Although many aspects of SEO will likely always remain relevant, as Google continuously updates their algorithm, new SEO practices emerge. If you’re looking for new ways to work on your SEO, you can consider some of the top SEO trends of 2021.
Core Web Vitals (page speed) are more important than ever
A couple months ago, Core Web Vitals became a part of ranking criteria. The term sounds a bit misleading, because all you really need to be concerned with when you think about Core Web Vitals is how quickly your website loads. Page speed is important to users, and it’s more important than ever to Google. If you and your competition both have a website with great information, the page with a faster loading speed will rank higher.
You should start looking at your keyword research a little bit differently
It’s time to start putting more effort into your keyword research. If you’re familiar with SEO, it’s likely that you’ve already put some work into picking the right keywords and ensuring you include the keywords on your site. Google is emphasising matching user intent more than ever, so you’ll want to put more thought into what your users are looking for. A large number of searches are zero-click searches, meaning someone can find the information they’re looking for without clicking on a link, so think of ways you can use this to your benefit.
Since zero-click searches are on the rise, make sure you optimise for local search
Think about how many times you’ve searched for an answer on Google and found it without having to click through to a website. On more than one occasion, you’ve probably stumbled upon a local business while searching for these answers. Because of the high number of local search results, you should make sure your Google My Business profile is updated. You’ll want to make it easy for customers to find your business and get in touch, and increase the likelihood that you’ll make it to the top search results.
Be smarter with your content
This tip is multiple trends rolled up in one. There are so many opportunities for clever content creation. You can take advantage of video searches, voice searches, creating content focused on buyers, and generally using better techniques for your website copy. Online marketing efforts can be time consuming, but if you think about the overall online presence and put together a plan to tackle all areas of your content, you’ll reap the benefits. To add to this, Google is getting better and better at understanding content. This means you can write longer posts, include different topics on the same page, and limit your number of landing pages.
Digital Bridge can help with your overall online presence. Our team of web developers and web designers are based in Melbourne, but we work with clients across Australia. To get in touch, you can email us at hello@digitalbridge.com.au or call us at +613 8658 2434.