In today's digital marketing landscape, keeping up with the latest strategies is crucial to drive organic traffic and increase brand awareness. Less than 1% of users go beyond the first page of search results, highlighting the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) for any website. However, SEO trends change rapidly and it's essential to understand and implement these changes in order to rank your website at the top of search engine result pages. Here is a list of the latest SEO strategies that you can implement to increase your website's ranking on the SERPs and boost organic traffic.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization(SEO) is the process of optimizing a website and its content so that whenever a user searches for a keyword, your website appears on the search result page. The objective of performing SEO for a website is to improve the quality and authoritativeness of content, using primary keywords, high search volume keywords, etc. so that a user can revisit your website to find relevant information.
Types of SEO
1. On-page SEO - On-page SEO refers to the optimization of website elements such as content, keywords, meta title & meta description, and FAQ to boost the ranking of the website so that Google bots can crawl and index your website content to enhance user experience. Some of the key on-page SEO factors to focus on are mentioned below.
i. Keyword research - Keyword research is the first and foremost step in the on-page optimization of your website. It is the process of identifying those keywords that users are searching on search engines. These keywords are used in content to target audiences who are looking for similar information.
ii. Meta description - Meta description is a summary of webpages that appear on search results. It helps search engine crawlers and users understand the information available on search engines. An effective meta description persuades users to click on the link which increases CTR and builds brand awareness.
Apart from these, there are other on-page SEO techniques that you should work on to improve website visibility on search engines. For more details, you can refer to our blog- ultimate guide to on-page and off-page SEO.
2. Off-page SEO - Off-page SEO is the process of boosting website ranking outside a website. Some of these techniques include guest posting, social media marketing, paid ads, press distribution, etc.
i. Guest posting - Guest posting is a technique of promoting your website content through writing and publishing content on high-authority websites. These authors are also mentioned as guest authors or contributors. Outsourcing guest posting is an efficient strategy to grow personal brand, enhance brand awareness, and improve SEO performance.
ii. Social media marketing - Social media marketing is the technique of using social media platforms such as Instagram platform, LinkedIn platform, Facebook platform, and X (formally Twitter) to promote your product and services. It is one of the successful methods to drive relevant and organic traffic to your website through sharing photos, videos, stories, etc. 44% of people aged between 16 to 64 use social media to find information when researching a brand. Therefore, it is crucial to promote your brand through social media to attract a target audience. You can also hire SEO experts and avail of white label social media marketing services to promote your businesses products and services.
3. Press release - A press release in SEO refers to the strategic crafting and distribution of a news statement aimed at generating media coverage and improving a website's visibility. Press releases are used to announce newsworthy events, product launches, company milestones, or other significant developments related to a business or organization. It is a great way to build a reputation in the media and promote your business. Reputation management is vital for any business to establish brand authority and maintain good relationships with the public. You can also outsource reputation management services to manage the online reputation of your business.
Latest SEO trends to follow
1. Content optimization on the website - Whether your website is new or has an existing website, content optimization is the most critical task to drive organic traffic. It is the foundation for achieving content marketing goals. It is the process of curating content in the form of text, video, images, etc. to attract and engage with the target audience and advertise the product, services, or information your website offers. By enhancing and expanding website content, it becomes easier for search engine bots to crawl and index the content and store it in its database so that whenever a user searches for a relevant query, your website appears on the search result page. Always be mindful of people's first content and not write content to manipulate search engine ranking.
2. Local search engine optimization(SEO) - Local SEO has emerged as a top SEO trend that has become vital for businesses to establish an online presence, thrive in the local market, and build a local customer base. Local SEO refers to attracting local customers to your business through local search engines and local directories. With the growing mobile usage, businesses are prioritizing consistent NAP data throughout online platforms, positive customer reviews, and local-based keyword research to enhance the local SEO ranking of websites. Hyperlocal targeting is a step further in local SEO. It refers to targeting potential customers in a specific area, often with the intention of people searching for a "near me" query. Combining local SEO and hyperlocal targeting can boost the website's presence and increase website authority.
3. Video search engine optimization(SEO) - Videos help to easily convey business message to the target audience. Therefore, marketers and business owners must create more video content to attract and increase their business's online presence. Video SEO is the process of refining video by optimizing video content meta description, and meta tags to rank them higher on a search engine result when a user searches for related keywords on the search page. You can also hire SEO experts who can execute video SEO to increase video performance and boost brand visibility.
4. Voice search optimization - 48% of consumers use voice assistance for general web searches on the internet. Consequently, optimizing your website for voice search by analyzing speech patterns, language preferences, and contextual understanding is vital for improving your webpage's SEO ranking and attracting organic traffic. Some of the popular voice assistants are Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Microsoft’s Cortana. The voice search feature is easy for people who are not experts in using smartphones but want to search for a query online. Voice search queries are more conversational as long as we are talking to real people. So, it is essential for websites to use long-tail keywords to increase website ranking on search engines.
