Ever since the dawn of search engines in the 1990s, webmasters are trying hard to have their website appear as high as possible in the search results. At the time of the launch of Google’s search engine in 1997, the focus was on 12 factors. Experts now estimate that Google uses more than 200 ranking factors.
In order to make sure you rank higher in Google’s search engine, we’ve put the best SEO trends for 2020.
1. Mobile
The smartphone has been significant in Google search since 2015. In 2020, mobile devices are definitely going to dominate search queries. Google even predicts that desktop search results will disappear completely within 5 years. It’s clear that you need to be optimized for mobile now.
To rank higher on mobile, you must do the following:
Make your website is responsive
Google has a handy guide online with all the information about making your website responsive. There are numerous themes on WordPress that are responsive and work well on all devices. Responsiveness is an indispensable feature now.
Get your website loaded quickly
Avoid large images and unnecessary media files. As a result, the mobile site will load faster. You can even compress your images. There are a couple of WordPress plugins available to boost your site’s speed.
Optimize titles and meta descriptions
On mobile, you have less space. Therefore, make your titles and meta descriptions shorter.
2. Content
Over the last 3 years, Google’s search engine is preferring comprehensive content. Research shows that the best twining content in Google now has an average between 1140 and 1285 words. In 2014 this average was 902 words.
This ensures that the search engine has more data and factors to work with when indexing pages. This trend confirms that Google is adopting a more content-driven “model.” It is important that you as an entrepreneur provide unique content and write comprehensively.
You need to understand what your readers want. Writing with the user in mind will help you deliver relevant content. That will, in turn, improve your search engine ranking. Write with expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. Nowadays, search engines are favoring in-depth content that solves a problem or is exceptional in some way.
3. Local
Local SEO is the optimization process for local businesses to appear in the location results in Google. If you’re a plumber in Austin, you’ll need local SEO for online visibility within the city. So that people who are looking for ‘plumber in Austin’ find you in maps. Local SEO is a powerful tool for businesses. You shouldn’t overlook this important aspect as it can significantly boost your business.
Local SEO is important because 50% of consumers visit a location they were looking for on their mobile within 24 hours. And this is especially true for locations up to 5 kilometers away.
To be better locally located in Google, you need to do the following:
Create a local business
First, you need to register your business on Google.
Provide reviews from local locations
Increase your visibility in Google if you receive positive reviews of 4 stars or more.
Register your business with local sites
Make sure you sign in to local sites. This will greatly increase your visibility in your own region online.
Bonus tip:
If you have WordPress, it is advisable to install Yoast ‘s local SEO plugin.
4. Longtail Keywords
Keywords remain highly relevant. 75 percent of searches consist of 3 to 5 words. People become smarter by searching on Google. They discover that you get better results with 3 to 5 words. Within your SEO strategy, you must take into account this changed search behavior.
To be better found in Google, you need to create content that matches your audience’s questions and search behavior.
5. Social Media
The 5th trend is clearly social media. Over the last few years, Google has signed a deal with Facebook and Twitter, which shows content in the search engine. If you’re looking for Google, you’ll probably see more and more tweets.
It is becoming increasingly important that you also think about Twitter and Facebook, and use certain SEO keywords. Social media is the place of interaction that can be quite useful for your traffic. Build organic traffic and boost it with the help of social media shares. In 2019, you simply cannot ignore social media.
6. More than just Google
Gone are the days when people used to use only “Google” for searches. Now the web has become multi-faceted. There are online stores like Amazon, question repositories like Quora, and there are other competing engines as well.
Plus, consumers interact with the web differently now. With the advent of smartphones, apps, podcasts, videos, images, etc. have taken the prime spot. You need to fulfill that demand. List your podcast in podcast directories. Upload your videos on your YouTube channel. Start your company’s Instagram account. Launch your app for Android and iOS. Connect to your consumers in every aspect. SEO is not just about Google anymore. The latest trend is to appear wherever you can search. The SEO has become multi-faceted and in 2019 the trend continues.
7. Optimize for Google SERP Features
Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP) helps significantly to boost organic traffic. What are SERP features? Some of them are mentioned below:
- Featured Snippets: These are the “position zero” results where Google displays some portion of the content as the answer to the search query. This can be a list, a short definition, or any relevant part of the article. This is a prominent place to aim for.
- Rich Snippets: These are like a visual representation of the search query. Product rating is one such example.
- Knowledge Graph: These can be graphs, tables, panels, etc
You add a significant boost to your SEO strategy if you optimize for Google’s SERP features. This is the prime spot for organic traffic. There are ways in which you can excel in this. You should follow best practices while writing your content so that it can feature in snippets. There are plugins that can help you with this.
8. Structured Data Markup
Google is getting ready for AI. The web will run on AI-driven guidelines shortly. In such a scenario, structured data becomes even more critical. The longer it takes to crawl the content and build relations, the less are the chances for that content to be favored by AI. This is where structured data markup comes in. Currently, search engines use structured data markups to create rich snippets.
Structured data markup helps web crawlers make sense of the content and make connections so that the material can be appropriately crawled and speedily.
9. On-Page Optimization
On-Page Optimization is not something that you can set for once and then forget about it. It is an ongoing process and, at the same time, equally rewarding. For on-page optimization, you need to update your content so that it answers common user questions. You should ensure the search feature in your site is delivering the relevant results. You can optimize the conversion process, the shorter the better. Simple things like allowing your customers to restock their orders go a long way. Helpful support, chatbots can be the critical factors in your on-page Optimization. This is one of the most prized areas when it comes to consumer experience. If you do this right, you will get loyal customers. What more can you ask from an SEO strategy?
So these are the nine trends you should know in 2019. The SEO strategies keep on changing. However, some significant factors dominate for a long time. These nine factors are some of them. Do you envision a new trend? Would you like to add something to this list? Please post your views in the comments. We would love to know your opinion. Have a Happy Day!
