Have you ever wondered what SEO practice still works in the year of 2021?

Search engine optimization, or SEO, undergoes frequent changes in its dynamic landscape. But, one thing remains true: dominating the SERPs is as important as ever. And SEO-savvy marketers need to stay on their heels on the latest trends to earn more revenue in 2021.

With SEO requiring a constant eye on different metrics to stay updated, some core fundamentals allow you to gain traffic and acquire a share in the organic market all the same. 

Here are some you should pay attention to regarding search engine optimization, or SEO, in 2021.

1) Mobile Friendliness will Impact Your Rank

Optimizing for mobile is an important SEO tactic that marketers know all too well about. For one, it’s estimated that nearly 73% of internet users will browse the internet exclusively by mobile by 2025. 

In addition to that, in 2019, Google released a mobile-first indexing tool, which allows the search engine to look at the mobile version of a website instead of the desktop version. This tool considers the mobile version of the website as the primary version.

The impact of mobile-friendliness will become even more prominent throughout the years, so it’s best to stay up to date with sound practices. To help improve your site’s friendliness, do this:

• Improve your site’s speed
• Make the user experience easy and responsive
• Use structured data
• Don’t use popups
• Don’t block the CSS, HTML, and Javascript code

There are more ways to optimize your site’s friendliness. Browse the web for resources or learn with the Monarch’s marketing course to give you a sound framework of knowledge.

2) Predictive Search will be Improved

Google Discover, one of Google’s AI-driven tools, shows users content related to what they’ve searched for, based on Web activity. They do this without needing you or the user to type in a query in a search bar. This tool predicts behavioral patterns from users to help pinpoint the type of content they would most likely enjoy.

Variables that Google Discover take into account include location history, search history, browsing history, app usage, calendars, and home and work locations. To include your website, all you have to do is make sure your site is indexed. If Google indexes your page, you’re already part of the database.

3) Content with EAT and YMYL Principles Rank Higher

There’ll rarely come a time where technical or on-page SEO alone is enough to rank your page at the top of search results. Google pays attention to the quality of the content for its readers to ensure that what users search for is relevant and quality.

One way Google gauges this is when a page follows EAT principles: expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. EAT principles include backing up your statements with statistics, academic sources, and expert-laden advice. But at the forefront, you should also write quality content that resonates with user’s queries and fulfill search intent.

The factors that constitute “quality content” can differ depending on your demographic. If you’re looking to capture the older generation, you may want to steer clear of video-formatted content. However, if your audience looks younger, short, relevant content might be perfect for meeting their expectations.

If your business falls under healthcare and finance, YMYL (your money, your life) standards also are especially important. This is the type of content where presented inaccurately, could pose a very negative impact on its users. Google doesn’t want that, so they take that into account when ranking sites.

4) Core Web Vitals

In May 2020, Google announced three new metrics that measure user satisfaction, the core web vitals: Loading, Interactivity, and Visual Stability. These three factors tie in together to one main component of your site, its loading speed. This includes how fast a user can interact with the page, how fast the page itself loads, and how the visual elements interact with your page.

If you and your competitor’s site have similar content, for instance, Google bots will take user experience metrics into account and rank relevant and fast content higher. The Google Experience Update set to roll out in mid-2021 confirms this, propelling the importance of technical SEO alongside quality content as important ranking factors.

5) Featured Snippets Become More Important

Did you know? More than 50% of search results don’t result in any page clicks. The reason for this lies in how the featured snippets tend to push out relevant information that answers the user’s query. This includes finding the telephone number of a company, opening hours, or simple yes and no answers. 

All things considered, utilizing keywords that don’t result in any page clicks are essentially traffic stolen away from you. It’s important to invest some time scouring for keywords that can actually bring users to your site and drive sales. 

If you’re writing articles or blog posts to drive traffic, make sure you’ve narrowed down your relevant keyword and ensure that it meets user intent to get them to click.