When you want to increase your website’s popularity, you have to turn to search engines. They’re the gatekeepers of internet content and decide which pages will be displayed during a search query. While no one knows the most intricate details of a search engine algorithm, there are some predictable metrics that decide whether or not a page will rank well. Unfortunately, these change from time to time, meaning businesses have to adapt their websites to match. Here are some examples of notable trends in SEO that can help websites rank in 2020.
High-quality relevant information
No matter which way you cut it, content is still king. Users aren’t visiting your website to enjoy the quality of intuitive design, it’s just something that contributes to the overall experience. The content on your pages is what they’re actively looking for. What makes for good high-quality content is constantly shifting, but the principles remain the same.
If your web page contains interesting and relevant information for your field, you can bet users will enjoy it and revisit your site from time to time. This signals to search engines that your content is worth ranking higher, creating a positive reinforcement loop that only brings in more users. However, content needs to be shaped and re-shaped from time to time to better fit your website’s needs.
The current trends have shown that search engines lean towards pages that offer comprehensive content for the topics that they cover. This has encouraged many websites to repurpose their old content-rich pages and combine them into a single page. Having a strong resource that will cover an entire topic is currently very attractive to search engines and users alike. Improving your content portfolio with these kinds of changes will quickly increase your rankings.
Structured content
Good, informative content is what search engines are looking for. It’s the most in-demand asset your website can have. People can tell when your content is doing its job, but search engines aren’t as precise when scouring the internet. Search engine crawlers can only do some much when it comes to recognizing content and its purpose. The algorithms are constantly being refined, but that doesn’t stop the limitations of technology and AI, which are still there.
If it were a little easier to process, search engines could quickly recognize that your content is useful and have our page rank a little higher. This is why it’s important that you structure your content so that search engine crawlers can detect relevant information. Well-structured content also allows search engines to understand how certain elements of the page relate to one another. It’s a lot easier to rank a page with images when their descriptions are precise and adequately placed.
The way you present your data in a structured format depends on the type of content that you’re utilizing. Lists might benefit more from a specific structure, while a news article in your field would be more successful with another format. Research already popular websites and pages for ideas on how to structure your content and data.
Improved UX
At the end of the day, giving your userbase a positive experience on your website is the most important part of the design. It’s the most in-demand aspect of websites right now, which is why so many Australian web designers are scrambling to optimize their pages for UX. There are many different ways to achieve this nowadays.
No matter how good your content is, the user experience has a tremendous effect on search engine optimization. A slow website won’t attract users, or it won’t keep them using your website for long. If it takes more than a few seconds to load, good visuals and quality content don’t really matter. Cluttering your page with too many elements and features might give it an edge, but loading speed is something you need to keep in mind. Try to find a sweet spot between designing your website for good visuals and keeping it fast.
Put yourself in the user’s shoes before making any decision. Does a new feature that’s been implemented help them get to the content that they’re seeking? If not, it’s just fluff that will slow your website down. Practical changes should be your priority. Design for an attractive website along the way, but don’t make it your top priority.
Optimizing for other search engines
Google is, without a doubt, the reigning search engine on the world wide web. It’s a ubiquitous part of the user experience and this isn’t going to change for a while. Most people use Google, which is why web designers optimize their websites to match Google’s criteria for search engine rankings.
In the past couple of years, other search engines have slowly started rising in popularity. They aren’t likely to overthrow Google any time soon, but they are racking up a substantial user base, especially in the western world. Website visitors from Australia often utilize Bing and DuckDuckGo for their search needs. These users are a mostly untapped market, which is why your optimization goals should extend to these search engines.
Optimizing for different search engines is a complex task. You have to meet the criteria of both Google and other search engines without compromising either. This is something most website designers won’t be able to do with ease. Larger businesses will often seek help from experts for SEO in Sydney to optimize their websites for maximum exposure and rankings. External help is also utilized by smaller businesses and websites, as this alternative search engine market is growing fast.
Artificial intelligence
Once upon a time, AI seemed like a wonderous futuristic technology that would one day revolutionize how we live life. This idea is slowing becoming a reality, and it’s happening much sooner than expected. While it’s not becoming a part of everyday life any time soon, AI is already revolutionizing marketing as we know it, especially online.
Websites can use AI to craft an ideal user experience for website visitors, even more so than they can achieve with targeted advertising. Creating a unique customer experience is something that drives users to websites, and it helps dramatically increase visitors. This is achieved through data gathering and processing, which requires some complex algorithms. AI makes this process easier, allowing websites to provide users with the experience they need.
Search engines also utilize AI to better recognize websites and their purpose. This allows them to give users page results that are a lot more accurate than they previously were. Precise classification will benefit websites with good design and content, as fewer other variables are taken into consideration.
Conclusion
Designing the ideal website for search rankings isn’t an easy task. There are countless elements that influence SEO and they all need to be optimized for improved rankings. The good news is that they are often intuitive and already beneficial for the user experience. All you need to do is pay attention to any newly emerging trends and try to provide your user base with a good website experience, and you’ll quickly see results.
