Is there something new?
Is there any drastic make-over for SEO trends in 2021 that you shouldn’t miss out on?
With a year that changed the world and brought all of it up on the internet, online traffic and behavioural patterns have been entirely re-written. User expectations are not only broadening but getting specific as well.
As Google’s algorithms get edited every time, your website traffic gets shaken up too. It may seem hard to catch up with the shift, but remember, 70% to 80% of users pour in exclusively from organic results (rather than paid listings), of which 28% convert as buyers.
The key factors that control SEO may remain the same. But the frameworks are being rebuilt; the equations re-coded, in allegiance to the changing scenarios.
And that’s why you need to heed even the slightest variations of SEO trends now and then.
So what’s news for your website?
Here are the vital statistics for 2021 – the consistent, as well the recent key ingredients for your SEO content strategy this year.
1. SEARCH INTENT
What is search intent?
Search intent or user intent is the primary intention (or purpose) of a user while searching a query on a search engine. The intention could be a purchase of a specific product/service or just gathering information on the same.
Users can search for your product/ service with varied intentions. The intention could be a mere curiosity, a potential purchase inquiry or contemplation of a possible purchase.
The keywords on your site or content must match the users’ search intent for your site to impress Google’s search engines and rank well
Why does search intent count for SEO?
Because Google is all about satisfying user-queries.
As users and their search queries are the primary focus of Google, so are they for SEOs. The fundamental goal is to satisfy the user search intent.
When the user’s search on your website does not meet his/her expectations or find the appropriate information, it alerts Google about the mismatch. And if your website constantly disappoints the users and thereby the Google engines, your ranking goes down.
To know how to match the user search intent, you must know what the primary search intents are:
Informational
Preferential/Commercial Investigation
Transactional
Navigational
Informational
This is as the word suggests, purely about gathering information. If your product is air fryer, users could end up on your website looking for air-fryer-specific recipes. Or it could be a search for an air fryer manual or clarification on the working procedure. Also, note that informational search intent need not always be a question. Searching for “air fryer” can also fall under information.
Preferential/Commercial Investigation
A Commercial Investigation is when the users investigate a product/service before they buy it. They already have the information, but now require clearer or more specific information regarding the product, service, or your brand before going for the buy. This is the phase when they might be comparing your products and brand with your competitors before making the final decision. Note that the searches need not be brand-specific. It could be “best air fryer india” or “best air fryer for family” “best air fryer for Indian cooking” or “best air fryer under 5000”.
Transactional
This is the most vital search intent for your business. It is the search of a potential buyer. They have come past information, clarification and validation and have decided to make the move. At this stage, they could be brand/product specific and almost zeroed in on the source of purchase.
Navigational
Navigational queries lead users to a specific web page or website, like the “login” page. In this stage, search words would be website or brand names. Additional particulars will also be there to guide the users to the definite page.
How do you determine search intent?
Keyword modifiers
Keyword modifiers come in handy in determining search intent. You can make use of a variety of keyword research tools with filter features. They help you filter terms that contain specific phrases or modifiers. Google’s keyword planner will also help you in listing out productive keywords for your website.
Research on the SERPs
You may also determine search intent through thorough research of the SERPs.
Have a clear understanding of the search intent
Apply specific modifiers for keyword researches
Engage the SERPs to decide on the format and content
Always ensure valuable, authentic and quality content on your webpage
2. CORE WEB VITALS
What Are Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals, as the name suggests, are a set of core factors that Google treats as essential for the overall experience of a user on a web page. In other words, these are the standards with which Google measures your page to ensure user page-experience.
Why Are Core Web Vitals Important?
Page experience is going to be an official Google ranking factor.
Page experience includes factors that according to Google, enhances the user-experience:
Mobile-friendliness
HTTPS
Fewer pop-ups
“Safe-browsing” (or protection against malware)
The Three Measurements of Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals comprise of three measurements of user interaction and page speed:
Largest Contentful Paint:
LCP is when the largest content element is visible on the browser’s viewport. It is used to determine how long the main content of a specific page takes to finish rendering on the device screen. Often the main reason for poor LCP is a slow server or server response times
First Input Delay
FID measures the time from the first interaction of a user on your site (when the users click on a button or a link or use a particular JavaScript-powered control) till the time when the browser responds to that interaction.
Cumulative Layout Shift.
CLS determines the visual stability of the page as it loads. The higher the CLS, the worse it will be rated. Your web page has high CLA if it is unstable while loading, with all the visual elements (images, videos) jumbled up or shuffled around.
How can you maintain a good user experience and comply with LSP FID and CLS standards on your web pages?
Ensure better web hosting
Get rid of any unnecessary third-party scripts as it reduces the page speed
Get rid of large/heavy page elements that tend to slow down the page
Ensure quick FID
For any media, use fixed-size attribute dimensions
Apply Lazy loading that helps the images to load only when the user scrolls down your web page.
