2021 SEO Trends
After putting together marketing plans for my clients this year I thought it might be worth highlighting a few of the most important SEO areas to focus on in 2021.
The way Google reads websites constantly changes and it’s important all businesses keep on top of their updates to stay ahead of the game. If you rely on Google search to source customers you must really act on these 2021 SEO trends now to survive.
Let’s break these 2021 SEO trends down to give you an understanding of what they mean and how important they are.
Search Intent
How are your audience searching to find your service/product? When researching this, the results might surprise you! Figuring out queries’ user intent by hand is very time-consuming, use tools like Google Keyword Planner and Google Search Console and speak to your sales/admin team to see if there is a trend in the questions being asked or similar challenges. When it comes to writing content, make sure to address your audience wants, needs and concerns and not just talk about your services or simply link to a product. Providing your audience with valuable content is going to be key in 2021.
Core Web Vitals
Google introduced ‘Core Web Vitals’ as a ranking factor in 2021 and this will look at; page speed, website security, mobile-friendliness, rendering, image optimisation, and security protocols. These tasks will require an SEO expert and website developer. We always say to our clients, do not touch your website CMS unless you know what you are doing! Page experience is going to be hot this year, so make sure you incorporate this into your SEO plans.
Mobile SEO
We touched on mobile-friendliness above but this point is all about mobile SEO. If you’ve been focusing on meeting the bare minimum requirements to be considered mobile-first, 2021 is the year to shift your focus. I can’t express this enough as more searches are carried out on mobile now than ever before.
To sum up the above – always follow the E.A.T principle when it comes to your website and SEO – Expertise, Authority, Trust!
Voice Search
A big one for 2021 as more and more people are using voice command technology to source information. Following on from our point on ‘Search Intent’ above you must now also be writing content based on voice search queries. Questions are generally a big one here. In 2020 the top 3 common keywords in voice search phrases are “how”, what” and “best”.
Infographics
We know there’s a massive video craze going on and Google are ranking these above content but another trend that is starting to drive traction are infographics. These are visual graphics that show statistics and data that are important to your business. They can be uploaded to your website and shared across social media. They are easier to read than blocks of texts and Google will rank them in results.
Content Creation & Link Building
It’s an old time favourite of ours and never goes out of style. Producing fresh content and building links on your website is still an important ranking factor in 2021. make sure to include your keywords in all your content and link your keywords to other pages around your website (see how we’ve done it!). If you use WordPress, we highly recommend investing in Yoast Premium. It’s about £90 per year but really helps when it comes to link building and getting your content read by Google.
Local 2021 SEO Trends
For those of you who target a local audience, Local SEO is a big one for you! Here are a few tips to help you to be found for location based searches –
- Create a Google My Business Account and regularly update it with posts
- Set up Google Maps
- Get Google reviews from your customers
- Embed a location map into the contact page of your website
- Write a location landing page for your website that talks about your business in the area that you are based
- Build back links into your websites from external, local sites.
Video Content
And last, but most certainly not least, producing and sharing video is certainly a trend that is not going out of fashion, for Google, consumers and businesses. If you’re business owner looking to engage with your audience it’s time you start to tell your story using this content medium. Not sure how to get your video ‘out there’? You might like to read our other article on Video SEO.
If you’ve enjoyed reading our 2021 SEO trends, and want to tackle other marketing channels, read our other article on ‘2021 digital trends‘. Here we cover other areas including social media and email marketing
