The year 2019 alone saw numerous Google algorithm updates, such as the March 2019 Core update, the June 2019 Core update, the Site Diversity update, the Maverick update, and the BERT update.

SEO is a critical tool for marketers, business owners, website managers, and brands of all sizes because it lets your website appear higher in the search results page. When a user enters or speaks a query and your site has an answer or solution, there are higher chances that your website will rank higher in the SERPs.

Simply put, SEO increases your website’s visibility in the SERPs, which means more organic traffic to your website that leads to higher sales or conversion.

Keeping updated with the latest SEO
trends and adjusting your digital marketing strategy according to the
recent updates should be every business owner and marketer’s
priority. Here are some of the SEO
trends you should watch out for in order to rule 2020.

SEO Trends to Consider in 2020

Different-looking SERPs

The share of organic search results in the SERPS continues to gradually decline as more ads and other elements rule the search engine results page. In fact, the SERPs look a lot different from what it used to be a few years ago.

The ad share percentage has increased, answer boxes are getting more prominent, and featured snippets are getting the major share of the clicks compared to the organic results. The People Also Ask feature, which as introduced in 2018, has grown in influence. You will also notice a new carousel for videos located above the text-based organic search results and right below the People Also Ask box.

Keyword research will be more important

We all know that SEO revolves mainly on your keywords. This means that a good keyword strategy should be the focal point of all your campaigns. However, with the recent updates from Google, which turned it from a search engine to an answer engine, it has become all the more crucial to upgrade your keyword strategy.

Besides, whether you’re optimizing for text or voice search, keywords are still a primary ranking factor for Google.

Engagement metrics will be very important.

Engagement metrics are those factors
that quantify the effectiveness of your content. These include:

Re-thinking your Local SEO strategy.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, more people are staying indoors and staying away from non-essential businesses, such as stores, restaurants, shops, and others. Foot traffic has slowed and this is going to be the new norm moving forward.

If you’ve ever delved in local SEO, you’ll understand that it’s all about driving foot traffic to the business. Unfortunately, all your previous efforts will no longer work for the rest of 2020. In light of the pandemic, you’ll have to rethink your local SEO strategy to make sure it reflects the current situation.

By considering these trends, you will
be able to come up with a digital marketing strategy that will help
you stay relevant and allow you to continue to reach out to your
target market despite the crisis.

We all agree that SEO is more important
than ever, so we’ve listed down the latest upcoming strategies you
should learn in order to stay in the game. Having a working digital
marketing plan not only helps you ride out this pandemic, it will
also help you prepare for the upcoming year.

Best 10 Strategies to Help You Survive the
Rest of 2020

Google has become a lot smarter and
powerful over time, not just at analyzing and ranking web pages, but
also at keeping people working within its framework. This is because
the better Google is at delivering search results, the more people
will be using it, delivering more revenue in the end.

However, this has made it a lot harder
for businesses that rely on Google’s organic traffic. The new changes
usually result in fewer clicks, prompting people to invest in ads or
paid listing. In order to catch up, the business has to up its game
by keeping their strategy updated and incorporating the latest trends
in their campaigns.

Strategy #1: Improve your website’s user
experience.

Google’s aim is to provide the best
answer the quickest possible way. You need to consider your site
quality in order to rank because Google is getting better at
determining whether your website’s good or bad.

If your website looks outdated,
untrustworthy, amateurish, has no valuable content, or is slow to
load, potential visitors will likely bounce back to the SERPs and
choose another result. Not only have you lost a user and a potential
conversion, your bounce rate will also increase, informing Google
that users don’t find your page any helpful at all.

How do you make your visitors stay on
your website and engage with your content? Here are some tips:

Strategy #2: Optimize your website for
voice search.

According to a recent study, two in
five adults use voice search at least once daily and 25% of people
within the age bracket 16-24 use voice search on their mobile
devices. So when planning your content, don’t forget to incorporate
phrases that are used for voice search. For example, instead of
writing “PC
repair” as your text keyword, you should think of
longer phrases for voice search. You can include “how to repair
a PC” or “what software to use to repair a PC.”

Voice search is also location-based, so you’ll get more questions like “where is the best PC repair in Holly St.” To optimize for voice search, you should start by using long-tail keywords and incorporating structured data.

[PART II coming up next week]