Search engine optimization (SEO) is always evolving which is why knowing what’s new in SEO and which trends in 2021 to expect is crucial for updating or creating an SEO strategy that will help your business thrive in the coming year. However, staying up-to-date can be challenging with so much information available online which is why Mavericks Marketing has identified five top SEO trends in 2021 to make it easier for you. Furthermore, you can use these insights to upgrade your SEO strategy and drive growth. Let’s get started!
Why SEO Will Be Even More Important
SEO is essential for many brands, but it has become even more so due to new privacy policies from Apple and Google that were announced in 2020. In a previous article, we explained in detail these privacy changes and their impact on digital marketing like Facebook Ads being less effective for small businesses and focus shifting from third-party data to first-party data. We highly recommend checking out that article, but for our purposes right now, the main thing to know is that data privacy will require businesses to increase their SEO efforts to drive traffic to their site.
5 SEO Trends in 2021
SEO trends aren’t just important for digital marketing agencies and strategists. They also affect a wide variety of businesses and organizations, from eCommerce to brick-and-mortar and B2B to non-profit. Regardless of your company size or industry, here are five SEO trends in 2021 you should know to ensure your strategy is working for you.
1. Creating More ‘E-A-T’ Focused Content
Quality content is essential for SEO, particularly after Google’s core update in May 2020 which placed a greater focus on it. When creating content, focus on Google’s ‘E-A-T’ principle which stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Some ways to fulfill the E-A-T criteria is to use statistics and facts to back up your claims, link to reputable sites, and have backlinks from authoritative sites.
2. Understanding Search Intent Better
Users go to search engines to get information or learn something so it’s imperative that you understand the purpose behind their search so you can meet their needs better. Performing a SERP (search engine results page) analysis will allow you to see what top-ranking pages are doing right and reverse engineer their strategy to create content users actually desire, not what you think they want.
3. Improving User Experience
Your website’s user experience (UX) plays an important role in SEO because search engines want to deliver the best results to users. UX includes a variety of factors such as fast page load speed, intuitive navigation, easy readability, and mobile-friendly design. If your UX is terrible, then users are going to bounce which signals to search engines that the content is low-quality. When you have a good UX, however, users will spend more time on the page and engage which indicates to Google that your content is ‘E-A-T.’
4. Shifting Focus to Customer Retention
SEO has evolved beyond focusing solely on driving organic traffic. According to an Invesp survey, acquiring a new customer costs five times more than retaining an existing customer. That’s why behavioral analytics will get more attention in 2021 and beyond because it allows you to see what customers are doing, how they’re doing it, and how to get them to do more of it. From there, you can figure out what content you should create to increase customer retention.
5. Optimizing the Entire Digital Presence
Your website is likely not the only place that users find your business on Google. Companies and organizations often have multiple properties in addition to their website such as social media pages and listings (e.g. Google My Business, Yelp, Better Business Bureau) which can appear in SERPs. Optimize your entire digital presence and make sure that all of your properties are up-to-date and active, like sharing quality content and responding to reviews.
Leverage These SEO Trends to Fuel Growth
An SEO strategy that stays stagnant won’t produce the kind of results you want which is why learning what’s new in SEO and leveraging trends are essential for fueling your business’s growth. One of the most effective ways to have a forward-thinking SEO strategy is to partner with an agency that’s experienced in a disruptive marketing strategy. Mavericks Marketing knows how to use these insights and others to create an SEO strategy that will ignite your business.
Contact us today to schedule a call to discuss upgrading your SEO strategy in 2021!
