10 SEO Strategies You not have to Ignore

Google was responsible for 75% of all desktop searches worldwide in 2020. This is more than 2.3 trillion search results. You are missing significant website visits, sales, and conversion if you don’t optimize your business for Google or other search engines.

SEO landscapes change each year. This makes optimization difficult for people who aren’t familiar with the industry. While some techniques are still relevant (e.g. keyword optimization, content creation, and building quality links), others are constantly changing.

As we got halfway past 2021, it is a good time to rethink your SEO strategy and determine the best techniques to dominate the SERPs.

Before that, let understand what SEO is and why it is important in today’s digital marketing industry.

Table of Contents

What Is SEO and Why Is It Important?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. This is one of the most effective ways to get natural traffic from search engines like Google. This involves changing your website and content in order to make it more user-friendly and appealing to search engines. There are many SEO methods that have been proven to work: link building, social media and blogging, keyword research and meta data.

Google has an 87.96% market share in search engines in 2019, which is a record. Businesses are all trying to rank on the first page of search engines’ results pages. It is the largest source of organic traffic to websites. Google alone is responsible for more than half the referral traffic to your website. This is 10x greater than the traffic social media drives.

You don’t need to spend any money to get leads. This passive digital marketing strategy provides longer-term benefits. What SEO strategies will yield the best results for 20220?

Top 10 Effective SEO Strategies

Businesses and marketers face a challenge to stay relevant as Google continues its role as the destination for users’ journeys. Many of the techniques that worked last year might not work again this year, and there are new trends that could change SEO’s future.

Here are the Best upcoming SEO strategies businesses and marketers need to master to get the best results.

SEO Strategy #1: Focus on Featured Snippets.

It is no longer important to be number one in the SERPs. Businesses should not aim to be number one. Instead, they should strive for position zero or the featured snippets. This is the first organic search result. Featured snippets are partial answers to specific questions or queries.

Ahrefs conducted a study and found that Featured Snippets take 8.6% of clicks to organic search results below them. This is a popular trend because 14 of the 112 search queries return a Featured snippet.

But how to optimize your content for the Featured Snippets?

If you also want to get paragraph snippets, focus on creating content that includes the following phrases:

How to do/get…
Who is…
Where is…
When is…
Why is…
What is…

Your content should answer these general questions to get a Featured Snippet.

You can also create bulleted or numbered lists for users that are looking for step-by-step guides or procedures to complete a task.

SEO Strategy #2: Invest in Website Security.

Cybersecurity is the most serious threat to the digital world at the moment. According to a study, hackers attack the internet every 39 seconds. Hackers can also steal information easier by using unsecure passwords.

WordPress websites are the main targets of hackers, as they represent 35% of the market. WordPress has 542, which is 30% more than 2017.

Enabling the HTTPS protocol on your website is the best way to protect it and your visitors. This protocol makes sure that all of your website connections are encrypted and secured. Google will also approve of your HTTPS configuration. This is a small SEO boost that can help you rank higher on search engines. Google favors secure browsing experiences for its users.

SEO Strategy #3: Optimize for Voice Search.

Before Siri and Alexa, search engines were used on computers to find the keyword. With the increasing use of smart devices, voice search has become a new type of search. Instead of typing their query out, users can simply say it out loud using virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa.

Instead of searching for “5-star hotels Jamaica”, users can simply say “Hey Siri, Google, which is the best 5-star hotel in Jamaica?” Voice search is a great way to save time and effort. According to Google, voice searches account for 20% of all searches, and that number is expected to rise in the next year.

How can you optimize your voice search optimization? First, you must look at your website and all of the content that you have posted on the internet. Long-tail keywords are more likely to be searched for than shorter keywords. If you are a local business owner, make sure to include location-based keywords wherever possible.

Keep your content conversational. Write your sentences concisely and as if your readers are speaking directly to you.

SEO Strategy #4: Keep E-A-T in Mind.

