Top 6 SEO Trends to Watch Out for 2021

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an effective way to attract consumers to your online platforms — if you use it right. As the world goes online, SEO is like an incredibly attractive and enticing display stand that attracts millions of visitors.

SEO is constantly evolving, and staying on top of the latest updates can be a challenge.

However, it’s worth the effort: Some 70% to 80% of users focus exclusively on organic results and ignore paid listings. What’s more, some 28% of those searches convert, resulting in a purchase.

Top-ranking SEO performance requires attention to many metrics, including traffic, backlinks, and social shares — to name just a few.

This guide gives you insights into some of the most relevant and timely search engine optimization trends to anticipate for 2021, allowing you to prepare your SEO strategy accordingly.

Not only will these SEO trends help you with some easy SEO techniques for your online website but also help you gain actual revenue.

Here are the 12 SEO trends to watch for in 2021:

Artificial Intelligence Will Play a Larger Role in SEO

From exhibition shell scheme designing to reporting software, Artificial intelligence (AI) has completely taken over the way people interact with the world.

Google’s AI algorithm is especially worth noting. Unveiled a few years back, the algorithm — called RankBrain — plays an important role in Google’s ranking factors for search engine results pages (SERPs) results.

Greg Corrado, a senior Google scientist who helped develop RankBrain, has previously highlighted the tool’s unique ability to learn: “The other signals, they’re all based on discoveries and insights that people in information retrieval have had, but there’s no learning.”

This presumably means that RankBrain will only improve with time, making AI a top SEO trend to watch.

So, the big question is, how do you optimize your SEO for RankBrain? While the search engine giant won’t share details, experts believe that user experience signals are the primary determinant.

These could include factors from click-through rate to time spent on the page. You need to captivate and engage readers with useful, well-organized content. An on-page SEO checker can help you assess page strength based on points like readability, backlinks, and more.

Voice Search Will Impact Search Queries

Used in the most random things like Garage Invoicing Software and content writing, voice typing is a new and more convenient way to search.

Thanks to innovations like Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri, and Amazon’s Alexa, voice search technology has come a long way. As technology has gotten better, it’s also gotten more popular.

In fact, the percentage of households predicted to own a smart speaker by 2022 is 55%.

To optimize voice search, consider your keywords. Identify longer phrases that people use in everyday conversation. Voice searches tend to do better with longer, more natural-sounding phrasing. When people type, they tend to abbreviate.

For example, a person might voice search, “What are the new SEO trends for 2021?” but type the words, “new SEO trends 2021.”

Mobile-Friendliness Will Impact Search Rankings

In 2019, Google rolled out mobile-first indexing, meaning the search engine looks primarily at the mobile version of a website, considering this the “primary” version instead of the desktop version.

This change makes sense, given that nearly 73% of internet users will access the internet solely via mobile devices by 2025. Check how effective your mobile site is with Google’s free mobile-friendly test.

Next, take a peek at the “mobile usability” report in Google Search Console.

To make sure your page is user-friendly, you have to ensure that Google can crawl your URLs, so make sure you don’t have a “disallow directive” in place. Also, beware that Googlebot won’t load content requiring user interactions, like clicking or swiping.

You have to make sure Google can see this so-called lazy-loaded content.

Finally, ensure you use the same meta robots tags on the desktop and mobile sites.

Content That Fulfills the Google EAT Principle Will Rank Higher

Google has reiterated that content quality is critical for ranking success. But just what does “quality” mean to Google? Refer to the EAT principle: expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.

These factors help determine if a webpage has useful quality content. This principle is especially relevant in business niches that fall under the “your money, your life” (YMYL) label, such as health care and finance.

There are a few ways you can ensure quality content.

  • First, create buyer personas, which let you understand what kind of content your clients value.
  • Second, conduct search intent research, which helps you map out the consumer journey.
  • Third, use this information to create content that fits the format that your users prefer.

For example, if you’re catering to teens, video is probably preferable.

If you’re catering to an older audience, the video may be less appealing.

Finally, keep EAT in mind as you craft your content. Back up claims with statistics and facts. Link to reputable sites, such as “.edu” and “.gov” URLs. Having authoritative sites link back to you is another way to prove that you fulfill the EAT criteria.

Long-Form Content Will Help Improve SERPs

According to our State of Content Marketing Report, long reads of 3,000-plus words get three times more traffic and four times more shares. They also achieve 3.5 times more backlinks than articles with an average length of 901 to 1,200 words.

Start focusing on long-form content to achieve higher search rankings. That said, your content must maintain quality. The aim is to provide users with shareable information that keeps them engaged.

How do you achieve this?

  • First, break up your content into sections with H2 and H3 subheadings to make it more scannable. Subheadings are especially important for mobile sites.
  • Second, ensure that you link to relevant, authoritative sources with a solid authority score.
  • Finally, ensure your content is easy to share. Include obvious sharing links at the headline and again at the conclusion so that readers can share with a quick click.

SEO Content Template Tool can help optimize your content for search. Enter the query you want to rank for, and you’ll get recommendations on content length, semantically related keywords to include, and a closer look at the top-ranking pages.

Featured Snippets Will Become More Prominent

Don’t panic. You won’t have to generate long-term content exclusively if you want to climb the Google rankings.

Featured snippets, which were rolled out in 2017, are a sort of shortcut to gaining prominence in Google — and they’re very brief. Sometimes, when you type something into Google, you may notice a box at the top of the SERPs, above the actual results.

That’s a snippet.

Scoring a featured snippet is a great way to get on that coveted first page of results.

What’s more, snippets steal significant traffic from competitors.

Featured snippets show a chunk of information, often structured as a Q&A or brief bullet-point, how-to guide.

There are also rich snippets, including images, star-based reviews, product prices, and similar bits of information. To create snippets, focus on question-based queries and relevant keywords.

You can use the Google search function “people also ask” for inspiration.

Learn More About the Latest SEO Trends and Techniques

SEO is only getting more complex, as the above list makes clear. The days of simply optimizing keywords and meta titles are long gone. With SEO’s current trends, you have to think about everything from voice control to video SEO.

Metrics are constantly changing, and it’s critical to stay on top of your place in the rankings. The right SEO tools can help you get the information you need to guide a smart SEO strategy.