Google keeps on making hundreds of changes to the search engine algorithms each year. Although most of the changes are minor some of these changes can affect your ranking in the SERPs. With the new businesses springing up every day the competition for the attention of the internet users gets more intense. By staying on top of the current SEO trends you will be in a better position to meet the requirements that are demanded by the search engines for ranking the websites. Here are some of the SEO trends you can expect to experience in the year 2020.
1. Featured snippets will keep on dominating the search results: The featured snippets are a summary of the answer to the search query. The Google search engine displays the snippet at the top of the SERPs results. They are positioned even above the organic and paid ads. Featured snippets have been around for a few years now and have caused significant changes in the SERPs of Google. Around half the searches end up without any clicks because the internet users find the answer they were looking for directly from the snippets. There was a study conducted by Aherfs which took into consideration 2 million snippets, and it revealed that the snippets receive more traffic than the organic search results. Opt for question-based search queries and keywords. You may use the queries from “people also ask” section as it offers an insight regarding related queries to provide in-depth answers.
2. BERT looks like a long-term proposition: Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) allows anybody to train their question answering systems. It is the first major change Google made to the search algorithms after RankBrain in 2014. BERT will affect one in 10 queries. The SEO marketers that use BERT models improve the chances ranking on the 1st page of SERPs and in the snippets of Google. BERT will mostly affect the conversational queries where the propositions such as “for” and “to” decide the meaning of the search queries. It is not possible to optimize for the BERT. Google makes use of BERT for improving the understanding of natural languages. It can be optimized for the intent behind the search queries because it is critical for the creation of successful content. Before creating content assess the first 10 contents ranked on the first page of the SERP for the keyword. Do you get informational, navigational, and transactional results? Develop content that will match the intent of the user based on the analysis.
3. Mobile searches will keep on rising: Most of the internet users are in the habit of using mobile phones. 40% of online transactions take place on mobile phones. From 1st July 2019, Google moved to mobile-first indexing for improving its mobile searching experience. You will not achieve too much in the search engine results unless you are optimized for mobile phones. So, think beyond the conventional to take advantage of snippets. Remember, if you have already optimized for voice search it means your website is ready for the mobile search as well. Apart from incorporating the LSI keywords for SEO, you can modify the structure of the content along with its representation for technical SEO.
4. Length of the content will be the deciding factor for SERP rankings: It is high-quality content only that can aid you in beating the competition for the number one-page ranking. You will need to take into account both quality and quantity. There are many arguments about the ideal length of blog posts. Research shows that the average size of the post for a top ten result is 2000 words. This is because the web pages having high-quality content always enjoy better visibility. But, keep in mind that the content must answer the user’s queries along with the query related to the main search question. The dwell time is increased when you have lengthy articles and it tells Google that the readers are enjoying the content. This builds authority and Google will increase your ranking for the search queries.
If you are looking to develop an SEO campaign for the extension of your reach, there are professionals available who can aid you in moving ahead in 2020. The professionals understand the local businesses and the local SEO market. If you live in the Tampa, FL area you can get in touch with Local SEO Tampa Company and they will provide the best expertise in SEO, internet marketing, and website design services.