Because Google makes minor adjustments to its algorithms during the year, SEO is constantly on the move. But what will work in terms of SEO in 2020, and what will no longer work? We have put together the 7 SEO tips for 2020, with which you give the findability of your website a huge boost. Where do your SEO opportunities lie? Has your website analyzed without obligation by requesting the SEO growth scan?
Create content for the visitors, not for search engines
“My content is already in order”. If the search results have been delayed for months (or longer), this is most likely not the case. What you must constantly remind yourself is that you write content for visitors, not for search engines!
The content must respond to the questions of your web visitors and thus provide added value. Doing this the right way can give your business a huge boost in the long run, regardless of the industry you’re in. In addition, always consider the following 3 factors if you are going to write or optimize content in the future:
Good introduction formula
Always start with an inviting introductory paragraph. This is an art in itself, and certainly not something to be underestimated. A model that can help you with this is the APP formula.
You can read more about this here: https://backlinko.com/seo-copywriting.
Make sure to invite content to read and check yourself
Write blogs that people want to read. You do this by planning your post, defining your subject, choosing a title that is both catchy and informative, use pictures, explain complex subjects and, above all, read it again. This prevents unnecessary duplication of matters and ensures that the content runs smoothly.
Go for featured snippets
Use featured snippets. First of all; What are featured snippets? These are the featured search results at the top of Google, which provide a summary answer to the questions people ask Google. Featured snippets are larger and immediately stand out due to their position, which is why they are also a new SEO opportunity. But how do you get featured snippets?
You do this by:
- Start a knowledge base, demonstrating that you are an authority within your niche
- Use a logical structure in your knowledge base
- Clearly return the question to which you want to answer
- To answer the question as clearly and in detail as possible
Make sure your website is user-friendly
“Very logical,” you think, “but how do I do that?” Below are several tips, which all improve both the user-friendliness and the experience of your web visitors.
Provide an attractive layout. Nobody wants to read a large piece of text. Provide sub-headings and place enough spaces to divide the content into smaller pieces. Of course, we also like beautiful pictures and informative videos, so don’t be economical with that.
Make sure your web pages load quickly. A web page that loads slowly will undoubtedly result in some of your web visitors dropping out. You can read here how you can prevent this.
Secure your website with an SSL certificate. With a doubling in the number of targeted cyber attacks in 2018, it is more important than ever to properly secure your website before 2020.
Make sure your site is also mobile-friendly
With an increasing number of mobile users, it is crucial for entrepreneurs to have a website that is user-friendly on your phone. We often want to order something quickly or find the information we are looking for. You respond to this by improving the page speed of your mobile site, creating a website that is easy to navigate on his or her phone.
Voice search in 2020
In addition to the creation of web content for the visitor; the rise of voice search. People are often inclined to formulate longer sentences. So adjust your content to the questions your visitors may ask.
Smart speakers such as the Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomePod have gained a lot of ground in recent years.
Once again a reason to answer the questions a consumer has, both in content and in speech. Experience shows that users of a smart speaker often communicate with the speakers in an interrogative form. The number of online publications that embrace voice and publish audio content on these devices will, therefore, increase considerably in the future.
Engage your target audience with trending topics
This works best by focusing on your niche and writing about it. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to find your niche. This is what you specialize in and of course, you know everything about it. What remains now is to write about trendy topics within this area. “How do I find what my target audience is looking for?” you think. This is also easier these days than you probably think. Before we delve deeper into this, it’s important to realize that the content you write can have 2 goals:
- Increase the number of visitors to your web pages
- Ensuring higher sales
Always keep this in mind when choosing your next topic. Coming back to finding trendy topics. This is made all significantly easier for us by online tools and websites such as:
SEMrush :
With which you can search and analyze keywords, analyze competitors, check websites, and of course much more.
Quora:
Quora is a platform where millions of people ask questions and receive answers. By simply following the topics that are relevant to you, you can easily and quickly come up with new ideas. You can write a blog about this, make an informative video about it, etc.
Understand the importance of visuals and take advantage of this
What do we mean by visuals? Photos, videos, infographics, memes, presentations, and screenshots. content will always play an important role in your online marketing, but to distinguish yourself you will really have to use visuals.
This allows you to better stimulate your online growth and the involvement of your target group. The popularity of visuals has increased enormously in recent years. This is a trend that will continue in the future. So take advantage of this and provide beautiful pictures, videos that really benefit people, memes that bring a smile, etc.
Don’t forget the ‘basics’ in 2020 either
We keep saying it: Take care of your basics before you want to go for the top. By the ‘basics’ we mean that your content must meet the ‘traditional SEO requirements’. These are a number of maxims that have remained unchanged in recent years but have actually not lost any importance. So always make sure that:
- Your title contains a good H1 heading, including your focus keyword
- Your web page has a short URL
- Your inbound links contain good anchor texts
- The ALT tags of your images contain keywords on which you want to rank
- Your content contains internal and external links
- Your title contains the main keyword
- Your description is so charming that people have to click on it