10 Tips for SEO in 2021

The digital marketing world has adapted to many changes in 2021 and search engine optimization (SEO) is no exception. Here are 10 SEO trends to prepare for in 2021:

1. Core Web Vitals

In 2021, Core Web Vitals are an essential metric of SEO. They include Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). These three things determine how fast the web page will load, the web page’s responsiveness, and the web page’s visual stability. Google plans to give even more pull to these metrics by combining their vitals with user-initiated signals. These signals include mobile-friendly websites, safe browsing, and HTTPS security. If your business can optimize your core web vitals, your web page’s SEO will optimize as well.

2. Meta Descriptions 

Meta descriptions are critical and help establish what the page’s content is all about. When writing meta descriptions, be sure only to include descriptions and keywords that cater to your customer’s needs. Also, keep in mind that these are supposed to be short – around 150 words.

3. Linking

You cannot ignore the need for link building if your content is to be seen and optimized in 2021. Backlinking can easily affect your site’s ranking and is still one of the most used ways to determine a web page’s quality. There are countless strategies for successful linking, including low-effort tactics with high rewards, which can be great for a beginner in SEO.

Some tried and true tactics include;

• Broken link building
• Supplier/product links
• Unlinked brand mentions

4. Perform Regular SEO Audits

Performing an audit on your SEO can make a big difference in your online performance. The frequency of the audit may vary depending on the organization, but overall, conducting a monthly or bi-monthly audit can help make quick improvements.

5. Update Your Content!

Something you may not think about a lot of the time is the content you already put out! Go back and perform an audit on your content. With the information from the audit, update your content to be more relevant and drive more traffic back to your pages.

6. Optimize Content

In 2021, optimizing content means being more thoughtful with keywords, relevant content and giving the reader the information they want sooner rather than later. Content should focus on the article’s main topic with a quick and exciting introduction, then get straight to the point. Give in-depth information only when needed.

7. Use more Videos/Optimized Image Content

Video and visual content is booming in 2021. Creating a short, exciting video to introduce your product/service is an easy and effective way to get attention. Increase your traffic and engagement with:

• High-quality and relevant images/video content
• Accurate and descriptive labels for images
• Images to your site map
• Use alt tags to classify your images

8. Focus on Bounce Rates

Improving your bounce rate can increase your conversion rate, which in turn boosts your SEO ranking. Ensure that your web page looks like a legitimate place of business and that the content provided is relevant, current, and valuable for its meta description. Holding the user’s interest is critical to improving bounce rate.

9. Utilize Long-tail Keywords

Including relevant keywords in your content is one of the most critical parts of SEO. In 2021, focus on long-tail keywords – statements or questions about three or four words long.

Making sure that you include keywords in all the right places on your webpage is just as important. You can have your keywords in the:

• URL (keep the URL short)
• Title
• The first 100 words of your content
• Image alt text
• In the H1, H2, and H3 tag lines
• The last 100 words on your content
• Any list/table/graphic used in the content

10. Voice Search 

Voice search has been a growing trend in SEO marketing for years now, and the innovative smart speaker devices are not going anywhere anytime soon. The key to adapting your SEO to the smart speaker is to consider more conversational words and phrases as keywords and to focus on longer phrases such as questions or an address for directions. Creating a page on your website that answers frequently asked questions about your business can also be very compatible with voice search devices.

BONUS TIP FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES 

Ensure that your business has a local search listing on all search engines, especially Google. Location plays a huge role in ranking and relevance in SEO. Having a listing based on location is a great way to market your business to potential local customers. Don’t forget to make sure that all information (name, address, phone number) is updated and correct!

Navigating through SEO can be confusing and stressful, so take the stress off and let us handle your digital marketing needs! Fuhrman Creative can help you create a successful SEO strategy to optimize your search engine results and increase your business’s reach.