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10 SEO Trends for 2021

SEO Trends

We all know the importance of positioning the pages on the Google SERPs ranking and everyone wants to be on the top. If you also want to be on the top of the google search engine then you must have to improve the SEO of your site as SEO will be responsible for the google ranking. Because well-ranked pages provide enormous organic reach on your website. It also increases the possibility of attracting converting leads to your web page. 

So to make you achieve your goals these are a few 10 SEO trends for 2021. After applying and using them you will get great results in 2021:

  1. Relevant and valuable content 
  2. User experience (UX)
  3. Mobile SEO 
  4. Core web vitals and page experience 
  5. Zero click searches 
  6. Website security 
  7. Search intent 
  8. Long-form content 
  9. Local SEO 
  10. Customer analytics, retention & lifetime value 

1. Relevant and valuable content 

The most important and common thing is to make relevant and valuable content for your visitors. Because if your content is useless or valueless then your audience will leave your site and move to any other site. And when your audience decreases then it will also affect the brand value of your company. So you must have to provide valuable content and satisfy your audience as well. When your audience is satisfied with your content then they often visit you whenever they will search for anything. They will also respond to you in the comment and share your website with others. The main thing is that it will create engagement on your site and improve insights as well. And with time they will be your permanent audience. All you have to do is to serve your best to all the visitors not just trying to fulfill the demands of google bots. 

2. User experience 

The next thing is that you must have to take care of your user experience with your site. It is not enough to just provide useful content to the site. You also have to make the information accessible and reachable to all the people. It means you have to increase the speed of your web pages because the audience doesn’t like to wait for the loading pages. If your site speed is slow then people will move out of your site and then go with another site. Let us tell you that the Google algorithm also considers the speed of the web page and the loading time of your site. And by using this data will place your site on the Google search page. So it is a must for you to provide a high user experience to all the people. In 2021 if you want to increase the growth of your site then you must have to provide a rich and efficient user experience to all the people. For increasing the speed and decreasing the loading time you have to place lighter images and videos. Because when you place heavy images or videos on the web page then it will take a lot of time to load. According to research, it is found that a user is waiting for only 30 seconds and if the site takes more than 30 seconds then the user will leave the site. So make sure that your site takes 30 or less than 30 minutes. 

3. Mobile SEO 

We all know that the number of mobile users is increasing very rapidly in every country. Now every single person has a smartphone and they use it to surf the internet. So google algorithm started considering the mobile SEO for ranking on the search engine page as well. There are many sites which are providing only desktop versions to the people and people can’t access the site through mobile phones. So google decides to consider mobile SEO to fulfill the needs and demands of the users. Now if you want to run your site on the first page of the search engine then you must have to provide a mobile version to all the versions. For this, you must have to do the mobile SEO of your site. If you avoid this point then you must have to lose your ranking on the google search engine. 

4. Core web vitals 

Let us tell you that the core web vitals were introduced by google in 2020. You must have to follow them in 2021 if you want good results. these are three core web vitals:

  1. Large contentful paint – The large contentful paint measures how much time your site takes to load a web page and display its main content. Let us tell you that the ideal LCP measurement according to google is 2.5 seconds. So you must have to minimize the files of your web page and make your page lighter. Because lighter and simple web pages take less time to load as compared to complex and heavy web pages. 
  2. First Input delay – it measures the time taken by the page to become interactive. In simple words how much time does a user take to interact with your site from accessing the page to leaving your page? The ideal time is 100ms according to google analytics. 
  3. Cumulative layout shift – It refers to the volume of unexpected layout changes in visual content. And the idea is to keep this index below 0.1.

5. Zero – click searches 

Let us tell you that google changes the SERPs’ design and layout to provide a more effective and faster user experience. The platform started zero-click searches, in this the user will get results on the very top of the first results without clicking any site. And about 50% of google searches end without the user click on any site. It is best for the user as they get results on the top faster and its time saving as well. In this way, the user is getting what they are looking exactly for. For best results, you must optimize your content to make this new feature easier to operate. You must have to use structured data to facilitate the algorithm understanding. You have to focus on improving organic CTAs and also on answering possible buyer persona’s questions. 

6. Website security 

We all know that Google also considers your website’s security status to verify that people will rely on your site for further important content. And your ranking will also depend upon this. If you want to make your SEO strategy successful then you must have to add security features. You can use security features such as specialized plugins and SSL certificates. Let us tell you that people also prefer only those sites which are safe and secure. You also try your best to provide a threat free and secure environment. The trend of website security becomes more important with time. 

