Nearly one-third of people who search for something on Google choose the first result, and more than two-thirds choose one of the first five. Only about 5% of people click on number six. Only about half of all searchers look past the first page.
Which result are you most likely to click on if you take the time to Google something?
Optimizing Google search results is almost as important as having a web presence in the first place, especially given that more than 81 percent of general queries on the computer and 94 percent on the phone are routed through the ubiquitous search engine.
It’s no secret that good SEO is as important as it’s ever been for digital marketers, and given the meteoric rise of eCommerce and the startling pace of digitalization in markets around the world, it’s safe to say it’s more important than ever.
If you want to improve your Google SEO this year, you’ll be relieved to know that it’s mostly about doing more of the same. Google continues to emphasize providing the best possible results to its users, and we all base our efforts on their definition of “best.” This year’s key points are varied content, search intent, user experience, authority, and the strength of your SEO fundamentals. Let’s take a closer look!
Make Use of Multimedia Content
Want to climb the ranks? Investing in various types of content is a good place to start. If you’ve been creating text content for a while, it might be time to branch out into graphical content (infographics, social media posts, etc.) and video content (YouTube shorts, TikToks, long-form tutorials, informative videos, etc.).
The key is to create content that is both relevant and useful. If you install photovoltaic systems, your graphic and video content may include system comparisons, buyer guides, owner tutorials on installation and maintenance, weatherproofing tips, system troubleshooting, and so on. Put yourself in the shoes of a typical customer and respond to the same questions they’ve been asking you for years.
Video, audio, and graphical content have the added benefit of frequently generating valuable backlinks. Providing informative content from a position of authority can help you become a reference for a plethora of other pages on the internet. However, do not forget to optimize your content. Text captioning, plain text summaries, tags, and a call to action are all recommended.
Take Advantage of Search Intent
The new Google Multitask Unified Model update, which was announced in May 2021, is influencing an important trend this year.
The MUM update aims to optimize search results to better match search intent, which may sound vague at first but is best summarized as an AI-based algorithm change that attempts to provide better answers to complex queries.
Google’s example asks what would happen if a user asked, “I’ve hiked Mt. Adams and now want to hike Mt. Fuji next fall; what should I do differently to prepare?”
A human would provide a more nuanced answer that took into account prior experience as well as time factors such as weather.
MUM is Google’s attempt to improve the way the search engine handles these more complex queries. Google estimates that MUM is a thousand times more powerful than BERT, Google’s previous neural network-based technique, at processing natural language and context.
That means your content could be combined with what Google considers relevant to a complex query. It is therefore critical that you consider not only what might be relevant or interesting to your target audience, but also how you might generate potential leads from people looking for information in relation to your niche.
Google is still concerned about user experience
Navigating your on-page content should be a pleasurable experience – especially on a technical level.
Google has highlighted the significance of its Core Web Vitals, which include the rate at which the majority of your content loads onto the page (largest contentful paint), page responsiveness (first input delay), and visual stability (cumulative layout shift).
Pages must be responsive on both desktop and mobile browsers, and Google frowns on intrusive elements, such as most popups and heavy web elements.
Cover Related Topics and Enjoy Increased Traffic
Google began combing through content for relevant phrases and sentences that might provide useful information to a user’s query, even if they aren’t central to the content’s point, using an updated factor called passage indexing. Google will try to improve its understanding of user search intent and provide more relevant results through BERT and now MUM.
Content marketers can respond to this by expanding on the information provided in their content. To increase traffic from interested users, touch on relevant topics and provide useful isolated passages while remaining true to the point of your content. The most important factor here is informativeness – Google’s intention is to bring users the one or two sentences that best answer their query, no matter how deep it may be hidden in a longer article.
However, while quality is important
Content quality is so important that Google has specific guidelines for what it considers to be qualitative, and it uses third-party Quality Raters to refine its rankings. When all other factors are equal, a good article will receive more traffic than a bad article. However, this does not imply that it can compensate for poor SEO.
Even if a blog post is extremely informative, well-sourced, and well-written, it may struggle to rank for any of its relevant search phrases. A high-ranking page, on the other hand, that lacks the necessary quality to pique the interest of viewers and generate leads may result in short-term gains, but it may also result in long-term losses as visitors bounce. SEO is not a literary or journalistic competition.
Conclusion
The quality of your fundamentals will get you a long way. Paying attention to high-value key phrases in your niche, capitalizing on web element optimization, and utilizing all of your KPIs can help you climb the rankings.
But you need a month-to-month refined approach to push you past the limit and stay ahead of the competition. Do you need to collaborate with a Professional SEO Expert? Give us a call today, and we’ll take your SEO marketing to the next level this year.
Prem Rai
Prem Rai is a Digital Creator, Entrepreneur, and Online Marketing Consultant. I am helping people grow businesses DIGITALLY. My Digital Marketing experience includes SEO, PPC, Social Media, Website Conversion, Content Marketing, Email, Partnerships, and Affiliates. I have also recruited entire digital marketing teams, each member with their own expertise.