The world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is changing constantly. Though the state of flux can be difficult to navigate, there are often trend patterns that make keeping your website relevant in search engine results a little easier. As 2020 draws to a close, SEO experts have a pretty good idea of what those trends will look like for 2021 based on Google’s updated algorithm and the ways that updating SEO to match can help businesses into the new year.
Prioritize User Experience
The biggest trend SEO professionals are looking at is user experience, or UX. You may have heard the term User Interface (UI) in relation to website design, but UX goes a step beyond the interface. Creating a site with UX in mind means creating a site that is not only usable and aesthetically pleasing, but that ensures the customer feels positive overall about their interaction with the company.
This concept applies to websites, but it could extend beyond the virtual world into phone and face-to-face interactions. Basically, a positive UX means your company’s website leaves customers feeling as cared for as they do after having a pleasant experience with an associate. According to experts, successful UX websites are:
- Useful
- Desirable
- Accessible
- Credible
- Findable
- Usable
- Valuable
Incorporating these aims into a website raises hits, improves overall user experience with the company, and enhances SEO tactics.
Update Google’s My Business
Google’s My Business feature is the thumbnail that pops up on Google Maps when users do location-based searches. These pages have easily accessible data about a company’s location, hours, menu (if applicable), website, and contact information. Google is continually changing these listings’ capabilities, making it imperative that business owners stay up to **** with their profiles. Where this used to be simply an address and phone number search result, now customers can see in real-time how busy a location is. If a profile is missing information, users quickly move down the list to a business with more comprehensive single-glance information. These profiles are especially important for small and local businesses, who benefit most from searches such as “men’s clothing stores near me” and “best Pho Minneapolis.” This is especially important in a post-COVID-19 world when takeout and curbside pickup options are most popular. Listing pandemic safety precautions and offerings attract customers to check you out.
Evaluate Content Quality
It’s becoming more and more apparent that website users look for high-quality website content along with appealing design and usability. Even if you have killer SEO, if a user doesn’t find high-quality writing or information on your website, they’ll leave to find the same thing done better somewhere else. When this happens, you lose out on session length, causing your Google priority to fall. Enhancing your website content helps boost performance. To do this, investing in a quality copywriter, either contract or in-house, is your best bet.
Write For Humans
It may be tempting to create content that attracts bots, but your primary goal should be to write for people. Googles actually preferences this type of content – and so does your audience. To have an effective website, a business’ SEO strategies must include appearances based on any number of searches. Keywords alone aren’t king. If you stuff your content full of keywords, your SEO work will likely backfire with penalties from search engines.
Google is moving toward a space of interpretation, not just verbatim keyword searches. People are searching more conversationally as well. Whether it’s talk-to-text or vague Google entries, our SEO needs to be interpretive of users’ needs as a second speaker would be in a conversation. This extends to intent as well. Successful 2020 websites will be able to figure out the intent behind a user’s search, whether it be to compare products, purchase a product, find information, or reach a specific website.
Changing your website and SEO tactics to keep up with the constant transitions of the internet world is a full-time job. To run a fully functional website that reaches its full potential, it must be given near-constant care and alteration. Let the experts at Vizion handle it for you. As an industry forerunner in extensive SEO trends and updates, Vizion ensures your website is doing the maximum good for your company. Contact us today!
At Vizion Interactive, we have the expertise, experience, and enthusiasm to get results and keep clients happy! Learn more about how our SEO Audits, Local Listing Management, and Website Redesign Consulting services can increase sales and boost your ROI. But don’t just take our word for it, check out what our clients have to say, along with our case studies.
