Although the digital marketing sector is constantly evolving, there are things that do not seem to be changing in the short term. One of them is the importance that search engine optimization (SEO) will continue to have in many sectors when it comes to attracting customers.
For this reason, it is essential to be up to date with the keys that, during the next year, may mark the success or failure of the strategies aimed at attracting online users organically. So, let’s review some of the top SEO trends for 2021:
1. Voice searches are gaining ground
Voice search is booming. The development of technologies such as Alexa, Siri or the Google Assistant itself is causing a change in the way we search the Internet. Every time we search more by voice and less in written form. It is more comfortable.
This is more important than it sounds, as voice searches tend to be more natural and less ‘robotic’ than written ones. Therefore, if SEO strategies had stopped focusing only on keywords for some time, in 2021, more than ever, they should focus on phrases that include keywords naturally.
2. Priority for mobile friendly pages
If compatibility with mobile devices had already been an increasingly important trend, now it is essential to appear in the SERPs. It is no longer negotiable with Google. At Tewara, for a long time, we have been monitoring usability, texts, mobile page loading and all aspects that affect the mobile user experience.
One piece of advice we give you is to take into account the Google Search Console and Page Speed notices. If you manage to improve what Google recommends, you will see your pages upload in the Serps.
With the implementation of the Mobile First Index, Google takes the mobile version of a site as a reference and not its desktop version. It is an algorithm of the Internet giant that gives priority to pages adapted and optimized for mobile devices.
On the other side of the coin, this will also cause pages not adapted to mobile devices to lose much of the rankings achieved in the SERPs. So, if you haven’t done it yet, aim for this task to improve your SEO in 2021.
3. Quality content
It was already crucial, but now this seo trend will be even more so in 2021. In addition to being the main axis of any inbound marketing strategy, the quality of the content is vital for the Google EAT principle (experience, authority and reliability), which will determine our greater or lesser relevance in the SERPs.
Quality content is essential to rank high in search results. In Tewara we have it verified day by day. This implies the creation of content that answers frequently asked questions or topics of interest to our potential clients, not getting stuck in keywords and working the content semantically.
After all, the parameters that show how the user experience has been on a page is one of the most determining factors when it comes to giving it more or less relevance.
4. Videos: trendy content
Google is a true reflection of the trends and consumer habits of Internet users. And among them is the use and constant growth of networks such as YouTube and Tiktok.
Perhaps that is why videos will have a greater prominence in 2021, if possible, in many cases capturing the first search results. In fact, today more than 60% of Google SERPS include videos.
Also, according to a study by Forrester Research, videos rank 50% better than plain text pages. Of course, like the images, which will continue to be just as important, the videos must be optimized with keywords both in their title and in their description or in the channel in which they are published.
5. SEO off page
In line with the Google EAT principle that we talked about before, off-page SEO will continue to be a trend and very important when it comes to providing notoriety and authority to a page. How many years has it been? The form changes, now quality is prioritized over quantity, but this strategy is still necessary in very competitive markets.
Therefore, it will be the same or even more recommended than up to
Nowadays, the design and application of link building strategies to obtain quality links on relevant websites that help to better position our page.
6. HTTPS protocol: essential for SEO
There are still some pages that have not adapted to the HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) protocol, which certifies that the web is legitimate and that it maintains the privacy of its users’ data.
The absence of this protocol can not only pose a security problem for a website, but it also affects SEO. When a user tries to access a site with the old HTTP, he is approached by a message that informs him that the site is not secure, which turns him back in almost all cases.
This causes a high bounce rate of the page and a minimum average dwell time, which at the SEO level is a guarantee of penalty.
Therefore, the migration to the HTTPS protocol is essential for SEO in 2021. If you have not done it, do it, it is fast, but not for that obvious. There are many companies that have called us with heavy losses of their traffic, for not having made the change correctly. Therefore, check well the sitemaps and the redirection of the http protocol to https, and, do not forget, inform Google of the change through the Search Console to follow its evolution.
7. Local SEO
Increasingly, we use Google to search for products, services, or businesses locally, such as a store or restaurant. For this reason, it is very important that these types of companies are positioned in Google locally, since this will give them great visibility in the area in which they are located.
For example, a restaurant in Madrid is interested in positioning itself in Madrid. In this case, the fact of not opting for a local SEO strategy will imply that the web has to compete with restaurants in any Spanish-speaking place.
It is a relatively frequent error that we meet with new clients that prevents them from addressing their target and makes it very difficult for them to position themselves, since they have to face excessive competition. On the other hand, when we change your SEO strategy and focus it on Local SEO, your search engine positioning changes radically.
To achieve a good position in the local SERPS it is necessary to work very well with the keywords and the contents of the web, as well as the SEO offpage and the Google My Business tool, often forgotten.
Google My Business allows us to publish relevant information about our business, such as its location, hours, photos and videos of the premises and even customer opinions. In addition, it will allow us to appear on Google Maps, with all the advantages that this implies, including the possibility of directing the user directly to our business.
Without a doubt, it is a powerful tool on which any local SEO strategy should be based. If your business is local, this 2021 make sure your SEO is local.
8. Featured snippets
The highlighted fragments allow you to highlight information about our company’s products or services in the SERPS, as well as in some information boxes that Google shows at the beginning of the search results.
With the featured fragments we can show very interesting content, such as prices, user opinions, videos, etc. The fact of working well the highlighted fragments will allow us to stand out in the SERPS over other websites that do not take care of these details, and therefore, increase our CTR and traffic to our website.
Google has been implementing the featured fragments in its results for years and informing us of this trend, its formats are increasingly visible and, therefore, the competition that works with them is increasing. At Tewara we attach great importance to this aspect, due to the great benefits it brings to CTR. And it is that, in addition to positioning the web, it is essential that users click on it.
9. Image optimization
Image search is becoming more and more relevant. In fact, many users frequently use the Google image search engine, which shows the importance of positioning ourselves in this tool to increase traffic and sales.
We know that large websites take time, and for this reason many times companies prioritize other projects. Our recommendation for 2021 is that you start, you don’t have to do everything, but you do have to start. Think that less is nothing and that more and more companies of your competition have already done it.
How to optimize images for SEO
There are several ways to optimize images for SEO. These are some of the main ones:
The greater the weight of an image, the longer its loading time, which worsens the user experience and penalizes SEO. Hence the importance of reducing the weight of each image. Tools such as JPEG-Optimizer allow you to easily and quickly carry out this task without reducing the quality of the image.
Optimize file name
It is very important to give a descriptive name to the image related to the keyword in question in order to position it in image search engines. For example, if our website sells Canarian bananas, it is much better if the image is called Comprar-platano-canario.jpg. to call her 7ad83a48s73.jpg.
Add an alternative text to the image
It is also advisable to add a brief description of the image in the “Alternative text” field, since, through it, we help search engines understand its content. In addition, with this Google understands that we are making the image readable for users with visual disabilities, which also favors SEO.
10. Predictive search: Google Discover
Google Discover is an option of the Google APP that offers content to users based on their interests without having to perform a search as such.
This tool detects user behavior patterns over time and gradually learns their habits, allowing it to identify the content that may be of interest to the user.
We can define Google Discover as the social version of Google, since it is a news feed. In any case, it is also a good opportunity to generate organic traffic that will gain importance and precision in 2021.
You do not need to fill out any form to appear on Google Discover. The most important thing is to generate quality content that is related to the products or services we offer.
