There can never be a better way to attract traffic to your online platform in swarms than Search Engine Optimization. It is dynamic, and newer developments keep springing up every other day. It can be quite a challenge to stay on top of the game, and for this, it is crucial to keep oneself updated at all times.

Did you know that organic search results have been so beneficial for people that almost 70-80% of them focus exclusively on them without indulging in paid listings? And, guess what – around 28% of these searches convert. Can you fathom the massive profit margin?

Though backlinks and social share are as important as ever and to build the right SEO strategy you should keep in mind metrics like these, here will talk about the search engine optimization techniques that will take your enterprise a notch higher in 2021. Let’s start!

1. Artificial Intelligence
2. Content that fulfils the EAT principle
3. Long-form content
4. Featured snippets
5. Voice search

1. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence has brought forth many changes in the interaction of people with the internet, and Google’s algorithm is only adding to it. One trait of RankBrain that we need to analyze is its ability to learn, which means that there is no simple formula for cracking it.

Though Google hasn’t shared the tips itself, experts say that user experience signals will be a game-changer. Now, you would need to make sure that your click-through rates and screen dwelling time perform their best to stay on top of the search engine result pages. Useful, well-organized and relevant content is vital.

2. Content that fulfils the EAT principle

Google has emphasized that high-quality content is essential for ensuring success. But, what exactly does it mean by that? To understand the EAT principle, let’s have a look at what it stands for –

E – Expertise

A – Authoritativeness

T- Trustworthiness

If your business falls under the category of “Your Money, Your Life” (YMYL), you must keep an eye on this. Here’s how you can come up with content that sells –

• Study the buyer’s persona. It is essential to study your target group and their likes and dislikes to ascertain the kind of content you should share.
• Conduct an extensive content search intent research to map out the entire consumer journey. This will help you in devising the right strategy for targeting prospective consumers at every stage of the sales funnel.
• By analyzing the information that you have gathered by following these steps, you should come up with content that meets the needs of your target population in the best possible manner. For instance, if you are targeting teenagers, we would suggest video content. On the other hand, if your target population belongs to the elderly demography, you should steer away from sharing a lot of video content.
• While crafting content, make sure that your claims are backed with facts and stats. If you are sharing links, do so to reputable sites, such as “.gov” or “.edu” URLs.

3. Long-form content

Let’s share some statistics to convince you that this idea rocks –

• Long-form content gets three times more traffic.
• It gets four times more shares.
• As compared to articles of 900-1200 words, those with more than 3000 words get 3.5 times more backlinks.

We hope that you have realized just how important it is to focus on long-form content to boost your website traffic. Yet, you must ensure that the content is of high-quality. After all, the users will only stay engaged if the information is shareable.

Here’s how you can achieve this –

• Break up your content into H2 and H3 subheadings to make it more scannable. This works wonders for mobile websites.
• Always link to authoritative sources.
• Make your content easy to share by including links at the heading and the conclusion.

4. Featured snippets

If the thought of long-form content has got you breaking into a sweat already, you can heave a sigh of relief as Featured Snippets will save the day. Have you seen a small box that appears at the top of SERPs when you type something on Google?

Snippets share a gigantic chunk of traffic from competitors. Here is how you can create your own –

• Share a chunk of information in Q&A format, bullet points or a how-to guide.
• Include images, star-based reviews, product prices and similar bits of information.
• Focus on relevant keywords and question-based queries. You can use the “People also ask” function of Google search for inspiration.

5. Voice search

Google’s Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri have increased the importance of voice search manifold. According to a report by Juniper Research, about 55% of the households in the U.S.A will own a smart speaker by 2022.

Ace voice search by following these tips –

• Choose the right keywords by identifying long phrases that people use in day-to-day conversations.
• Go for longer and more natural sounding phrasing.

Think about it, when we talk we use phrases like “What are the new SEO trends for 2021”, but while typing we abbreviate it to “new SEO trends 2021”.

The bottom line

Long gone are the days when optimizing keywords and meta tags used to do the trick. It is time to make your content more relevant, and your website more navigable for your prospective customers. Reach out to the Rush Republic to climb the ladder of success.