The evolution of search has made the online arena more competitive among individuals and businesses. The need to dominate the SERP has been the ultimate goal of every business, digital marketer, and SEO specialist.
For many participants, however, this goal remains unattainable. It’s not that they’re not doing the right things. It’s just, they’re not up to date on the latest changes surrounding search engine rankings. There are some companies that still think dumping generic keywords on a page with no regard for the user and content relevance, is the sure way to rank.
As we move into the last two quarters of 2021, it’s time you caught up and begin using the SEO trends and best practices that your competitors are using to outrank you. These include:
Rethink User Experience
According to data from Google Webmaster Central, Google Search has started to factor in user experience (UX) signals in search engine rankings. Moreover, this factor is further included in Google’s Core Web Vitals, which quantify the user experience. As a marketer, you need to emphasize building a good UX for websites.
From fast-loading pages to easy-to-understand layouts, Google puts more value on giving the best results to its users. Things like slow pages, obstructive ads, and inaccessible websites are minus points for your search rankings.
Use Google My Business for Local SEO
There is a significant demand for local search and the use of Google Maps. Google reports that there are more than a billion users of Maps every month. The large usage rate of Maps only calls out the need for local SEO. Through Google My Business (GMB), you can create your business profile so that customers can find you on Google.
Moreover, constantly updating and engaging with FAQs make your GMB more appealing and relevant to the search engine. So you better get your GMB profile up to date and running.
Focus on Semantic Search
As opposed to lexical search, semantic search opens a new door to searching. By focusing more on meaning than literal matches, semantic search brings in a wider keyword vocabulary that can be capitalized in SEO. With this new way of searching, you should start focusing on writing for people rather than search engines.
Moreover, organizing content based on the topic yields better results than organizing keywords, leading to a more contextual and informative search result.
Invest in High-Quality Content
Investing in the production of high-quality content is a non-negotiable for SEO. Gone are the days of content spinners and gray hat SEO. Search engine algorithms have been stricter in penalizing poorly written content on the web. Your content should start addressing the needs and wants of your target market. Your keyword usage should match the search intent of queries.
But more importantly, you should invest in top-caliber talent who can produce long-form articles that can keep readers reading even if it’s more than 2,000 words.
Prioritize Search Intent
As Google Search dominates people’s lives today, it is irrefutable that the search engine has been smarter—and so should you. Yes, keywords help your website gain relevance on the search engine. However, keywords are just the tip of the iceberg. Something that you can’t see right away is search intent. What is the user looking for? That’s search intent.
A keyword may not tell it all, but the SERP can give you clues. All you need to do is to understand and predict the customers’ minds and behavior.
Venture into Video Content
Videos will continue to play a significant role in SEO. The wyzowl survey on video marketing stated that 83 percent of marketers have found that videos helped increase average user interaction time on a page. From consumers’ perspective, 96 percent of them have watched video explainers to learn more about the product they intend to buy.
This trend in video content marketing will continue to rise as more and more people rely on search. In effect, you should capitalize on video content as early as today and reap its benefits in the future.
Leverage Zero Click Searches
Zero click searches are search results you see in the form of featured snippets or questions (a.k.a. People also ask for it). Grabbing a snippet on the SERP is a massive success on your SEO since the search engines deem your content the best answer to the search query. Hence, you should strive to produce content that directly provides solutions to queries. In this way, you can get more exposure and authority in the search engine.
Final Thoughts
As companies and individuals continue to migrate to cyberspace, there are more challenges ahead. It is up to you if you’re ready to take the challenge. It’s important to know how to adapt to survive and stay ahead of the curve. Let’s work towards a lasting solution and rebuild your existing SEO strategy for the coming future. Contact Tulumi Digital Marketing today by calling (800) 481-1720 or through our contact form.
