10 SEO Trends in 2021
The importance of SEO cannot be underestimated in 2021. SEO keeps updating, and you need to keep up with the trends. Most people prefer to search organically and ignore the paid ads. It, therefore, means that your SEO game needs to be well planned and executed. In this guide, we will discuss some of the SEO trends to keep up with within 2021.
1. Keyword research
Keyword research plays a significant role in how well your business ranks on search results of Google. Undeniably, there is so much competition in the online industry. To remain afloat, you have to conduct thorough research.
The best way to find relevant keywords for your business is to understand your users’ search intent. Expert SEO consultants recommend using longtail keywords based on what people are searching for on Google.
There are many SEO search tools you can use to make your keyword research easy. Some tools are paid, while others are free. You can find our detailed guide on SEO tools here.
2. Core web vitals
You need to ensure you are aware and on top of core web vitals to ensure you don’t lag behind your competitors. These vitals are aspects such as loading speeds, page responsiveness, security, and mobile usability.
Recently, Google has announced they will be using core web vital scores when displaying search results from May 2021. It’s as important as ever to be organised for this. If you would like to let a professional handle this for you, get in touch.
3. Adopt long-form content
In 2020, Google algorithms favoured sites with long-form content. In 2021, this trend is expected to continue as Google continues to update its ranking factors. This isn’t always the case however as this study from Ahrefs shows, its a reliable mantra to go by.
Blogs with over 2,000 words seem to rank better than competitors with about 1,000 words. In the future, it might mean businesses have to publish even longer content to outrank the competitors.
In 2015, Google released its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines after a leaked version was making the rounds on the web. A significant part of the guidelines gave us an insight into how google see web pages using the EAT acronym which stands for “Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness”. I suggest you investigate into this further however I will be releasing a blog on this soon.
4. Artificial intelligence and SEO
Google’s artificial intelligence algorithm known as RankBrain plays a key part in your websites ranking. Google uses artificial intelligence to determine how valuable a site is to the users. Some of the factors contributing to higher ranks include the click-through rate and the time a user spends on a page.
Therefore, a website owner should ensure that the content is well written and relevant to the search intent of users. It’s also advisable to place captivating images and videos in your content so that you can increase the on-page time.
5. Impact of voice search on search queries
Voice search has significantly impacted search queries in 2021. With innovations such as Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri for Apple devices, voice searches have rapidly increased. The difference between typed queries and voice searches is that voices use longer-form phrases. For example, you may type “SEO trends in 2021.” However, if you’re using voice search, you may use natural words like, “What are the trending SEO techniques in 2021.”
Consequently, if you want to rank for voice queries, you need to optimize your content so that keywords are longtail and natural.
6. Power of snippets
The featured snippet was launched in 2017 and has remained a great way to gain traffic and land on the most coveted first Google page. A snippet often appears at the top of the results in a box and appears in the question and answer format. The snippet can also occur as a bullet point directly answering questions.
To earn a featured snippet, you need to ensure you are matching the already ranking content in style and then beating it in quality. Again, a more in-depth blog post on this will follow.
7. Semantically related keywords for SEO Consulting
SEO experts don’t only focus on primary keywords, unlike there before. These days semantic search is also important because Google looks at how well your users interact with your site and how useful your content is. Semantic keywords ensure that you not only write for the bots but also for the people.
As you publish content on your search, you need to ask yourself how users would make search queries. Semantic keywords are, therefore, a trend you need to keep up with in 2021 and beyond which forms a large part off my SEO Consulting services.
8. Data and data analytics can increase your rankings
Data science is an important part of analyzing websites. Data analysis is a must-have skill for any online entrepreneur because it helps determine user behavior. This way, you can create content that fully answers their queries.
Analytics also helps observe and verify URLs and ensure that they get crawled. With analytics, you can also confirm that your page loads fast to avoid bounce rates. Most importantly, data analysis helps in identifying any errors as well as rectifying them. Google analytics is a good place to start here.
9. Internal linking
Internal linking, despite being an old tactic, is a helpful trend this year and beyond. If you have many pages on your website, it’s important to let your users and Google know which ones are more important than the rest. Well, you don’t have to tell Google what to rank and what not to because it can use the sitemap to index however their algorithm loves to find pages by following links internally which is a key on-page SEO technique.
Your users, however, depend on you to help them navigate from one page to another. Internal linking helps your audience find relevant related information without getting lost within the pages. The more you can engage your readers; the more Google will reward you with high rankings on SERPS.
10. Natural language processing (NLP)
We are all familiar with the many Google updates. The updates can either rank or outrank your sites. The most recent method to help you rank even after the updates is through natural language processing. You might be thinking that this is a complicated thing only known to the famous SEO geeks. It simply means writing for Google.
You see, bots may not understand some entities used for SEO. Thus, you need to know how crawl bots classify entities. This way, you can craft your content in a way that Google understands. Otherwise, how can Google rank your pages if it doesn’t understand what they are all about?
Final Thoughts
SEO is an ever-changing aspect that you need to keep up with. This guide provides you with all the SEO trends you need to watch out for in 2021. If you follow the tips we recommend, you will enjoy high rankings on SERPS – and isn’t it the joy of every web entrepreneur?
I hope you enjoyed the article? Do you have a question? Fire away below 🙂
And of course, would you prefer to off load all these tasks to a professional? Get in touch today.