If people will not feel safe while accessing your pages then your access rate will drop and it also affects your ranking in the SERPS. 

7. Search Intent 

User-focused optimization has been a top priority at google for a long time. The goal of your site is to deliver the best content to your audience which meets their intentions. Google launches Bidirectional Encoder Representations from transformers and it is also called the BERT algorithm. This technology aims to understand what search terms should be represented in a particular context. In simple words, the algorithm of google interprets the international of a specific search even if it includes long conversational language. 

Let us tell you that after the introduction of the BERT algorithm the google is improving its effectiveness. And delivers the most appropriate content which increases the demand for quality. 

8. Long-form content 

Expertise, authority, and trust are the three most important words in the world of content marketing. Before reading any information on any site then you must have to know that it is shared by someone real. The person has the credibility to talk about it and has the right knowledge as well. You must have to invest your time and effort in the production of long-form content.

The state of the content report brings data that confirms the relevance of longer content. It is observed that the long reads of 3000+ words get 3 times more traffic, 4 times more shares, and 3.5 times more backlinks than average length articles. This will add to the expansion of your brand’s organic reach and the development of your digital authority. It will boost SERPs rankings. 

9. Local SEO 

We all have experienced the Covid-19 pandemic as it was the major event of 2020. Many people cause health and social security, consumers also had their habits changed. At the pandemic time, everyone appreciates the local commerce. It is because of many factors. The first factor is that the economic crisis led local populations to focus on supporting the local market to keep the economy functioning. 

In the same sense, transportation limitations led more people to search for establishments near their homes. This is the place where Local SEO comes in. This resource has existed for some time and also has Google my business as it is the main tool as well. 

2020 makes Local SEO more relevant and important for every business as well. By this, the local businesses were able to keep their customers up to date with changes in schedules, special deals, delivery options, etc. 

Let us tell you if you don’t use Google my business actively in 2021 then you will fall behind the competition. 

To appear in the local SEO ranking means establishing a positive link with the neighborhood. And then attracting customers who are just visiting or passing through the city. You just have to understand the SEO trends and adapt them is fundamental for improving the result of your digital strategy. 

As we all know that Google’s algorithm criteria change frequently you must have to be aware of the latest updates. The key point is that you must have to provide the fastest and qualified experiences to the user. 

10. Customer analytics, retention & lifetime value 

SEO is used by people to drive traffic to their website. But SEO is a vast topic and includes a lot of things. In 2021 behavioral analytics will become the hottest commodity. If you want more traffic then you have to work harder to close the gaps in revenue and demonstrate ROI. you must have to focus on the customer analytics of your site which shows you audience growth on your site and from different sources. You can use google analytics and there are few other paid tools also available. You have to focus on customer analytics as it helps you to know more about your customer interest. After noticing you have to serve according to the demand of your readers. To grow the reach of your site you must have to use social media. After using social media you will get to see a huge increment in customer analytics. 

The next thing is that you just have to focus on the niche of the site. We all know that niche is the major part of our site as all information will be related to it. People will also follow your site if they are interested in your niche. So you must have to provide the content related to your niche. Because if you are providing content that is not related to your niche then your readers will lose their interest in your site. Every time you should have to provide valuable content and provide lifetime value to all your readers. For this, you have to build trust with your readers by providing great content to them. 

These are a few things that you should have to try with your site. After using all the above points you will get to see a positive increment in the reach and audience of your site. Let us tell you that Google frequently changes its algorithm by introducing effective and useful techniques for their customers. So you must have updated with the SEO trends and keep going with the trend as well. 

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Meta Keywords: Should You Use Them or Not?

Meta Keywords

Meta keywords refer to a Meta tag you could use in the HTML code of your site. In theory, you would use this tag to offer the search engines more info regarding what your page is about. The search engines would then read the keywords in the tag plus say, “Oh that is what you want to rank for. Okay, let us move this site to the top!”

And it did work, back in the day while the search engines were not as wise to the games people play (and when they did not have advanced algorithms that could notice much more useful rank signals). The problem was that it was just too easy to spam the system throughout keyword stuffing, the practice of jamming every pertinent, semi-relevant, and irrelevant keyword you could think of to try to bring more traffic to your site.

Why are Meta Keywords ignored as a ranking factor?

As said by the gurus at Google and on the Google Webmaster Blog, it is because of abuse by SEOs (no surprise there). Early search engines were paying attention to ‘on-page’ factors, i.e the content found on a website to decide to rank. As such, webmasters realized that the Meta keywords tag was a suitable place to input numerous keywords without essentially having the user see them. As a result, it turned into a haven for keyword stuffing which ultimately led to them being ignored as a reliable signal. It was way before Google that other search engines had detected this black hat behavior, shown by Alta Vista discounting it as a rank factor way back in 2002.

