As each year passes, Google has more competition to offer quality search results (and rake in premium Google PPC fees). Google is THE search engine to be ranking organically in because it directs about 80% of the organic search traffic.
As Google continues to evolve it’s algorithm to provide quality search results, it becomes more and more challenging to “game” your way to the top.
So what will it take in 2021 to rank your site in the top 3 and benefit from all that organic traffic that implies trust and credibility from Google
- Mobile Responsive – Mobile Friendly and Optimized
After 2015’s Mobilegeddon, not only do you need to have a mobile friendly site to rank these days, Google has been rolling out a separate mobile index to deliver completely different results. They have already announced that non-user friendly mobile sites with large pop-up blockers and ads are going to be penalized in the SERPs. - AMP
Accelerated Mobile Pages are not officially weighing in on search results yet but they will be soon. It’s better to get your site set now before you lose business when they start penalizing non-AMP sites. - SSL
Secure Socket Layers are already weighing into the search results. The SSL indicates a level of credibility and an established nature to the site which Google is giving preference to. SSLs only have more importance. If you don’t have one, your site is being penalized in search results. - Structured Data
Have you been noticing the rich snippets at the top of Google search results for some queries? Things like reviews, lists, recipes, and other clips of relevant data are figuring into what Google delivers to searchers. Structured data lays out how your site is read across the internet. If you aren’t using it now, it will give you an extra advantage as time goes on. - Quality Content
Google tracks bounce rates (how fast visitors leave the site). If your page isn’t delivering what the visitor expects, or is poor quality, that visitor will bounce right back to Google and check the next result in line on the page. Being sure to have engaging, entertaining content that’s easy to digest will keep your visitors around and encourage Google to show your site some extra love.
Those are the top 5 SEO trends for 2021. Some of the things Google wants are more technically demanding, some are simply a matter of adding straight forward value to your audience.
If you’re not sure where your site stands with Google or why you’re not ranking on the first page, we currently offer a complimentary SEO analysis for local businesses. To take advantage of this offer, click here to tell us a little about your company so that we can deliver custom answers.