SEO and Digital Marketing in 2021
With 2020 in the rearview mirror, digital marketing in 2021 looks to be quite challenging. This is due to changes in the Google ranking structure combined with increased reliance with online services. The result is that 2021 will be heavily influenced by the events of 2020 at least for the next few months. What follows are Google ranking trends and more effective tactics for SEO in 2021.
Customer Analytics & Retention
Not long ago, SEO was all about driving traffic to websites. Today, it is more focused on the customer experience. Behavioral analytics focused on what customers are doing, their interests, and how you can provide your products or services online sooner is taking a greater emphasis.
While keyword research is still important, it’s really what your website offers that will make more of a difference in terms of rankings. The shift from bringing viewers to your site to providing them with the experience they desire will be even more important for 2021. This means a bigger emphasis on providing value for all who view your site.
E.A.T.
Standing for Expertise, Authority, and Trust, the E.A.T. philosophy has been a growing trend in digital marketing for quite some time. For 2021, it may seem that E.A.T. is not all that important given Google’s recent statements about how it is not a ranking factor. Yet, the evidence of how it influences rankings seems be growing every day.
Because E.A.T. is not fully defined, it can be interpreted as creating a website that is more authoritative, provides expertise, and can be trusted by visitors to provide the information they want. This improves the customer experience which in turn affects Google rankings, even if the effect is indirect.
Security
Safe, secure websites have been a trend for the past few years. For 2021, there is a greater emphasis on safe transactions in which the proper security factors needs to be in place. This means the Secure Sockets Layer or SSL certificate needs to be part of your website.
This is because Google is now flagging more websites as being unsecure because they lack SSL certificates. This makes having one an essential factor if you plan on improve your SEO in 2021.
Social Presence
Arguably the easiest of trends to see with SEO in 2021, Google is placing more emphasis on using social media in their ranking system.
More social shares, and presence on recognized social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and more will help. But the emphasis needs to be on the quality of the posts, not necessarily the number or how many platforms that such posts will appear.
Given the uncertainty of 2020, there is no guarantee that digital marketing in 2021 will not undergo another rapid change. However, the basics of the Google ranking remain the same with some new tweaks that will challenge both established and new websites for the new year.
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