Understanding Meta Keywords

Meta keywords are a kind of HTML <meta> tag that communicates to search engine crawlers what a web page is about. It was originally designed in 1995 and was used a great deal by old search engines as a rank factor.

Unlike usual keywords, these are not displayed significantly on web pages. in its place, you can find them in source codes as well as are written like this:

<meta name=” keywords” content=” SEO, search engine optimization, search engine optimization, search engine ranking”>

The essential idea surrounding Meta keywords was simple. Webmasters would occupy the meta keywords tag with the keywords they wanted to grade for. It moreover told search engines which keywords were most pertinent to the content of a given web page.

The Fall of Meta Keywords

In the early 1990s plus early 2000s, Meta keywords were used reliably by webmasters. However, with the contest for page ranking getting stiffer plus stiffer, the SEO industry began to abuse and misuse the Meta keyword tag.

Black Hat SEO practices such as keyword stuffing started becoming the standard to dominate the search engine ranking pages (SERPs).

SEOs would load the Meta keyword ground with keyword phrases that were only approximately pertinent to a page’s content. Some would use up to 50 of these keyword phrases just to boost their chances of rank high in the SERPs.

Some SEO practitioners would also use completely irrelevant but high-volume keywords to pad organic traffic statistics.

This was usually done by SEO to take benefit of any lapses in search engine algorithms. Others argue that this was just a way to take full benefit of the opportunity to cover as many legitimate keywords as possible.

This misuse plus overuse led to the tag’s incapability to provide significant ranking data and in 2009, Google declared that it would no longer be using the keyword Meta tag in its web search rank.

Other search engines have moreover refined their search engine algorithms well sufficient to the point wherever the keyword tag is no longer required. They could interpret what a web page is about without relying on these HTML tags which means their search outcome was far more pertinent to its users.

Also, search engines use other factors to precisely decide page rank.

How Do Meta Keywords Relate to SEO?

Compared to the usual keywords, Meta keywords are not considered big elements of SEO strategy. Most search engines do not weigh Meta keywords high while it comes to their ranking algorithm, mostly because of understanding of black hat SEO strategy such as keyword stuffing.

These practices have flooded the Meta keyword field, bloating preceding algorithms, thus pushing algorithms to change. Still, this does not mean that meta keywords are not a useful part of SEO.

In addition to usual keywords, they play a significant part in communicating your webpage’s message as well as attracting searchers to your site distinctively. When it comes to the world of online business plus digital marketing, you are in a competitive atmosphere. Keeping this in mind, Meta keywords might give you an edge over your contest in search engine optimization.

Why are Meta Keywords Important?

Meta keywords can be significant owing to the little increase they give your site in a search engine. Unluckily, Meta keywords were more likely to aid your rank in the earlier days of the Internet plus technology.

Search engines’ algorithms are so intricate that they can gather more info from your website than ever before. With this in mind, it is safe to say that Meta keywords are a little out of date. They could be useful, yes, however, are they needed?

To offer some viewpoint, most search engines like Google plus others no longer search for meta keywords because they do not need to be told which keywords must rank. Due to the intricacy of most modern search engines, they can learn which keywords you would rank on their own.

Search engines are so highly developed now that they can identify keywords that you weren’t even conscious of. When this occurs, you might find your site ranking even higher than you had considered which is why keyword research as well as strategy is so significant.

Do they affect SEO in 2020?

Since search engines converted a thing, Meta tags have been around, playing a significant role in search page rankings.

People abused them for a while to gain a high position on search pages and simply climb on top, which led to Google announcing that their use did not affect rankings any longer. But, just since they aren’t important for rankings don’t mean they do not affect SEO.

Should You Use Meta Keywords in 2020

To put it merely, using Meta keywords to develop your search website’s search ranking is no longer as significant as it once was.

Search engines just don’t rely on them any longer. Google and Yahoo overlook them and instead use other factors to determine search ranking. For the moment, Bing only ever uses meta keywords as a spam sign If your precise meta keywords do not appear in your document then your site would be penalized.

There are, though, still uses for Meta keywords that are not connected to SEO. For starters, they might be useful if your CMS uses Meta keywords for inner search. A search engine incorporated into your website can access saved keywords when a search query is made. Also, the saved keywords can moreover be stored in the backend.

The new value of Meta keywords

Nowadays, the greatest way to use the Meta keywords tag is to hope your competitor is in the 50% still showing and updating their keywords. If you want to get a peek into the top key phrases your top contest is using, check out the page source of their top pages.

