Several business owners appreciate the essential role that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plays in attracting customers to their websites. SEO can help companies improve their website’s online visibility on various search engine results pages, allowing them to enjoy more organic traffic to their sites.
The world of technology is never static, as one key feature of innovation is its constant evolution to perfect the status quo. Many experts predict that SEO will experience notable improvements and changes in 2021, just like several other aspects of technological advancements. Below are some specific SEO trends to watch out for this year.
Mobile-first Indexing
Several experts predict that mobile-first indexing will be one of the biggest SEO trends to look out for this year. This prediction is because mobile has fast become the most dominant medium for accessing the internet, and its relevance only continues to grow daily. Also, over 90% of people use Google as their primary search engine. Currently, there are several websites online that are far from mobile-friendly, and many others record significantly low mobile speed scores. Google is switching to mobile-first indexing, although it’s currently unclear all existing websites will be indexed based on mobile versions.
Nevertheless, it’s an unavoidable fact that sites with poor mobile versions that are currently top-ranked will slip down the pecking order significantly. These websites will fail to withstand the higher demand for mobile optimization in the SEO world. Since mobile is becoming the cornerstone of internet usage, brands across industries increasingly invest in improving their accessibility on smartphones through mobile apps and mobile-friendly websites. For example, in the health sector, you can find various health apps that enhance access to information on a wide range of issues ranging from fitness to women’s health. Women can now use a Health Tracker App to obtain reminders and insights concerning ovulation, menstrual cycles, and menopausal symptoms, allowing them to control their reproductive health better.
Rising Local SEO
Local SEO is tailored to optimize your business’ online presence, helping you attract more customers from relevant local searches. These searches typically occur on Google and various other search engines and are likely to increase in importance in 2021. COVID-19 has undoubtedly highlighted the need to rebuild the economy, and it’s expected that much attention will be given to local businesses to help them flourish again. As such, experts advise that all enterprises prioritize their appearance in local search results, as many customers would want to help out local businesses by patronizing their services and products.
Greater Older Content Optimization
Optimizing older content is a trend that many businesses began practicing in recent years. In 2021, you can expect to see even more enterprises optimizing their archaic online content to make it more attractive to search engines. There’s sufficient evidence to suggest that search engines place more value on newer content. Consequently, more and more companies will be updating old articles and other content with better, more recent information to increase their chances of enjoying traffic on those content again.
Voice Search
Voice recognition has greatly evolved, and today’s voice assistants like Siri and Alexa have gotten more popular aside from getting better. Several studies predict that these voice assistants will be used in more than half of American households by 2022. There’s already a notable trend of voice searches affecting search engine results that seem to confirm these projections. As such, it’d be best to select phrases used by people every day as your keywords when developing your SEO strategy for this year.
SEO, like every other technology, keeps evolving to provide more value to users. The points above are great examples of crucial SEO trends you should look out for this year to position your business for success.