2021 is here, and it’s set to be a significant year in the SEO sector. With the speed of technological advances in this sector, showing no signs of slowing down, the SEO sector is set to go through major changes and updates in this new year. A lot of these changes are hinged around Google’s two upcoming algorithm updates slated to release in March and May. Since most companies’ SEO structures are entirely dependent on this search engine giant, every business owner with a business website must know about any algorithm or priority changes made by Google. Being aware of these expected changes can save businesses from losing significant amounts of web traffic. So, here’s a guide on three very important trends business website admins must know in 2021 –
User Experience on Webpages Will Matter More than Ever
In May 2021, Google will launch an algorithm update that’ll make user experiences of webpages a vital ranking factor. Google’s algorithms will contain “page experience signals,” which will determine how users feel while interacting with different webpages. The key attributes that’ll determine whether a webpage gives a good or bad user experience include –
Quality of interactivity. For instance, if the user’s first input on a webpage doesn’t lead to fast solutions, Google’s algorithms will automatically punish the website. Do you know some websites where links don’t respond immediately, no matter how many times you click on them? In 2021, Google will factor these negative user experiences on webpages while ranking websites.
The mobile-friendliness of the webpage.
Visual stability. Does the webpage’s layout constantly shift? Do all the graphics, text, and other visual elements load instantly? These attributes now play major roles in Google rankings.
The safety and security users feel while browsing a webpage.
The loading speed of webpages.
Abiding by these user-centric metrics will be the key to achieving SEO success in 2021. Google’s steely resolve to provide better experiences and content to its users will hopefully compel more websites to be fast-loading, mobile-friendly, extremely secure, stable, and engaging for the users. The ones who fail to meet these standards will rank poorly. Here are some basic steps website managers can take to make their webpages user-friendlier –
Create content that’s easy to read. Optimizing content for readability by creating unique and valuable content that’s free from grammar or spelling mistakes is very important. Webpages must have short and easy read paragraphs. A one-sentence paragraph is better than non-fragmented content that’s hard to read.
Use as many sub-headers and bullet points as possible in all webpage content. On average, users spend only 37 seconds to go through a piece of webpage content. Using subheads to fragment your content makes the target user’s reading experience much better. Similarly, stats, facts, examples, etc., shouldn’t be packed into paragraphs. Instead, they should be spread out using bullet points.
Use whitespace. Large blocks of text or images can overwhelm users and diminish the quality of their experiences on the website. To prevent that, website managers must break up large blocks of text with graphs, images, and whitespaces.
Get rid of unnecessary code on all webpages. High bounce rates are usually down to slow-loading websites that are over-coded. Instead, using simple code to craft each webpage will be much beneficial after Google’s algorithm updates.
Reduce the average server response time by partnering with the best hosting provider.
Compress images to make webpages smaller in size.
Mobile-First
Although Google has been prioritizing mobile-friendly websites for almost five years, in 2021, the search engine will double-down its resolve to make most websites listed on the platform to become mobile-responsive.
Being mobile-responsive isn’t enough – in 2021, Google will index mobile versions of websites before indexing desktop websites. This step may concern some business website owners. But, the positives of having a business website that’s optimized for mobile devices are plenty.
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Mobile searches, including the term “on-sale,” increased by 250% between 2017-2019.
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54% of smartphone users admitted to looking up business hours on Google.
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Mobile searches, including terms like “Where to buy” or “near me,” also increased by 200% between 2017-2019.
Hence, Google’s decision to implement mobile-first indexing will help businesses in the long run as mobile searches statistically lead to more sales. That’s why, for businesses that don’t have mobile-optimized websites, looking for SEO firm in Toronto is imperative in 2021.
Voice Search will be Extremely Important.
Voice search is a must-have factor in every SEO strategy coming into 2021. Most smartphone users do voice searches on their phones. Others use devices like Amazon Echo or Google Home to lookup websites. Since voice searches and text searches are completely different, website managers will have to implement tricks like the use of longer keywords. While voice searching, users typically use more words. So, the keyword “restaurant near me” in text search becomes “what are the good restaurants near me” in voice searches.
There are several SEO companies that can help businesses transition into this new age of SEO. To improve their websites’ rankings in 2021, business owners must hurry and find these SEO experts!