Google will rank its overall reputation as a ranking signal in 2020. Google will assess the company or business’ E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). Google will use reviews, ratings, ratings, customer service reputation, and other trust signals to determine your ranking. It is, therefore, crucial to establish your authority and credibility.

You can increase the trustworthiness of your content by building up your author’s credentials. Don’t forget fact-checking. You can upload any certificates, awards, conferences, or other credentials that will increase your authority. To improve your credibility, you must provide excellent customer service and emphasize positive reviews. To minimize the negative effects of complaints or issues, you must respond quickly and professionally. Provide a user experience that is useful, convenient, and meaningful at all times.

SEO Strategy #5: Optimize for Mobile.

Although experts have predicted mobile would be a major factor in digital marketing, not everyone took it seriously. Although mobile SEO may be an outdated technique, it is important to emphasize this fact in 2020 with Google’s recent updates. Google recently announced that mobile speed will be a key ranking factor in its upcoming updates. Businesses need to fix mobile websites.

Developers should not build websites for desktops. Instead, they should create a mobile-first version first and then adapt them for other platforms. Also, you should start to look at mobile search results and how optimization can impact your bottom line.

SEO Strategy #6: Focus on Visibility and Zero-Click Searches.

More than half of all search queries are now zero-click. This means users no longer have to click on the search results to find the information they need. Zero-click searches include featured snippets and Google’s Local Packs and Knowledge graphs.

When you are creating content for your website think about the types of searches that usually return zero-click results. These could be questions asking for your phone number, address, or the price of the products that you sell. These questions can also be short and simple, which can be answered quickly.

SEO Strategy #7: Video Will be the New Source of Information.

Video is an engaging and entertaining form of content. Video is not only entertaining, but it also provides information. Internet users prefer to view online videos rather than reading lengthy guides to find the information they need. They prefer to watch a video tutorial that shows them how to fix a problem with a computer than read a long guide. A video tutorial simplifies the process and clarifies any misunderstandings.

If you intend to use video content on your website, ensure that it is optimized for search users by using appropriate keywords in both the title and description. For people who are having trouble following the video, you can include a transcription.

SEO Strategy #8: Improve CTR and Dwell Time.

In the next months, click-through rates (CTR), and dwell time will be important ranking factors as Google places more emphasis on user satisfaction. Google considers you more valuable if your CTR and dwell times (the time spent on your website by a visitor before they leave) are higher.

These metrics indicate how satisfied the user was in finding what they were looking for. How interested the user is in your site and how many links they click will determine their level of satisfaction with it and whether they find the information they need. You can increase these metrics by providing quality content that is both useful and entertaining for your visitors. Your visitor will click back to the SERPs if they are bored or don’t find what they want.

SEO Strategy #9: Quality Content Matters.

SEO strategies must include high-quality content. Google and users want current, relevant, and helpful content. Search engines are used by people to search for answers. Your webpage should provide the information that they need.

Do your research on the topic and back up your content with data. Your content should be easy to read and navigate. Avoid promoting your products or services in every piece you write. Research has shown that people tend to ignore information that is too salty.

People want educational and relevant information that is delivered to them in easy-to-digest forms.

SEO Strategy #10: Write Longer Content.

Quality is as important as quantity when it comes to content. It is difficult to provide quality content with a limited amount of words. Because users are looking for all the information they need, web pages with longer content tend to be more visible.

How long should your content be? Brian Dean and Backlinko’s team conducted a study that found that the average word count for the first page results of Google was 1,890 words. This shows how much longer-form content is more effective than short-form articles. AppSumo’s Noah Kagan and BuzzSumo’s team found that longer content is more popular than shorter ones in their research. If you want your content viral, make sure to write at least 2000 words per article.

Wrapping Up

SEO is an evolving space. There are algorithm updates and new trends constantly changing the landscape. It is crucial to stay on top of changes in the SEO landscape so that you can make use of them to your advantage as a business. This list of upcoming SEO strategy is a great way to get to know what will happen in digital marketing over the next 12 month so that you can develop a strategy that gets you the best results.