Top SEO Trends to Boost Your Online Visibility and Generate More Leads
Make it easy for prospects to find your business with an SEO strategy that stays a step ahead.
Make it easy for prospects to find your business with a search engine optimization strategy that stays a step ahead.
What a difference a few years make, right? For that matter, think back to early 2020. The business landscape has changed tremendously, and unfortunately, many small and medium businesses have been forced to close their doors for good. Those that have survived still feel an excruciating weight on their proverbial shoulders as they scratch and claw their way through the never-ending global pandemic.
One of the most important contributing factors in staying afloat for a majority of these companies has been through their online sales channels. Those who are going to make it through are the same ones who recognized early the importance of enhancing their digital marketing strategy, improving their content marketing, and social media presence, and making sure their SEO performance and online visibility put them in the best position possible at the Zero Moment of Truth of the consumer buying journey.
But in this increasingly unpredictable environment, one thing that remains constant as it relates to an SEO strategy is change. Through technological advancements to an increasing number of consumer touchpoints, Google’s algorithms, to shifts in consumer preferences, businesses must keep up with what’s new to stay in front of the competition.
The following is a look at some of the top current trends in SEO that can strengthen and optimize your online presence and make your business more visible on the web.
Invest In The User Experience
In late May 2020, Google announced that the user experience on your site will be an official ranking factor beginning in 2021. That means businesses must evaluate their pages and make sure the UX is in good shape for both mobile devices and desktop web pages. Google will be measuring “Core Web Vitals,” which include:
- Largest Contentful Paint measures perceived load speed and mark the point in the page load timeline when the page’s main content has likely loaded.
- First Input Delay measures responsiveness and quantifies the experience users feel when trying to first interact with the page.
- Cumulative Layout Shift measures visual stability and quantifies the amount of unexpected layout shift of visible page content.
This sounds a lot more complex than it is. First, make sure you’re doing what you can to improve page speed, then do some quick research on design best practices focusing on UX. Some of the fixes might not even require a heavy lift.
Simplify, simplify, simplify…
“A good place to start is by keeping your content short and sweet—simplify, simplify, simplify,” says UpCity Senior Director of Customer Experience, Jen Gadus. “If you’re struggling with something, chances are your users will, too.”
The good news is, you don’t have to figure this all out on your own.
“There are some great free resources out there that explain some basic UX principles,” Gadus says. “There are also plenty of free tools that will help you implement quick fixes, like optimizing your images for faster load times.”
Featured Snippets and CTA Placement
Featured Snippets provide a quick answer to a search query at the top of the results page, and above the associated link. Google is now highlighting the text that was part of the Featured Snippet when a user inputs a query and clicks on the site. Additionally, it’s indexing content for the user to that part of the page upon entry. This matters because depending on where that copy appears on the page, a great deal of high-quality content could be missed, including ads, forms, or calls to action.
As Google continues to get better at answering specific questions and bringing users to an individual section, businesses must be mindful of where they’re placing internal links, as well as their more valuable lead-generating content and drivers. We’re not saying you should emblazon every page with link-building CTAs after each paragraph, but making sure there’s something for a visitor to do at the bottom of a page appears to be as important as making sure it’s there “above the fold.”
If you have access to a keyword tracking tool like Ahrefs—which tracks the Featured Snippets your site is ranking for in search engines—you can also take a look at your site’s most important pages and find out where specific Featured Snippet results are taking searchers to by performing those Google searches yourself. You can then place your most important CTAs or ads near those areas on the page to see if that boosts conversions.
Rating Labels and Local Search Results
Recently it came to light that Google might be testing the addition of a rating label that appears in local searches for businesses. For example, a search engine results page (SERP) for roofers in an area (Chicagoland roofing companies) reveals a list of businesses with the accompanying map. Among the business information that appears, there might also be a label that says “Top-rated roofing and siding company in Chicago by Google users.” Other variations found include No. 1-rated, No. 2-rated, and No. 3-rated.
Google hasn’t rolled this out everywhere, and not much is known about what affects earning these labels at this time, though it’s reported that the total number of reviews isn’t the only thing driving organic traffic.
Even with all the unknowns in these early stages, one thing remains clear: collecting quality reviews is crucial for any business. UpCity is dedicated to helping our partners grow their businesses by providing the support they need to build online credibility for their target audience. Gathering high-quality, legitimate reviews plays a very important role in local SEO, and it’s something we’re always happy to assist with.
Begin Optimizing for Voice
Voice search is the next great frontier for SEO, but there seems to be some uncertainty as far as what businesses can do to prepare. Love ’em or hate ’em, mobile and home assistants that allow users to verbally ask a question and get results are here to stay. The puzzle most companies must solve, then, is how to make sure it’s their business that’s showing up at “position zero.” That is, when a person is asking a question on their phone, they’re often met with a single result, or, in many cases, aren’t in a position to scroll through a long list of search results. So, even if you’re ranking high, you might not even get seen.
The logical course of action is to reevaluate your keyword strategy, plan for as many questions as you can that someone might ask when looking for something related to your business, use structured data to help search engines understand what you’re business is all about, and focus on local through your Google Business (formerly Google My Business) profile.
Keep Fighting The Good Fight
This is a lot, and we’ve truly only scratched the surface, but as long as you stay active in improving your SEO efforts and online visibility, you’re on the right track. No one business owner is going to be able to keep up with every new SEO trend and implement it perfectly; the problems occur, however, when one simply throws their hands in the air and declares they’ve done all they can.
Stay vigilant, keep grinding, and if you feel like you need some help boosting your visibility and improving your online credibility to scale your business, contact us today, or find a partner from our list of top SEO companies in the U.S.
About the author
Jason is focused on the voice and strategy of UpCity’s written messaging. A former newspaper reporter and editor—and winner of an Illinois Press Association award for sports column writing—Jason has extensive communications experience in a wide variety of interests and industries. He has spearheaded content initiatives in the agency world as well as at major companies such as State Farm and DocuSign. Jason believes in the 3 Cs of written messaging: Be clear. Be concise. Be consistent.
Rebecca helps keep all things content running at UpCity. Prior to joining, she was a magazine editor at an agency for several award-winning publications based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and a content specialist for several brands within the SMB/B2B landscape. She also has significant experience in digital content creation, most notably targeting hunters and anglers (despite being a vegetarian) during her time at Gander Outdoors. Rebecca has also worked in PR, covering a diverse terrain of products and events, including the promotion of local musicians and music festivals and the latest craft beer offerings from local breweries.
