The biggest challenge in SEO right now is identifying and understanding the techniques that matter, and of course the ones that don’t. But, in today’s fast-paced world where algorithms are changing every day, the whole SEO paradigm can shift without you even realizing it. The hacks and tricks that were once game-changers, have not only become obsolete but can also land you in a predicament, damaging the organic rankings of your site. Implementing outdated tricks or so-called SEO tactics will raise a red flag in Google’s eyes leading thereby to a Google penalty that can be really backbreaking. Hence, any business that understands the significance of SEO needs to be fully aware of the evolving strategies and algorithms in the world of SEO in 2020.
These reasons make it absolutely critical to always have your A-Game when taking SEO into account. You’ll witness yourself falling behind, while your competitors zoom past you in the Search Engine rankings if you don’t stay to date with your SEO techniques. If you’re too busy managing your business, at Cosmick Technologies, we aim at highlighting some of the most prominent SEO techniques that most people tend to ignore or are too occupied to implement. We apply a good mix and match of different strategies to help improve your search engine rankings.
Optimize for voice search
Staying ahead of the curve and thinking about future prospects is the key here. By the end of next year, around 50 percent of the searches conducted will be through voice command. You read that right, by 2021, half of Google’s users won’t be typing their queries anymore, they will employ voice-assisted devices like Alexa and Siri to get the job done. We sure are getting lazier!
You might be thinking there’s a long way to go before factoring this into your SEO strategy, but that is where you are wrong. Voice searchers have entirely different habits as compared to people who search through text. For example, a text searcher might type “lion diet” in the search bar, whereas a voice-based search is more likely to be “what do lions eat”. See the difference? Voice search is more inclined towards long-tailed keywords which makes a significant difference. Amazon’s Alexa, or Siri and all other devices work on the same principle of taking data from SERPS to replay info from the featured snippet box and present it to the user.
Perk Up the User Experience of your site
Google is the largest search engine for a reason- it shows the best results against any user’s query and if it feels like its introducing its users to low-quality irrelevant results, they won’t do it again. Google does this better than any other search engine in the market, and simply if your website is not up to the mark, you will have a hard time ranking it for your intended keywords.
Nobody wants to land on a buggy site that spa, takes forever to load, or doesn’t lead them to the desired solution. Such sites make the user leave quickly, leading to a high bounce rate. Although there has been no declaration about this from Google itself, strong evidence suggests that sites with low bounce rates do get rewarded by search engines in terms of higher page rankings.
Google’s logic behind this is simple-if it sees a user spending more time on a web page, it is simply because the user has found something relatable and or valuable. Since Google wants to deliver the best results itself, it will constantly push websites with strong engagement up the ladder of SERPs, and spammy sites with low engagement will be flushed down the sewer of lower rankings. The SEO (Search Engine Optimization) industry has certainly evolved these past few years, and every aspiring business needs to understand that Google quickly stamps out practices that fail to provide a positive user experience to the audience.
Longer Content is Better Content
Although quality content is #1 priority, quality in its long-form is better than quality in the short. According to a recent study, the longer the content, the more acknowledgment it gets from Google. That means better chances of a higher SERP ranking. However, writing a blog post of 2000 plus words can be a pretty daunting task, but that isn’t the most important point here. It’s quality. Sometimes, the word count won’t even matter.
For example, take the “weight loss tips’’ keyword. Users looking for the phrase might be inclined towards finding a comprehensive guide to weight reduction. While someone who searches “weight loss do’s and don’ts” could be looking for a simple blog post with a to the point list and nothing more than that.
Sadly, there are no hacks at determining the length of the content that one needs to write, well except for common sense. Look at things from a user’s perspective and think of all the possibilities regarding the information users would be looking for while using a specific keyword that you target.
Conquer the realm of Video with YouTube SEO
Most of the so-called SEO professionals out there do not take YouTube into account while thinking about search engines. According to Forbes, YouTube ranks second on the list of most popular search engines with more than 3 billion searches a month. To have a better view, understand that this volume of searches is far more than AOL, Yahoo and Bing combined. The smartest approach here is to acquire a knack of creating engaging videos and investing in them to optimize each one for YouTube SEO. SEO optimization on YouTube techniques are effective and will help your website will acquire better rankings, therefore, SEO traffic, in no time.
Keep your Backlinks profile diverse
Everyone who knows SEO understands the importance of backlinks. According to Google, where it has seen a myriad of algorithm changes, backlinks are still amongst the number one factors for determining rankings. Having a high search engine ranking without potent and authentic backlinks is virtually impossible.
However, there is no clear cut definition of what defines any backlink as good or bad. Every aspiring business needs to ensure that they’re “earning” their links through high quality, engaging content, influencer marketing, and outreach rather than just paying for low-quality links such as blog comments that can easily be spammed. Backlinks obtained from credible and high-quality sources are the only ones that are safe and effective, the low-quality ones, however, are not only useless but are also potentially harmful to your website. Remember what we told you about Google’s penalties?
However, Google has made things rather tricky for the sites that look too clean. That means that if the entire backlink profile of your website is loaded with high-quality links, there is a high probability that your website might be flagged for a manual review. Failing to pass that might lead to a penalty form Google too. So, what is the best way to prevent that? The best way to avoid a Google penalty, in this case, is to create a backlink profile that is diverse, with high to medium quality links. This way you’ll end up with a myriad of diverse links including product pages, blogs, forums, directories, and other websites, all pointing towards your site and improving your ranking.
Keep up with SEO’s Pace
With new algorithms popping up every now and then, and with Google’s frequent updates on webmaster guidelines, it is critical to adapt quickly, or you are sure to be left behind. Stay focused on high-quality content and stay abreast of technical trends like website speed, schema, SEO health, and of-course backlinks. Although this might seem all too overwhelming, it is not impossible to achieve. Close your eyes, take a breather and put in your best efforts to understand the very fundamentals of these SEO techniques and soon, you will see your website gaining higher click rates, engagements, and better rankings.