As 2020 is drawing close to an end, digital marketers are bringing in place their strategies for 2021. If you are strategizing for SEO in 2021, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.
Search engine optimization is indeed a demanding and meticulous task but it is nevertheless a crucial digital marketing aspect. It has been found that organic reach is more effective than paid advertising as consumers mostly ignore paid listings and focus exclusively on organic results. This makes having an effective SEO strategy in place imperative.
To help marketers buckle up better for 2021, we have put together some dos and don’ts to be kept in mind while creating SEO strategy. These pointers are put together especially to help small and medium online businesses.
Dos
There are a certain things you should incorporate in your SEO strategy-
– Focus on your local listing
When we talk about the internet, we focus more on it’s global aspect while the fact is that most internet searches are run on a local level. When it comes to shopping, people mostly use the internet to search for localized goods and services. Hence, local SEO is important.
– Make your website mobile friendly
As the number of mobile phone users is rapidly increasing, it is a must for your business website to be mobile friendly. Most of the users access the internet through mobile phones only. If yours is a slow loading website then you should upgrade it with lazy loading tools without losing any time. With a crazy number of alternatives available, users won’t spend time on your website if it takes too long to load and simply move to the next option.
– Focus on image optimization
With drastic evolution in visual image search, image optimization has become crucial for SEO. Google has made it apparent that proper marking and optimization of images is a part of its long term plan. Image optimization includes using high resolution, relevant images with proper naming and labeling of the photos files to name a few. If you haven’t optimized images on your business website, make it a point to do it now.
– Use Videos
With the right content and execution, videos can be proven really effective for SEO. Watching videos is fun and obviously effortless. Through videos, you can communicate your message to the audience even if they are not actively listening. An arresting sound or visuals can leave a lasting effect on mind. Moreover, you can include hyperlinks in your Youtube videos. Video optimization can prove to be a great update for your SEO strategy. If your business doesn’t have a youtube channel yet, now is the time!
Don’ts
Having gone through the things that you should do while creating SEO strategy for 2021, here are a few don’ts to keep in mind-
– Ambiguous SEO goals
While this sounds very obvious, surprisingly many start off with doing their website’s SEO without even setting a clear goal. If you begin like this, it will make all your efforts go in vain. To set a clear goal, you can begin with asking yourself questions like what are your available resources, budget and timeline, whom do you want to target, whether you are looking for a local or a global reach, etc and finding answers to questions like this will help you lay the foundation for your SEO goals.
– Overlooking Brand Building
It’s a common misconception that SEO’s key objective is to generate traffic. In current times when it is becoming more and more brand-centric, such a perception is only a half understanding of SEO. And as the saying goes, Half knowledge is dangerous. SEO is indeed directed at creating more traffic but that is to eventually build a community for your business which ultimately contributes to brand building. Thus, SEO and brand building should go hand-in-hand.
– Overlooking Conversion
The principal objective of increasing virtual visibility and reachability of a business is to gain more customers. However, many businesses end up overlooking conversion optimization and their SEO strategies are usually limited to expanding the top tier of the sales funnel. SEO is pretty much useless if you can’t optimize buyer conversion using it. When you formulate SEO strategy for 2021, make it a point to do so with an objective to maximize conversion.
Conclusion
Since the concept of Search Engine Optimization came into existence, it has been rapidly evolving so much so that what was an excellent SEO tactic a few months back might be of no avail now. Thus, it is important to stay updated on latest SEO techniques and trends to stay ahead of the pack. Through our guide consisting of dos and don’ts for 2021 SEO strategies, you can formulate effective plans and level up your digital marketing game.
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