The days of convincing search engines you are worthy of a top-ranking via Metadata alone might be old news, but any info the competition wants to share is useful information indeed.

How do Search Engines USE Meta Keywords now?

Search Engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo do not tend to rank Meta keywords any longer. So they are approximately un-needed today. Yoast metadata, the astonishing WordPress Plugin even goes out of their way to say no to meta keywords.

So, why would you want to continue using Meta keywords when all they seem to do is waste your time? Yoast even has gone as far as eliminating the Meta keywords toggle out of their updated plug-in in favor of the other SEO technique. This feature has been eliminated since mid-February 2018.

Google and Meta Keywords

Since Google is the number one search engine in the world, and we know this owing to how we live our lives. We all say ‘I’ll Google that’, while we don’t know something. It would just be strange if we said, ‘Let’s Bing that’, otherwise ‘Wait, I’m going to Yahoo that’.

It might be finest to let you know how Google still uses Meta Keywords.

Practically Google is very alike to other search engines for example Yahoo and Bing. It does not use the Meta keywords like it once did. In brief, using them may be just a waste of your time, and your main emphasis should be more on the Title Tags plus the Meta description, which is talked about below.

Meta Tags that Matter

There are other meta tags that Google as well as other search engines think significant. Most websites use these Meta tags and they could help your website reach high rankings.

Title Tags

The meta title tag is the title which shows on search results pages, this is the part wherever researchers could click to go to a specific website. These are significant because they directly state what your page includes. Title tags are the first thing Google users would see when they search for anything.

 Focus on the extent of your title tag, do not make them too long since Google allows a limited amount of characters. Make the most out of it, as well as make your title straight to the point.

Meta Description

Meta Descriptions are situated exactly under title tags on search results pages. They are the second thing that your audience’s eyes will fall on. These descriptions are like a teaser to your content.

You must make sure they are attractive, and reveal what your page comprises in a sentence or two. Meta descriptions moreover have a restricted number of characters. Do not make them too short nor too long, specialists suggest that 160-character-long is the most appropriate length for Meta descriptions.

An alternative to Meta Keywords: Focus on Content-Length Instead

Whether you choose to use Meta keywords or not, the choice is completely up to you. If you choose not to, rest assured that you are not missing on a grade factor anyway. The most significant aspect if you choose to use them is to be cautious that your keywords are not misleading toward the search engine.

Also, spend more time investing in your website’s content itself or else other more significant SEO tips. Remember that other Meta tags, for example, title tags or Meta descriptions are the windows toward your website. They will affect your SEO results and your amount of viewers. Make certain your window looks nice plus inviting to researchers. Lastly, make content your topmost priority and work on improving it rather than focusing on Meta keywords.

Finding the balance is the key

Content marketing is all about making the perfect mixture of genuine, high-quality writing, as well as professional optimization practices.

Where several falls are by focusing too much on one aspect. You should not worry too much about overcrowding SEO keywords in your writing. You moreover shouldn’t be writing freely without considering how search engines would view your content.

It is a fine balance. It is also feasible. With SEO tools as well as real experts on your team, your content can connect with both your viewers and the search engines.

Summary

As stated above, Meta keywords are typically a waste of time. Also, our advice would be for you to focus more on the tags as well as target keywords for your content.

Here’s how you must go about doing this:

Each page on your site must have a unique main target keyword. This must be used to inform both the content of the article itself, in addition to all of its Meta tags.

However, while you do this it is vitally important to avoid keyword stuffing. In its place, your body copy as well as Meta tags should contain target keywords in a natural plus descriptive manner.

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Are Private Blog Networks (PBNs) Backlinks Worth In 2020?

Private Blog Networks

PBN i.e. private blog networks are the tactic of go-to link building and are widely used in grey hat SEO. If you are thinking of building the PBN in 2020, then you need to think about whether PBN is worth it? Do you know how to build the PBN? Is PBN safe? What are PBN backlinks? All of these answers you will get in this blog, just keep on reading.

Few facts about PBNs that I have found based on my experience

1. It is expensive to build PBNs:

This is the biggest negative factor in creating and maintaining a network. If you make use of auctions then it will cost you between $40 to $400, if you are looking for a good domain. Making use of domain vendors will also be a similar cost. This can even be more.

After getting the domain you will have to pay for hosting, making the domain private, and then add content to it. So even if you get a domain for say $100, you will have to spend around $150 for hosting and other services. Isn’t this a high cost?

