Search engines get smarter every year and as this happens, your SEO strategies should be evolving, too. It can be challenging to keep up with the many changes that happen each year. For some companies, SEO is seen as something static rather than fluid. The problem with this type of thinking is that SEO will never stop evolving. New trends and technologies come into play all the time and you will not be able to keep your rankings without adapting. In this guide, we take a look at some of the more recent ways that SEO strategies have evolved.
The Evolution of SEO Strategies
There are three key changes that will greatly affect your SEO strategies and overall rankings. These changes are as follows:
Artificial learning
AI is a big thing across all digital marketing channels, from ecommerce to lead generation. In SEO, it is especially important. One of the key AI features that greatly affects ranking is Google’s BERT technology. Short for Bidirectional Transformers for Language Understanding, this technique is not as complicated as it sounds when put into play. Essentially, BERT focuses on how people search, using language and content to help searchers find information. Content obviously plays a hugely important role in this process. There is no way to optimise specifically for BERT (or RankBrain), but creating highly relevant, quality content can help BERT identify search context rather than purely picking up on keywords. Context is important it helps search engines understand what people are looking for and then improve results based on context.
Semantic search
Semantic search goes together with BERT. It helps people find relevant results in the SERPs and focuses less on forced keywords and more on terms used naturally to find information. Content also plays an important role in semantic search. Bringing in real-time questions that searchers are asking also plays a big role. Using this approach, search engines are able to deliver information from various sources and show snippets that are relevant to searches.
Zero-Click
Zero-click has become another evolution in how people search and how search engines display information. Zero-click searches allow searchers to find information without having to actually search. By entering a keyphrase (ideally a natural semantic term), searchers are shown a wide range of relevant information on the results page. Videos, shopping results, featured snippets, and other information means that no clicks are needed. Instead, searchers can find all they need relating to their search, in the SERPs.
Keep Updated on SEO Strategies
In 2020 alone, we have seen many new trends and technologies emerge. We have no doubt that we will see even more evolution in 2021. Keeping ahead of the changing technologies is the best way to be sure that your SEO strategies continue to deliver results, year on year.
