E-A-T principle will achieve higher rankings in 2021. Google has stressed that quality content is crucial for successful ranking. But exactly what does Google mean by “quality?” E-A-T stands for: expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. The E-A-T elements assist in the determination of whether a web page has relevant quality content. The E-A-T principle is particularly applicable in business niches that are categorized as “your money, your life” (YMYL) categories, such as health care, medical advice and finance.
There are numerous ways that one can achieve quality, EAT compliant content. Creating buyer personas, helps to understand the type of content that clients find valuable. Conducting search intent research will help with the mapping out consumer journeys. Using the aforementioned information will help create content that your ideal users prefer.
It is very important to be mindful of the E-A-T principle when composing content. Legitimize claims with facts and statistics. Link to respected, authoritative websites – “.edu” and “.gov” sites. .If possible, to help your site meet E-A-T criteria, invite authoritative sites to link back to yours.
SEO 2021 Trend/Tip #12 – Predictive Search
In 2021, Predictive Search will improve. Google Discover was rolled out in 2017, introducing a new sort of search — one that does not necessitate a user search query. Google Discover is another Google AI tool. This tool identifies a user’s behavior patterns over the course of time and learns the respective user’s habits. Utilizing this information, Google Discover is able to identify the most relevant content that will be of interest to the user.
Google Discover already lays claim to nearly a billion active users. If Google indexes your web page, it will be included in Google Discover. Online content is ranked according to AI algorithm inspection of content quality, and user engagement. Even though Google has shared any precise factors, it appears that location, browsing and search history, as well as app usage and calendars are all considered relevant.
SEO 2021 Trend/Tip #13 – Video & Video Optimization
SEO will require the inclusion of Video and Video Optimization as part of one’s overall SEO strategy. Online video is hot!. YouTube has over a billion users. If you are not yet creating video content, this is the time to start. In 2021, video consumption is forecasted to exceed all other types of online content.
So how do you optimize video content? Be sure to optimize the name and description of your video channel. The video channel description should not just be stuffed with keywords but should provide a user-friendly overview your channel’s content.
Proper utilization of keywords is crucial. When optimizing video for YouTube, you can use the it’s auto-complete search feature. Just type in your video’s topic and take note of the results that are offered in the search input box, basically related keyword suggestions, indicating exactly what people are querying on YouTube..
SEO 2021 Trend/Tip #14 – Image Optimization
Image optimization will be more important in search. Image search has evolved dramatically in recent years. in the past people were only able to view images. Going forward, images will be used to buy products, get information, and much more. Google has been recommending proper tagging and optimization of images for many years, apparently part of Google’s future vision.
If images on your website are not optimized, it is strongly recommended to do so as soon as possible. You should use relevant, high-quality images and be sure to optimize the respective file name so that it’s relevant to content on the respective web page. Be sure to utilize alt image tags, which spiders rely on to classify images. And be sure to include images to your website’s site map, to facilitate search spiders crawling and indexing.
NEXT: 21 SEO Trends & Tips for 2021 (#15 to #21)
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