SEO and General Search Trends 2021
SEO trends for 2021 will be far more prescient any other year
SEO 2021 trends are vastly different past years because of the evolution of the industry. Social media platforms are taking over search engines, bringing traffic and metrics to your website. Nowadays, SEO is not all about PPC, but about understanding how your visitors find you. There is an increase of consumers looking for sites that are user-friendly and easy to use.
This is perhaps the most promising element of Spencer’s chat – it’s refreshing to have a chief SEO executive who is genuinely excited about the future. “Technology is allowing us to achieve more than ever before with a firm focus on our people and user experience. Our ability to anticipate our users and how they work across the web is unique. We’re shifting the way that people look at websites. “We’re reinventing how we approach search and bringing in voice search. We’re excited to continue building on that for this year.”
Spencer also said it’s important not to get “too hung up” on 2016 trends such as “fake news” or not using quotation marks. “What’s most important is that you not get too hung up on any one specific year and let it take away from your overall vision for the year. If you’re a company that has a laser focus on what it’s about and why it’s important, it’s not going to be the year you want.” However, he did indicate that search engine optimization was a potential “weapon” in the fight against fake news, pointing to tools such as Majestic SEO, a Chrome extension, to show if a website has been manipulated, and Google demotes fake news sites, like the Drudge Report, if that is detected.
Can AI and Machine Learning solve the challenge of fake news?
“It is, of course, a problem and one that we are fully aware of and looking at, but it’s a massive challenge and it’s only one of many. The challenge is how do you identify and then solve the problem.” He also said that it’s “almost impossible” to provide 100% confidence in the absence of data. “The great thing about the data we can give you is that we have enough. We have time series data. We have up to date search logs. We have data from over 100 markets across Europe and around the world. The problem is it’s so huge that we don’t have that much space. We have an effort underway, but I’d be hesitant to say we have the solution yet.”
The Website Balance
User-friendly websites do not usually have complicated links and do not spend a lot of time on page building. However, they make an effort to provide content that is useful and interesting. They also value honesty and transparency in their content. If you are not up to date on the latest trends, or you do not pay attention to the value of your customers, then you will be behind the competition.
SEO and KPIs
Key SEO metrics and KPIs should be a strategic business objective. However, it is important to also see what these metrics show for your overall strategy.
1. Clicks to your site are the most important of them all, because they provide insight into the way your website is being used by your visitors. Even if you do not have a big marketing budget, you can take steps to improve your conversions.
2. A top mobile search term (via Google) is 80 percent of users that find you on mobile search. In addition, it is expected that the majority of your searches will be done on mobile devices. Thus, you should be prepared to optimize your site and, if possible, provide an app on your site.
3. You can use these metrics to help build a consistent stream of traffic. Optimizing your website and being consistent with your efforts can be very helpful in maintaining a steady flow of traffic to your website.
4. Google publishes an annual report of the top searched terms in Google. This is also the keyword statistics report. You can use these stats to gauge your potential for success.
5. Google publishes the 3-wave test for mobile search. It helps brands know how they rank across mobile. It also helps brands know if a certain site is more relevant than others to a specific area of interest.
6. You can use these KPIs to determine if your SEO efforts are effective. If your current website is not successful, then this can provide insight to know why your site is not getting visitors.
The landscape of SEO is constantly evolving.
But, keep these key KPIs in mind as you build your website and work to promote it.
