We live in a dynamic, constantly changing world where practically nothing stays the same. SEO is no exception, and changes in this field are completely normal. The vast majority of them are related to prevailing trends and "fashions" that even major market players such as Google have to adapt to. What will determine better search rankings in 2020? What innovations can we expect? Will there be significant changes in consumer behavior that sellers will have to adapt to? We will try to answer these and other relevant questions and talk about new strategies that are already working and will help achieve better results this year:
First, it is worth mentioning the main topics that will be discussed in this article:
- Domain influence (authority);
- The growing popularity of visual search;
- Video content will remain on the rise;
- Voice search optimization;
- The growth of structured snippet searches;
- The main purpose of search;
- The continuing importance of backlinks.
Domain authority (authority)
Domain authority has always been dependent on links. However, this is now changing, and Google is starting to value other factors such as Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T for short). Essentially, this concept is a new version of domain influence, expressed in IT language as Domain Influence 2.0. Although Google has mentioned E-A-T in its guidelines for many years, recently it has been receiving more and more attention. The search leaders' report states that they strive to rank reliable sources. Expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness are mentioned as essential factors in evaluating content quality and ranking signals. Here's how to improve your website's E-A-T.
- Become experts (or hire them);
- Strive for transparency;
- Be cited.
Becoming experts
It is not recommended to hire random freelance writers to create content on your own. Google wants you to publish content written by real experts in the field. For example, it is recommended that medical content be written by a healthcare professional. So, if you want your content to rank highly in 2020, make sure it is written by people who are knowledgeable about the subject, especially when it comes to medicine.
Transparency
Google will likely use signals from outside the website to determine its E-A-T. Evaluation systems spend a lot of time examining the website itself. Google's search engine guidelines state that they expect websites to provide information about who (person, company, business, organization, etc.) is responsible for the website and the creation of its main content, as well as contact information. This means that the website should have:
- A proper "About" page;
- An easily accessible Contact page;
- Information and external links to sources;
- Privacy policy and terms of service;
- Links to the author of each article.
Be cited
Most of Google's evaluation takes place outside your website. This is completely understandable, as anyone can claim to be an expert, but getting other websites to agree with you is a completely different matter. That is why Google states that the information presented on a website is not considered reliable unless a trustworthy external source supports it.
So, in addition to creating an impressive website, you need to make sure that people mention you and your website as worth visiting. First, your content needs to be cited on other reliable websites. Second, your entire website should be associated with a specific field. This again means that you should be mentioned on other websites, especially those that are influential in that field.
The growing popularity of image search
Can image search be called a fundamental SEO innovation? Probably not quite yet. However, judging by how things are developing, image search should really take off in 2020. This is because more people are performing image searches than ever before. Here are some statistics:
- Google Lens has already been used more than 1 billion times;
- Pinterest receives more than 600 million image searches per month;
- 36% of US consumers have already used visual search.
Visual search technology has indeed improved greatly, although it is still in its early stages of development. Google Lens can already recognize more than a billion objects, and this number is growing every day. People are eager to search using images. Once you start using it, you will notice that image search can be extremely useful when searching for:
- Products for shopping
- Directions while traveling
- Landmarks and points of interest
- Reviews of local businesses
- Translations
- Recipes
- Nutritional information
- Many other things
This is probably why 62% of young users want more visual search technologies.
How should you optimize image searches? If you want to be found in image searches, you need to take care of image SEO. As with regular SEO, it is important to describe everything properly, use informative file names, and add alternative text to each image. However, this is only the first step. According to Google, they aim to mark Google image results from websites that are authoritative. Therefore, the influence and authority of a website are becoming increasingly important for ranking. In addition, priority will also be given to fresher content, because the more often the information on a website is updated, the more it attracts users. Attention is also paid to the image at the top of the website. Google will give priority to websites where images are placed at the top of the page and centered.
Video content will remain on the rise
Online video content is currently extremely popular and, according to Cisco forecasts, will account for up to 80% of internet traffic by 2021. However, even these figures may not be accurate enough, because despite the fact that there are more videos available now than ever before, 43% of users say they would like to see even more. In short, if videos are not part of your content strategy, you are missing out on an opportunity. How can you use video content to improve your SEO results?
