To consistently be on the top, you must think in advance. Let’s figure out the SEO trends for 2020 and work out the best SEO practices accordingly.
- Mobile-first Indexing
In layman terms, this means that Google uses your website’s mobile version for indexing and ranking as opposed to the web version. Google has already started this process.
This means you need to work on the mobile version of your website equally well as you would work on your web version. No reason to procrastinate anymore!
Action Plan: Run your website through any website auditor and fix the issues, if any. That’s really how simple it is!
Also Read: How to Find White Label SEO Agency
- Page Speed
Google has always been keen on delivering the best UX as quickly as possible. While desktop page loading has always been a ranking factor, Google recently added mobile page loading as a factor for mobile web rankings.
Originally, PageSpeed Insights measured the technical parameters to rank a website. Now the same is done via two different measures – Optimization and Speed.
Action Plan: Right now, the optimization score is all that matters. Google is still testing the speed parameter so it will take some time in becoming an active measure. You can use Google’s personal recommendations to optimize your site accordingly.
- The Usage of Brand as Ranking Signal
According to Gary Illyes, Trends Analyst for Google Webmaster, Google uses brand mentions anywhere online as part of its search algorithm. This works in two ways
- Though unlinked brand mentions; by analyzing the properties mentioning your brand
- By analyzing the sentiment and context; Google differentiates the good from the bad based on complaint-solving, advertising, reputation, and trust.
Action Plan: Use backlinks. Wherever it is not possible to use backlinks, mention your brand name at every opportunity you get. Build your reputation and address consumers directly, whether happy or unhappy. Find influencers to talk about your brand. Reverse-engineer your competitors’ strategies and make your own SEO plans robust.
Also Read: Benefits of SEO for Business
- General Data Protection Regulation
Passed by the European Union, GDPR regulates a rather troublesome issue – the issue of ownership of users’ online interactions. Now its users who control it and then can now ask brands to furnish information about them that the company may have collected. This is not only valid to European customers anymore and applies to everyone since Google has complied with this regulation and changes its Analytics practice accordingly.
Action Plan: You could choose ‘do not automatically expire’ option in Google Analytics, to avoid expiration of data after 26 months, but this could well be a double-edged sword since this rule could extend outside the European Union pretty soon. If you don’t want to do this or have European customers, it’s best to update your privacy policies and inform your customers.
- Amazon Search
Amazon is becoming the Google of e-commerce since more and more people go straight to Amazon to search for what they’re planning to buy instead of just Googling it. It is an especially good idea to SEO your Amazon if you’re selling on Amazon.
Also Read: How to Rank Website in Google
Action plan: Run Amazon Keyword Search. Make your product name efficient and user-friendly. Provide high-quality images. Track user behavior and stay updated with reviews.