Reserve spaces for ads elements
Bring in new UI elements below the page fold
3. BEHAVIORAL ANALYTICS
Do you know that your website content pleases Google when it gratifies user queries? And if not, things can go wrong when Google algorithms are updated.
User behavioral patterns are vital to SEO as Google ranks your website according to how you address the queries or the user-behavior online. Hence, the significance of quality content that meets the user requirements.
Quality content also means content that fulfills the users’ searches; that it meets the expectations by being specific, comprehensive and authentic. If the users get frustrated with your content - unable to find the answers and clicking through pages in vain - it is serious SEO-crime.
How do you tackle the users’ disappointment on your website through behavioral analytics?
Check the Google Analytics feature – Behavior Flow.
Behavior flow helps you to visualize the user’s path on your website based upon an initial point picked by you. You can track how they skipped from one page to another searching for the right answers.
For example, they landed on the landing page, didn’t get any information, and clicked through several other pages, finally getting back to the same landing page.
Tips for using Behavior Flow
Identify the major issues with your pages and rectify them prompt
Identify your high-volume pages and research the data.
Make use of user-engagement metrics with additional features – like Google Flow - to assess better
You can also cross-check on heavy drops to the landing pages on your website and identify the root issues.
Make specific landing pages as the take-off points in Behavior Flo
If you are confronted with identifying engagement traps, plunge into immediate action – before Google does.
Always track Behavior Flow consistently especially for the pages that are identified as engagement traps.
Equipped with the right user behavioral data, you can transform the user experience on your website into a delightful journey.
4. VOICE SEARCH
4 out of 10 US adults perform at least one voice search per day.
In the same survey by Google, it was reported that 85% of consumers are looking to voice search as the “the future”.
With Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri, virtual assistance has taken a new voice form and is here to stay.
While adapting your website to voice searches, focus on longer keywords or phrases, than a single keyword. With voice search, people tend to be more casual and conversational than keyboard searches.
Also, remember to have enough FAQ sections on your website content. Most of the voice search answers are excerpts from FAQ pages.
Add brief and simple snippets of content (around 30 words) that are written specifically to address the voice search queries.
5.MOBILE
It was in 2019 that Google brought Mobile Indexing to the top. For the first time in online history, the mobile version of websites was rated the primary version instead of the desktop version. The decision was in line with the soaring user-shift to mobile platforms.
As per CNBC reports, by the year 2026, close to 73% of internet users will be using mobiles to access websites.
Now, with the shift, what do you need to be aware of?
Your website should be extremely mobile-friendly, including the loading speed, on smartphones and tabs.
The mobile crawlers must be able to access all the content of your website – 100% of it - without any disruption.
Ensure that Google can see your interactive content as well that requires clicking.
The Google Search Console provides the “Mobile Usability” report that you can follow to adhere to the guidelines.
Another one is the Mobile-Friendly Test on which you can enter some of your website URLs and test. The test tells you whether the entered pages are considered optimized by Google. The result is a straight and simple “yes” or “no”.
And then you have the PageSpeed Insights to determine the page speed on mobile platforms.
Once you come clean with these determinants ensuring stellar performance of your website on mobile interfaces you can be assured of a safe SEO sail on Google.
6.VIDEOS
There are over a billion users who are active on YouTube.
One needn’t preach about the topic. Everyone knows how videos rule – on almost all platforms. It is a strong tool for Inbound marketing for your brand.
Check 5 ways to boost your sales through Inbound Marketing
There’s nothing more attention-grabbing than a video short – be it promotional, explanatory or pure entertainment.
How much do you invest in video content from an SEO perspective?
As per Cisco reports, video is predicted to exceed all other content forms in terms of consumption. And the more it grows, the more crowded it will be, and the more competitive. For your videos to survive on the platform, you must return to the SEO principles of optimizing your video content.
Just like with regular search engine optimization, for video content optimization, keywords matter the most. YouTube helps you to find the right keywords using its auto-complete feature.
This is how it works. You can type your topic on the search field on YouTube. You will see a list of suggestions on the most searched keywords. This will give you an idea of popular keywords and you can use them in your video description, meta-tags or title. This enables Google (and YouTube) to identify what your video is about.
Also, use a thumbnail image to impress your audience and categorize your video for the best results.
A well-made video with the right focus and keywords can elevate your brand to new heights on online platforms.
Conclusion
Creating stellar content is half the job done. You need consistent and calculated SEO strategies to drive organic traffic to your websites. SEO optimized content creation, as excelled by ThePendits, can give your website a face-lift and provide your brand better visibility online. To know more, call us at +91 8448040030.