As we put a bow on 2020 and send it on its merry way, we are looking to 2021 for new SEO trends, strategies, and implementations to push our client’s success to the next level. The top trend still remains the same as link building is an absolute cornerstone of our SEO campaigns. We have talked about the importance of link building many times, but as we move into 2021, it is important to understand some of the other ideas we have for improving results. These ideas and strategies focus on users and analytics. Learn more about SEO in 2021 here.
Link Building in 2021
Not all SEO providers take the same approach we do, but we believe link building is one of the most important regular tasks you can execute to improve your online visibility. Link building works by having other websites talk about you and your services. We explore and target links that will have the most impact on your website. We do this in a variety of ways according to the results you are looking for. For instance, it would be much more logical for a local company to focus more on local links and directories for results. On the other hand, companies looking to rank nationally will need to seek out more high profile opportunities to compete with national companies. Our link building processes are tried and true, and we continue to optimize our link building efforts for SEO in 2021.
UI/UX Focus
We have also talked about a focus on user interface and user experience (UI/UX) in the past, and these needs continue to develop as Google updates its algorithm. Gone are the days where a webmaster could use “creative” (to put it lightly) tactics to develop websites and try to establish rankings. You may remember working white text into a paper in college to beef up your word count a bit, or using poor sources for your citations, but there are tools to keep this from happening now. Well, let’s look at Google as your teacher or professor. Google has gotten much smarter at knowing how a user will interact with your website and has placed more importance on these items than ever before. We always find SEO works best when a website is built out with proper SEO structure, but not necessarily optimized with keywords. This lets us provide a layer over the top of a website built for an optimal user experience rather than trying to patchwork a website built solely for SEO into something users can interact with.
More Informative Analytics
As all these tools and audits progress, so does our ability to analyze with more information. Changes have been made to Google Webmaster Tools. We now have more detailed traffic data. Google even offers third party analytics for your page speed, mobile-friendliness, rendering, image optimization, security protocols, and much more. Google wants to give you the tools you need to make your website not only functional but cutting edge. The only real issue with these metrics is knowing what to do with them. Choosing to work with an SEO company in 2021 will let you keep yourself focused on your business and rest easy knowing the SEO tasks related to improving your web presence are being executed regularly with laser precision.
Competitive Analysis
If you have ever chatted with one of our salespeople, you have probably heard the comparison of “site A to site B”. A large portion of strategic analysis and implementation falls to understanding what websites have attained the desired results we are looking for and trying to beat that out. We refer to this as our plus one strategy, taking each of the metrics we can directly control, and trying to beat them out in each. As tools and analytics progress, we get more data out of them. Statistics like word count, keyword usage, and incoming links have always been included in our comparisons, but now we are able to explore more statistics related to your competition. We can see how many header tags are utilized, more detailed analytics on incoming hyperlinks, and compare your website’s responsiveness to your competitor’s. With these detailed analytics, we are able to create a detailed plan for success and educate you on the path ahead.
SEO in 2021 has not drastically changed, but staying on top of the most up to date tools from Google and third-party providers can ensure your SEO provider is doing everything possible to usurp the competition and establish long term results.
