Top 8 Must-Know SEO Trends of the Year

If you’re looking to dominate the search engine rankings, then it’s time to keep pace with the latest and upcoming SEO trends of the year. Given the present global pandemic and business environment, online businesses will need to use every opportunity to gain an upper hand over the competition. Let’s take a look at some of the top trends of this year.

Optimization That Is Focused on the User

While it is important to keep Google’s 2019 BERT algorithm in mind, aspects such a content delivery and clean architecture are also vital. SEO trends 2020 dictate that there is a need to move away from content is that merely written for string matching, but to write keeping user intent at the forefront. There is no doubt that deep learning research and NLP will continue to impact the process as it is important to identify what users need and then fulfil that need with support, relevant opportunities and community building. This is the only way online businesses with grow and succeed in the long run.

Reputation is Rewarded

SEO techniques 2020 revolves around maintaining a solid brand reputation. This stems from good reliable content in terms of feedback or reviews, but it also has to do with online branding, security, customer service, technology, supply chain excellence, and organic visibility. Your business should stand out from the others as being trustworthy, authoritative, and should portray expertise.  Brands should stay away from fake news but verify all content, so it builds credibility. Further, when incorporating guest blogs, ensure to validate references of the author, as bad publicity can have a damaging effect on your brand. As they say, bad news travels fast!

Rich, High-Quality Content

When you hire an SEO expert, they will stress on the fact that content is extremely valuable but needs to be relevant. Good content is the cornerstone of any online business. This means approaching each line from a user-perspective, rather than focussing purely on a keyword. The idea is to focus on topics, so it adds value to the narrative and delivers meaningful context to the conversation. However, this can only be achieved when you understand what readers want and their intent behind each question. Focussing on content, is a safe bet as this aspect is not likely to change in the coming years.

Data Structuring

When you hire an SEO expert, they will help you structure your content in a way that the search engines understand. It is important that the algorithm gets an idea of how each page relates to other pages as that is how users find information that is relevant to them. The right context and structure make it easier for analytics as well as you will be able to identify which part of the content is working for you and which part needs to be changed or edited.

SEO – From the Technical Side

SEO trends 2020 also involves user experience. This includes the A to Z of what a user experiences, right from the time they land on your page to the time they leave the website. The aim should be to give them a positive and memorable experience from start to finish. A lot of this will depend on the technical foundation itself, for example- how quickly does the page load? In certain situations, this may warrant an edit of the complete page design or template.

Making It Mobile

Although mobile SEO is not a new SEO technique in 2020, you would be surprised to know that there are several businesses that are still struggling to fix their mobile issues. To start with, visualise your user accessing your site from a mobile device, rather than a desktop or a laptop. If your site is not mobile friendly, then chances are that it is not optimised for mobile either.

Automation

One of the key SEO techniques in 2020 involves incorporating languages such as Python and R to get rid of tasks that are repetitive and redundant. Programming has become an integral part of SEO as it helps in enhanced data analysis and better insights on where improvements need to be made.

Building Links and Your Brand

SEO trends in 2020 reveal the continued importance of good brand and link building. Much of this depends on journalistic writing, which can be of different types. Topics can be based on regular events that happen every year, for example, Christmas, New Years or Thanksgiving. It could be based on a particular theme that the editors create or on seasonal events. Further, topics can also be chosen based on current affairs or something that needs to be urgently addressed.

2020 has already proven to be an unprecedented year in many aspects. Adopting these best practices will go a long way in helping you dominate the SERPs so your business can generate maximum revenue in the coming months.

DepositPhotos – SEO