In this article, we are going to learn Trends that will dominate SEO in 2020 and will have an impact on your work. It is just not enough to realize that the SEO landscape keeps changing very fast, but it is more important to identify the changes and understand how it will impact your SEO campaign. Remember that the changes do not affect everyone, and even if it does, the impact differs. SEO has so many components that the changes may happen anywhere, anytime, and you must stay alert to identify it early so that you get an edge over your competitors. While many SEO aspects like mobile optimization, loading speed, placing keywords in URLs and titles, etc. remain the same, many other elements keep changing quite frequently, and the trend continues.
As we are now heading for downing shutters in 2019, one thing that becomes very clear is that Google, Bing, and other major search engines are trying vehemently to win the trust of users to become the end destination. This is the observation of every SEO agency in NYC, and it hints at how things are going to unfold in 2020 and define the SEO trends that are likely to dominate. On understanding what lies ahead, marketers should be able to find the best ways to stay effective by adhering to the rules of the game set by Google.
The advent of Zero-Click searches
Over the years, the manner of presenting search results has undergone a sea change, thanks to Google’s efforts for refining the search result page to provide a better user experience. The incorporation of SERP features like rich snippets, Knowledge Graph, Google’s Local Pack, and the like have done away with the need to click on the links to open website pages. Searchers in NYC can now view the answers to their queries displayed on the search result page itself without the need for clicking anywhere. Correctly said, the change has signaled the advent of a new genre of Zero-click searches.
What it means for SEO
What would be the likely impact of the change on SEO campaigns is an obvious question that needs to be answered. If you look at the kind of searches that constitute the Zero Click searches, you will discover that these are people looking for an address and phone number or those who want a quick answer to some simple question. This category of searches does not have any conversion potential, and hence there is nothing much to think about it.
Since conversions determine SEO success, your optimization efforts should revolve around keywords that bring in more conversions. It means that you must identify those keywords that can entice searchers to click upon. To know which of the keywords that you are optimizing are attracting the most clicks, you must use RankTracker along with your Google search console account to analyze all keywords. The exercise will help to avoid wasting your optimization efforts on low-yielding terms like ‘what year,’ ‘when,’ ‘how many,’ and so on. Although those are vital for your content, it should not be central to your SEO efforts.
Emphasize Rich and featured snippets
Since viewing the rich and featured snippets on the search results page has become very important, you must emphasize more in creating high-quality text for rich and featured snippets by attaching as much importance to it as content creation. It begins by understanding the difference between rich snippets and featured snippets.
It is easier to get Rich snippets that show prices for products, stars for reviews, images, etc. over and above the title and description, but it brings a lower click-through rate (CTR) than Featured snippets. Rich snippets increase visibility but do not change your position in SERP.
On the other hand, featured snippets present a solid block of information that appears at the top of SERP that can push up CTR considerably, but it is hard to get.
To do well with both rich and featured snippets, you need structured data first and to check if you already have structured data use the WebSiteAuditor. In case structured data is lacking, you must then create it. Use RankTracker to identify opportunities for featured snippets by looking at specific keywords against which your competitors have already managed to get featured snippets. There is no guarantee about getting your rich and featured snippets because it does not seem to have any link to your rank.
Local SEO is changing
By looking at the nature of zero-click searches, you will notice that these are mostly local searches against which the results appear in the SERP itself in the Local Packs.
To cover the vast number of searches that contain terms like ‘address,’ ‘phone number,’ ‘near me’ etc. in a single stroke, you must create a Google My Business listing page for your organization in NYC. But this is only a part of your effort because not all local searches end in Local Packs. There will be people who seek more detailed information about products and would land up on your website, where the real SEO takes place. In this context, having an active backlink profile is paramount. Acquire not just any ordinary link but only those that are authoritative.
Also Read – Effective Ways of Optimizing Technical SEO for Ranking Higher
Machines will dominate
For a long, Google has heavily used machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve users’ search experience and shoot down pages that are stuffed with keywords or carry inferior content. In 2020, Google’s dependence on machines will only keep growing, as evident from the launch of BERT in October 2019. Google uses RankBrain that modifies SERPs based on user behavior, Neural Matching to understand the meaning of the query, and BERT to figure out the search structure for understanding the context of using the keywords.
Against this backdrop, you must focus on intent matching for creating content so that it remains relevant for most SERPs, and once done; you must find out what is ranking now with the help of RankTracker software. Once you discover the intent behind search queries that you want to rank for, create content around it.
Foreseeing what lies ahead will give you time to prepare for adjusting your SEO so that you not only follow the trend but also adapt to the best practices.
That’s all, In this article, we have explained Trends that will dominate SEO in 2020 and will have an impact on your work. I hope you enjoy this article. If you like this article, then just share it. If you have any questions about this article, please comment.