You've probably noticed that more and more video snippets are appearing in search results. They are also mentioned in a Google report, which states that these snippets will allow users to find the exact place in the video that matches their search. Therefore, the three most important things you need to do to get your video content included in structured snippets are:
Organize your content into separate sections
This is very important! Clear sections allow Google to understand your content in the existing video. This, in turn, allows you to use different segments of the recording in snippets.
Optimize your video for SEO
To figure out what your video is about, Google uses the title, description, and tags. In most video structured snippets, the keyword is included in the title.
Provide captions
The captions automatically generated by YouTube work well, but they are not the best option. In order for YouTube and Google to truly understand every word in your video, you need to add captions.
In 2020, it is worth expanding your YouTube channel. It is currently the second most popular search engine and continues to grow. So, to get more traffic from SEO in 2020, it is recommended to create content specifically for YouTube. It is also worth inserting visual content into text blog posts. This can significantly improve your bounce rates.
Voice search optimization
Will voice search be the next big thing in digital marketing? The prediction is that it most likely will be. Here are a few facts that support this:
- 41% of adults perform at least one voice search per day;
- Since 2008, Google voice searches have increased 35-fold;
- 20% of all searches on mobile devices are performed by voice.
This is influenced by the fact that forward-thinking SEO specialists are already beginning to optimize their content for voice searches. How should this be done?
- Your content should be ranked fairly high, preferably among the top three results. Google searches for answers to voice searches among the results in these positions.
- Ask questions and answer them in your content. This is because most searches are performed in the form of a question, and then Google selects a page with the question and answer.
- Ranking among structured snippets also helps a lot. Google's algorithm has already selected a small snippet, so it makes sense that it will be checked in voice search.
Growth of structured snippet searches
A study conducted by SEMrush shows that approximately 11.5% of search results are structured snippets. And it is precisely these snippets that "steal" a significant portion of clicks from the websites that occupy the top positions in search results.
How can you make sure your content appears among the structured snippets? Here are the steps to help you take advantage of this area:
- Find opportunities for structured snippets. You need to find keywords that you are already ranking for and keywords that have a structured snippet. Almost all snippets are taken from websites on the first page of search results, so if you are below the 10th position, your chances of getting among the structured snippets are practically zero.
- Add "snippets" to your page. These are 40-60 word paragraphs created specifically to get among the structured snippets.
- Organize your content for other types of structured snippets. Although "snippets" work best with "Paragraph snippets," which make up nearly 82% of all structured snippets, there is still an opportunity to take advantage of:
a) List snippets. For which, when creating lists, you need to use second and third level headings
b) Table snippets. These require the creation of tables from which Google can easily extract data.
Greater focus on search intent
Search intent was a very important topic in the world of SEO in 2019. There is a good reason for this: content that does not match the search is simply not ranked. Google aims to give people exactly what they are looking for, which means that content that is 100% relevant to the search intent will be essential in 2020.
Every keyword used in a search has its own purpose:
- To find something;
- To buy something;
- Compare several products.
The more your content matches the search intent, the higher your website will be ranked. However, it is not always easy to determine exactly what users are looking for. For example, a search for "food supplements" may mean that someone is looking for where to buy them, or perhaps they just want to learn more about their benefits. However, most often, Google will select websites with information about the searched keyword on the first search page.
Once you have determined the purpose of the search, you need to provide searchers with what they need. For example, when users are looking for instructions on how to do something or achieve a goal, the most acceptable result is a list of steps that will allow them to do it in the best way possible.
The enduring importance of backlinks
Despite all the SEO trends discussed, in 2020, everything will once again revolve around content and links. After all, without amazing content, you won't get links, and without them, it's impossible to get on the first page of search results. And if you're not on the first page, most of the things listed above are irrelevant, because they only matter if you're among the leaders. However, Google acknowledges that links still play an important role in their algorithms. Especially if the link to your site comes from a well-known and trusted site.
So, to sum up the trends for 2020, quality content and links will remain the basis of any SEO strategy. And once you've got them sorted, you'll need to start optimizing your website according to the new SEO trends discussed in this article.
Source: https://backlinko.com/seo-this-year
