SEO Trends for 2020

Who could have ever imagined the challenges we would be facing this year? In order to meet such challenges, SEO trends for this year 2020 is a factor that must be considered to create a strategy that enables your company to reach the top places of search results in search engines. If you already have your site there, an up-to-date search engine optimization strategy will ensure that you remain there without having you to lose positions unexpectedly because your site was not following up on the updates. In this article, we will consider these trends, continue reading to find out.

During the past decade, Google has experienced a gradual evolution, one step at a time. Although it has been relatively slow, it has reached an unprecedented speed, revolutionizing not only the way Internet users search but also the way they buy, choose their entertainment, exchange information, and much more. Regarding the expected results on digital platforms, changes in algorithms have played a key role. In turn, this has led to a change in the way companies interact with their consumers digitally.

SERPs

Since the way Google ranks websites fluctuates continuously, the algorithms have been changing very quickly. The primary purpose of algorithms is to show users the most relevant content for their search, and the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) provide us with a significant focus for SEO trends in 2020.

SERPs point out what users are looking for with related topics in videos in the right column, as well as related images. What does this show? That the search engine needs to organize the information according to relevance to the user. This can allow us to create valuable content, which genuinely provides useful information for the user and his needs.

Rank Brain

The capacity of Google’s algorithms has been increased by more than 30% thanks to “Neural Matching”, an artificial intelligence-based method that has been developed to recognize and understand the human concepts behind queries. This point is essential to create an effective search engine optimization strategy in 2020.

Rank Brain is the name given by the search engine to its artificial intelligence system of automatic learning, created to help process its search results. In other words, it is a machine that teaches itself how to do something. Since its creation, Rank Brain has been viewed as the future of ranking; It is part of Google’s general algorithm, attached to the “hummingbird”, which was created to better understand general searches for results. We could say that Rank Brain is in “beta” mode and that its evolution will is yet to bring us surprising results.

BERT

The last update of the algorithm is still showing changes in the search results; however, you must consider the most relevant aspects we discussed in the article: BERT, the new and latest Google algorithm of 2019

Comparing SEO trends for 2020 and ranking factors of 2010

• Domain age. Only one decade ago, the age of the domain was a key factor for the ranking. However, today, we can see domains with less than six months of registration, with higher visibility than the oldest ones. It is an impressive fact, which revolutionizes the basic concept of obsolete search engine optimization.
• Domains that include keywords. Ten years ago, URLs almost necessarily had to include a keyword to be ranked and at the top of the search. However, this was something positive for the brand and brand positioning. Additionally, algorithmic changes and user behavior (focused on voice search) have caused keywords to be too long for a URL. Therefore, trends for new domains are brand oriented. However, an outstanding fact is that domains that include a local word are favored in local searches, so it is worth adding the keywords to the encoding and, if possible, to the domain.

Content, the icing on the cake

Content remains (and will continue to be) the icing on the cake in search engine optimization trends for 2020, as it is the foundation that keeps users hooked on a website. Some important factors in content creation are:

• Keywords in tags. H1, H2, etc. are still determining factors that help Google’s robot detect keywords. Besides, they can be used smartly in content to engage the reader and provide valuable insights.
• Snippets are essential and should be considered as part of content creation. Descriptions are a kind of showcase that should continue to be used to attract the reader to the web page and chew its content. Therefore, you should consider them, use them, and optimize them with keywords and calls to action. We recommend you to read the article: What are Rich Snippets and how they help with SEO?
• Optimized images. Yes, the use of images is crucial, since it helps improve the user experience, but you can also use them to improve web positioning, so take advantage of the ALT tag.
• Quality of content. It is useless to share plagiarized, poorly written, low value, or boring content. The content should be moderately long (not so much that it bores your audience, nor so little that it is not worth reading, the ideal length will be given by the metrics, that is, the number of people who stay to read). Good content is understandable, easy to read, answers frequently asked questions from readers, or shares news.
• Internal links. Plan your content so that you can link them to each other and, thus, feed your website, help the keywords rise like foam, and your old posts continuously revive and be reread, giving them the priority they deserve.
• Bounce Rate. Quality content is directly proportional to a healthy bounce rate. If your content is outdated, unappealing, difficult to read, and more, your bounce rate will be very high, as simple as that.

Programming and design factors

• Responsive design. Web sites that do not have a 100% responsive design have suffered ranking drops. Mobile-first is the number one trend. Furthermore, mobile searches increase day by day, and if your site does not respond well to this trend, not even the best content or a super-fast website will save you from the drop in ranking.
• Site speed. AMP is a growing trend. The fastest sites are Google’s favorites, so consider making the necessary improvements to increase the speed of your website.
• A fundamental factor. Security is a factor that both the search engine and the users consider, so make sure you do not forget to buy your security certificate with your hosting provider.

As you have seen in this article, the SEO trends in 2020 will be going strong, and if you still do not have an digital marketing agency that supports you to reach the first search results, you are wasting time and giving your competition that place which you so much deserve. Get in touch with Diseño y Optimización Online, where we will help you succeed in the digital age.