Since Google constantly changes its algorithm, the best search engine optimization (SEO) tactics change yearly. Google is continuously improving its search engine, and one way they do it is by changing how websites are ranked. Google used a different strategy in 2015 to determine search rankings than it does in 2022. You need to be equipped with the knowledge to tackle your future SEO needs. To help you meet your SEO needs, hire a local SEO agency. An agency will know the current trends and insight into possible changes.
This article covers the top five SEO trends of 2021, how they affected strategies, and how you can prepare your business to stay on top of new trends in the coming year.
1.Focus on the User
We all understand why focusing on the user is relevant to SEO. Google wants to create the best search engine possible to keep people coming back. Therefore, there are specific metrics Google’s algorithm uses to track how engaged users are on any given website. In 2021, we saw a shift in focus to a visitor’s perspective away from the view of a business owner. Many businesses are restructuring their sites after testing user experience. User optimization will continue through 2022 as the need for quality content, and an engaging platform grows.
If you want to stay on top of SEO trends, start with user experience. Put yourself in the position of a visitor, and observe the path you’d likely take if you stumbled across your site. Asking questions from an objective perspective allows you to see your site differently and offer fresh ideas to improve your user experience.
Questions to Consider
- What makes you curious?
- Is anything unclear?
- Are there any images or videos you could add?
- Is your website fast enough?
2.Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Introducing new and improved AI in almost every industry could bring dramatic changes. The most adept forms revolve around data and pattern recognition for SEO; AI can tell a page’s relevance to a reader’s search using a scale. These AI tools work similar to Google’s algorithm, and they help business owners understand how certain content relates to their target market.
Some AI tools even offer the ability to write content for your blog. As these AI tools become more efficient and better at writing, Google can’t distinguish AI writing from human writing.
3.Quality Content and Traffic, Not Quantity
The transition from high-quantity, low-quality content to high-quality content has transformed the SEO landscape over the past few years. High-quality, engaging content beats out high-quantity content. That wasn’t the only quality versus quantity SEO trend this year.
Focusing on high-quality traffic is almost more important than putting out high-quality content, explaines Digital Authority Partners. Your best prospects can’t find you if your content isn’t relevant to them. If the high traffic metrics aren’t converting into conversions and sales, what’s the point of getting all that traffic? Aiming for high-quality traffic rather than high quantities of traffic is both an SEO strategy and a conversion rate optimization (CRO) tactic. When hiring an SEO agency, many businesses package those services together.
4.Page Speed and Loading Time
As previously discussed, user experience is one of the most important factors of SEO. User experience includes different metrics. The most prominent metrics, page speed and load time, drastically affect your SEO performance. If a page takes too long to load, the user will likely exit and look for a different website. SEO software allows you to see your bounce rate, average time spent on a page, and your overall site speed. These metrics give you an insight into your load time and possible quick fixes. An SEO agency can do the work for you if you do not have the time or feel comfortable doing it yourself.
5.Strategically Use Images and Videos
Issues with page speed and load time must be fixed strategically. Images and videos are vital to digital marketing, but there is a significant trade-off between site speed, load time, and the number of videos and images on a site. Too many, and your site’s speed and load time decrease; not enough, and your site isn’t interesting enough to attract viewers.
Google’s algorithm doesn’t understand the paramount role videos and images play on a website, meaning your site can be penalized on search pages if they slow your load time. You can link to them without embedding them on your page if you can’t include them.
Final Thoughts
Another tidbit for increasing your site speed is hiring a web developer to clean up unnecessary code on your site. Frequently, unnecessary whitespace and odd spacers can affect your site’s speed without you realizing it. Additionally, mobile optimization could be slowing down your site. Hiring a web developer to optimize your site for cleaning code, combining code, and a mobile-friendly format could help conversion rates, page speed, and ultimately SEO.
