DOMINATING SEO TRENDS FOR 2020

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the digital process of increasing the quality and quantity of website traffic by enhancing the visibility of a website or web page through searches made on various web search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, or DuckDuckGo. SEO is of two main types:

 On-page SEO – this involves strategies and methods like keywords, meta description, SSL/HTTPS, HTML code, title tags, URL structure, interlinks, and alt tags directly on a website or web page. It increases Brand visibility, website position in search rankings, content structure and quality, and web page performance.

 Off-page SEO – this involves strategies like backlinks, domain authority, blog optimization, and social media advertising to enhance visibility, website position in search rankings, and page performance in web pages that are off the website.

SEO TRENDS

Careful and consistent monitoring of SEO trends is required to increase the visibility of a website or web page. It helps to track changing trends related to online content, global likes and dislikes, and new upcoming concepts and ideas to design and develop strategies for website or web page improvement. Constant analysis and monitoring of SEO trends is essential for simplified and organized advertising, marketing, and promotion of a Brand. It is important for business growth, advertisement and promotion, brand awareness, and product campaigning. SEO is a dynamic concept – constant change is required for a successful business keeping in mind the current trends and demands of the future.

Before we discover the dominating trends of 2020, it is important to know the trends of 2019. SEO trends in 2019 included:

 Voice-based Searches – the inclusion of keywords in verbal instructions and statements

 Mobile-first Indexes – mobile version for the indexing and ranking of websites or web pages

 Blockchain in Web Search Engines – encryption of online user data

 Amazon (Alexa) and Google Searches (Google Dot) – to boost e-commerce purchases

 PageSpeed Insights – to optimize web page loading speed

 Online Brand Mention – to increase efficiency of backlinks

 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)/Google Tag Manager – continuous collection and monitoring of online user data

 Featured Snippets – provide direct answers to the questions searched on a web-based search engine

 On-page Optimization – to provide required information quickly

With advances in Information Technology, there has been exponential advancement in the trends related to SEO in 2020. The top SEO trends in 2020 include:

 SEO-optimized Content

 Long Tail Keywords

 Google E-A-T

 Interactive Content Marketing

 Site Engagement Metrics

SEO-OPTIMIZED CONTENT

An important strategy to enhance the efficiency of SEO is to create content that is SEO-friendly and contains high-ranking keywords and tags. Content Optimization for SEO is important because:

 The returned or retrieved answers are highly accurate

 The content obtained or provided accurately matches the needs of the audience or client

 Simple content is easy to retrieve since complicated keywords tend to affect the page ranking on web-based search engines

 Precise content delivery means simple, smooth, timely, and easy web-based searches

 Optimized content translates to high quality, reliable, legitimate, and credible information

 There is a focus on a specific topic or theme which helps to filter and retain only the relevant and required content

 Content can include images, videos, and GIFs to increase the probability of obtaining accurate results.

LONG-TAIL KEYWORDS

The use of Long-Tail Keywords helps to create accurate leads compared to content with short and irrelevant keywords. Long Tail Keyword Benefits are many. It is important because:

 Longer keywords include more content for the search engine to identify and match

 This helps to eliminate competition because competitors tend to use multiple short keywords to retrieve relevant content

 One set of long-tail keywords with a specific content idea or theme is more efficient than many short keywords without a common concept

 Together with voice search strategies, long-tail keywords tend to increase accuracy and visibility thereby drawing online traffic to the website

 More content in keywords translates to an increase in the importance and relevance of the topic or search

 Detailed keywords show that content is accurate, high quality, and contains plenty of relevant information

 It is easy for search engine crawlers to navigate and understand the content

 Extensive content in the form of FAQs, ‘Fact Checks’, bullet points, and bold font are able to attract more visibility than short inaccurate sentences

GOOGLE E-A-T

Google’s latest Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness or ‘E-A-T’ update has created an extensive change and modification to its algorithms. This has helped to improve quality of information, credibility, and accuracy. The Google E-A-T Update is important because:

 It is a reflection of the website or web page content quality, knowledge, and expertise in the respective subject or product

 The content is unique, authentic, and one-of-a-kind

 It demonstrates if the website is credible and reliable

 It demonstrates if the website is trustworthy

 It is important to evade the competition as unique content defines the quality, reliability, dependability, and credibility of a website

 It ensures that the website or web page is rich in information and contains valuable relevant information

 It enhances content as it becomes Google-friendly

 It ensures a stable schedule which helps to boost search engine visibility and relevance

 The website information has a potential impact on other aspects of life like personal satisfaction, health, financial stability, and safety

 This helps to eliminate websites with a poor reputation, low-quality content, and customer service issues

INTERACTIVE CONTENT MARKETING

Including interactive content in the SEO digital strategy helps to boost the SEO 10-fold. With the increase in online demand and competition, interactive content helps to highlight a website from others. Interacting Content Marketing is important because:

 Imagery and visual content help to build trust and reliability

 Additional options like games, infographics, click-videos, and quizzes also help to increase consumer engagement and interaction

 Colourful and attractive content helps to attract online traffic and increase visibility

 Simple interactive content is affordable and ensures customer retention while complicated content tends to not be very popular with people

 Featured snippets and short videos also help to enhance online viewer engagement and interest

 Interaction through voice searches and digital Assistants help to promote increased interaction between consumers and technology

 The availability of quick and short answers through Google’s Snippets has helped to promote public interest and consumer retention on websites and web pages

SITE ENGAGEMENT METRICS

It is important to consistently analyse and monitor the website or web page performance to check for audience engagement. An increase in website traffic and online viewership translates to a better position in web-based search results and ultimately, a successful and profitable business. Site Engagement Metrics is usually carried out using Google Analytics and is important because:

 It demonstrates content accuracy and relevance

 It helps to direct more relevant search results to online users according to their necessities and requirements

 The issues and problems that inhibit or decrease online traffic can be identified and analysed

 Steps to improve online traffic can be identified and analysed

 Tracking and identification of causes and reasons for Bounce Rate helps to manage and maintain the website so that they can be avoided

 Analysis of Time on Site helps to gauge and maintain online user interest and curiosity. Larger Time on Site means the content is innovative, unique, and interesting while shorter Time on Site means the content is weak and not interesting. Accordingly, strategies can be used to enhance Time on Site of online traffic

 Average Page per Visit helps to monitor and track online user engagement. With the help of Visit Frequency analysis, steps can be taken to identify topics of interest and concentrate more on those subjects

 Audience and Reader Engagement help to identify the curiosity and interest of readers depending on how long they visit a website

 Steps can be taken to improve content so that audience interaction and engagement can be enhanced

CONCLUSION

With the advancement in technology, there have been many changes and advancements in SEO strategies and methods. Older methods of SEO are increasingly becoming less effective and efficient. With the increase in competition, an upgrade in SEO strategies is also necessary for successful digital advertising and marketing. After the successful results of SEO strategies in 2019, a new cycle of SEO innovation has begun in 2020.

With continuous analysis and development in SEO strategies, it is essential to utilize the current SEO trends and technology in Digital Marketing. In addition, through constant research, trend analysis, intelligent strategies, and monitoring, it will be easy to overthrow competitors and reach to one’s full potential.

Are you excited about the Digital Revolution?