5. Google E-E-A-T for content - E-E-A-T is the acronym created by Google, which means experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. According to Google, it's a fundamental content guideline for websites, specifying how content should be written. SEO marketers must focus on having unique & engaging content to ensure that the website ranks higher on SERPs, organic traffic increases and much more.
i. Experience - Google quality rater, rates content on the basis of experience. It refers to first-hand experience with the subject matter. For instance, when reviewing a product, it's important to determine whether the person has actually used it and provided useful information or merely offered irrelevant details.
ii. Expertise - If your business operates in the medical, legal, financial, or public sector, Google quality raters check whether you have expertise in that field or not. For example, if your website writes a blog on managing personal finances, providing valuable and trustworthy information is your obligation because the general public financial condition can be affected after following your advice.
iii. Authoritativeness - It refers to whether your site or author has authority in the particular topic. Having authority in a specific topic can give a website an edge over its competitors. Generally, a website is considered to be authoritative when experts write content and provide valuable insights. These websites get links from other authoritative websites, known as backlinks. Backlink checker is a free tool where you can check the backlinks of different websites.
iv. Trustworthiness - A website is considered trustworthy when it provides authentic and valuable information that can be useful for consumers. Google evaluators might consider contact information, website security, and website policies as trust factors.
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6. Core web vitals on the website - Core web vitals are Google metrics that assist webmasters in understanding how users experience a web page while navigating through a website. It is primarily created for web admins, but this tool can be used by site owners to understand a user's real-world experience on a page. Three important metrics in core web vitals are:-
i. Largest contentful paint(LCP)
ii. First Input delay(FID)
iii. Cumulative layout shift(CLS)
User experience is a top priority for Google to rank web pages. For that, you need to design website architecture, keeping in mind that a user experiences easy navigation on a website. Outsourcing web development is an effective strategy to create compelling websites to increase online presence.
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7. Mobile search engine optimization(SEO) - Mobile SEO is the SEO trend that every website needs to follow. It is the process of optimizing your website according to mobile devices. 79% of users are going to visit again or suggest a mobile website if it is easy to use. Therefore, optimization of website layout is crucial to increase user experience and visibility. Mobile indexing is important to optimize websites so that Google bots can crawl and index website content to increase the ranking of the page and attract organic traffic to the website. It includes boosting mobile page loading speed, responsive design, creating separate mobile URLs, etc.
8. Privacy and security of the website - With the easy accessibility of the internet, cybercrime has also grown exponentially. Data privacy and website security have become primary concerns for users when looking for information online. Sites with HTTPS are viewed as trustworthy by both users and search engines. Implementing blockchain technology and decentralized web offers new opportunities to protect data privacy and security. Clear communication of user data collection can increase brand trust and loyalty among users. Search engines prioritize user experience and consistently rank websites that provide satisfactory web experiences to the users.
9. Schema markup & technical SEO - Technical SEO is the practice of optimizing websites for search engines. This includes improving page loading speed, creating a user-friendly website structure, removing duplicate content, creating a website sitemap, and submitting it to search engines. Creating a sitemap allows search engine bots to navigate through your website and index content easily. XML sitemap generator is a tool that can be used to generate website sitemaps.
Schema markup is the code to help search engines understand content. Google uses this information to feature content in rich snippets to get a higher click through rate(CTR) on the website. Schema markup helps search engines understand the content to give your website a competitive edge to stand out and drive more traffic.
10. Machine learning in SEO - Since Google's algorithm is becoming more competent, incorporating machine learning can help websites be more updated with the latest SEO trends to increase the user experience and website ranking. Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence that learns from data to provide new and better solutions without human instructions. Websites can use machine learning to forecast user behavior and preferences and tailor content for users based on their location, preferences, and tastes. By incorporating these strategies, a website can focus on optimizing on-page experience, in-depth keyword research and analysis, adapting changes, and implementing them on the website.
Takeaways
SEO trends are changing at a rapid pace, and being updated with the changes and implementing them becomes crucial to enhance SEO campaign performance, but it is difficult for marketers and business owners to be updated with all the information because of the vast amount of information available on the internet. By hiring a digital marketing agency and outsourcing SEO services, you can implement those changes to increase the ranking of websites on search engine result pages(SERPs). Some of the other benefits provided by SEO experts are SEO reports, SEO audits, SEO copywriting, email marketing, and digital analytics. Partnering with our digital marketing agency strengthens your overall SEO, and our SEO experts will ensure that your SERP rankings improve. We offer specialized SEO services for businesses, including electrician SEO, roofing SEO, flooring SEO, lawyer SEO, small business SEO services, and more.
References:
- Key SEO trends for 2024
- What is the future of SEO in 2024? 8 critical SEO trends to know