SEO Trends You Need to Know Heading into 2020

8 SEO Trends Going Into 2020

In an ever-changing digital world where robots are conducting surgeries, people are ordering groceries online, and digital forms of currency are being traded for thousands of dollars, it sometimes feels impossible to keep up with the times.

Similar to fashion fads, tech developments, and other constantly changing industries, trends in SEO seem to come and go with the wind. Or at least with every Google algorithm update.

But as each year passes, knowledgeable marketing professionals are able to identify these SEO trends and use them as a means to promote and advertise for companies of all shapes and sizes.

As long as your SEO team is up-to-date on the most recent developments, you can ensure your business shows up on search engine results pages (SERPs), thus helping to boost traffic to your website.

 

1. Using Video for SEO

From the 1.8 billion users on YouTube to the rapidly expanding video features on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, the marketability of videos is unlike any other. This is one SEO trend that is here to stay, already overtaking written content and other forms of online promotion.

Videos are now an essential staple of effective marketing funnel automation for companies who want to streamline their advertising and boost their sales processes. They can be used on landing pages, in marketing emails, and on social profiles, making every avenue more engaging and dynamic to the viewer.

The most crucial aspect of using video for SEO is the ability to hold the attention of whoever is watching and lead them to a clear call-to-action at some point during the clip. While you avoid being too “salesy”, every video you promote should provide tremendous value to the viewer, whether it be informational, entertaining, or to solve a problem.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) for SEO

The concepts of artificial intelligence (AI) have been around for hundreds of years. But it hasn’t been until the last few years that it has become a reality for everyday people to benefit from its use. As one of the latest SEO trends, it is interesting to see how AI is impacting industries all over the world.

AI-powered SEO is more dominant now as web developers, marketing agencies, and other online companies are learning how to automate key pieces of websites. These tactics allow a business to focus on simply producing relevant content while allowing the AI efforts to boost the site’s traffic.

Even though this concept is rapidly turning into a pivotal part of online marketing, there still aren’t many companies offering services related to AI for SEO. But if you can find the right team to help you with your SEO strategy, getting ahead on this growing development will have a major impact on your company’s future.

3. Voice Search

“Alexa, what are the biggest SEO trends this year?”

Even Amazon’s artificial intelligence system knows that voice search is one of the key patterns your business should be looking into right now. Millions of people across the world now own smart devices like the Amazon Echo, Google Home, and the Apple HomePod. These systems are pre-formatted with thousands of functions that can be accessed instantly with the user’s voice.

 

The main question is how could a company benefit from these unique learning machine gadgets? To get your business on the map with this new opportunity, you’ll need to think about the way people ask questions and present the answers to those inquiries through either written content or engaging videos.

Using long-tail keywords, conversational techniques, and focusing on local SEO practices, you’ll be more likely to find yourself providing answers to the questions asked of Alexa and other smart systems.

 

4. No-Click Searches Among the Biggest SEO Trends

Have you ever typed a question into Google and had the answer instantly pop up in big, bold letters? Welcome to the world of zero-click searches. Google SERPs are now able to recognize exactly what a person wants to know and provide them with a solution without ever having to click away from the initial results.

Though you may not get a site visitor by showing up as the answer to one of these queries, the level of trust established in your business will pay huge dividends to your ability to rank other pages across the search engine.

Site authority is still a big deal when it comes to ranking higher. And if you focus on previous tactics we’ve mentioned like using long-tail keywords and answering questions people are asking, you’ll be much more likely to show up for pages people will need to click on for more information.

5. Less Paid, More Organic SEO Tactics

While paid advertising strategies like pay-per-click (PPC) and social media ads aren’t going anywhere, more people are beginning to recognize the difference and are developing “ad blindness” across platforms like Google, Facebook, and Instagram. This leads many of them to automatically skip by the paid ads and go straight to the organic results.

These paid options are also constantly increasing their prices due to the high level of competition expanding to nearly every industry. To save money, more companies are placing a larger emphasis on organic SEO trends as a means of making their way to higher search rankings.

While there are many options for boosting organic SEO traffic, some of the best approaches include:

• Detailed keyword research
• Great content that adds value
• On-page and off-page website optimization
• Emphasis on user experience (UX) and customer experience (CX)
• Local SEO

6. More Snippets at the Top of Google Results

Snippets, also commonly known as “Position 0” in Google rankings, are the most sought after spot for any marketing or SEO professional and their clients. They are the first organic result that comes up in search following the paid ads. Bordered by a thin black box, they tend to stand out the most as people are looking for items online.

Nearly all featured snippets are already ranked within the top 10 search results. But the Google algorithm has become highly intelligent in recognizing resources that offer extra value to searchers, placing them in the featured section.

As more keywords are targeted and companies focus on identifying the search intent behind an inquiry, we’ll begin to see many more results show up in these snippets. It will be one of the top SEO trends to watch for over the next year or so.

7. Bounce Rate & Click-Through Rates are Bigger Factors

Although they have essentially always been ranking factors for search engines like Google, your website’s bounce rate and click-through rate (CTR) are now considered two of the most important pieces of your SEO strategy.

For clarification, the bounce rate involves the amount of time spent on your website and whether the viewer leaves the site after only viewing a single page. While the click-through rate covers any time an individual is led from a landing page to another part of your website by clicking a link to another piece of content.

The most fundamental ways to avoid low rates on these two ranking factors are by providing high-quality, engaging content that is creative and provides value. Every page on your website which someone can access from an external link should be keenly focused on user experience and provide clear, concise calls to action that lead them to the next stage of your marketing funnel.

8. Mobile Optimization is More Vital than Ever

For years now, mobile web traffic has outmatched desktop use across nearly every platform out there. And yet nearly 31% of search results that show up on the first page when viewing on a desktop are different than the results shown on a mobile device.

This is because too many companies aren’t optimizing their websites for mobile viewing. Even if a site visitor somehow finds your un-optimized website on their smartphone, they will almost always recognize it immediately and hit the “Back” button right away. Talk about taking a hit to your bounce rate.

As you search for a team to build your website, ensure they know the proper strategies to create responsive pages that are optimized for mobile-first viewing. Without these basic steps, your site traffic will take a major hit in both search ranking and in its ability to convert leads into sales.

Trust a Team that Stays Informed of Current SEO Trends

The approach you take to properly executing search engine optimization will be the most important aspect of your company’s ability to be found online both now and in the years to come.

As future SEO trends come and go, it is essential that you have a team that can keep up with the changes. Otherwise, your website will do little more than disappear into the crowd of billions of search results across Google.

The crew at ENDURANCE stay in the know with constant research, A-B testing, and other marketing strategies.

 

Learn more about how we can help your SEO and online presence by contacting us today!