2. The complete process of building PBNs will waste your time: 

If you put efforts into getting REAL backlinks from good websites then you need not worry about getting blocked or penalized by Google or other search engines. 

For this process, you will first have to find domains that are worth purchasing. After doing that you will start building a network. To do so, you will have to spend at least 10 to 12 hours to find 10 domains that are qualified. A qualified domain is the one that has a domain authority of 15 and a trust flow level of at least 15. The domain of a lower metric can be used only if it is having relevant topical trust flow topics. 

After you choose 10 domains then you will have to set these domains and it will need 2 to 4 hours to choose to host and make the websites set for development. Then the websites need to be created by making the necessary pages, setting the theme, writing content, installing the plugins, and making the website look normal. To be extra safe for search engine crawling, you might need to make accounts on social media for these websites.

This would need around 25-30 hours more for 10 websites together. This does not include any sort of hacking or hosting issues that you would face during this process. It is possible that if you choose any cheap hosting then the host might go out of business suddenly without giving any warning and might have horrible support and uptime.

Handling such issues can be a big time-waster for you. For this, you might choose to outsource these processes. But this will further increase your development and link building expenses. This will then affect your ROI. 

3. The ROIs and ROT of using PBN are quite uncertain: 

The main point of investing in any marketing strategy is to get returns from it. First of all, let us take any keyword and then look for the root domains with average linking for your competitors on Google’s first page. The data that you get is the number of expired domains that you will require to rank for the keyword. This number is usually greater than 100. 

But this is not the exact number, it might be more or less and it is impacted by the quality of your domains too. If your competitor is getting links from websites that are of high authority then using low metric domains that are expired will not be effective. You can predict the ROI of the keyword that you are targeting by knowing about the average linking of root domains. 

You should also be aware of a few other things: 

Average CTR or SERP – usually 3-30% 

Average PTL i.e. prospect to lead conversion rate – usually 5%

Average ILC i.e. inbound lead converted to a new customer – approximately 21%

Approximate cost for creating one network website – around $120

Approximate time to create one network website – around 2 hours

According to these calculations, it is found that it will take a lot of time to achieve a positive ROI.  

4. It is not evergreen to manipulate the search engine: 

Your PBN link building can be made obsolete by Google overnight. This is not any worth even if you have spent several years while learning about the perfect PBN strategy. All Google does is make changes to the algorithm and reduces the dominance of the ranking factor of your backlinks. 

After this, your website ranking will be washed away overnight just because you were focusing on a skill that was not evergreen. So what should you do instead?

You should focus on white hat SEO techniques such as learning about:

  • How to make content that people would want to link to
  • How to give a better user experience that can drive more sales
  • How can you build customer relationships that will promote your business growth?
  • How can you get quality backlinks from real websites

5. Making use of PBNs makes your business foundation shaky: 

If you are making use of PBNs to build your network, then you would be at a risk to get your websites deindexed and you can also get a manual penalty for having unnatural inbound links. 

If this happens then your time and cash investment can be worthless. Then you will realize that you should have put your money and time into white hat SEO which is evergreen. 

Some reasons for making use of PBN: 

Let us now look at the pros of using a PBN i.e. private blog network for link building

1. More control: 

With a PBN you get more control over your SEO which is a powerful thing. With your network, you can dominate the anchor text, and your links and test the links in any combination to check what works for page rank. You will not get this freedom and control in any other strategy of link building. In the worst case, you might get a manual penalty. But if this happens you can remove those links and then the penalty would be revoked. 

In the case of GSA links i.e. buying links on your website, you will not be able to remove any manual action because you do not own these websites. 

2. Instant authority: 

PBNs are quite powerful as you get the power of using your authority on a trusted and aged website. If you have any experience in SEO then you would be 100% aware that getting these types of links naturally through outreach is quite challenging.

3. No relationship/outreach building: 

If you are trusting the power of private blog networks for your website then you will not have to spend your time building relationships or reaching out. While it is not a good thing for you, it can surely save your time. 

Now we have seen the pros and cons of making use of a PBN, now let us look at a PBN strategy. 

Ultimate PBN Strategy

There are too many SEO which is relying heavily on private blog networks and they are making a big mistake. I am also sure that you have also heard this before, as you don’t need to put all your eggs in a single basket.

This is true for all types of link building.

Google has destroyed SEO who is never diversified and relying on a single link building method. So let us know the little secret about it. The link building is the same as the retirement account. First, evaluate the strategy of link building. Then decide on the time and capital requirement needed to allocate the strategy.

For example, if you are investing in the riskier stocks due to the higher returns, but the riskier stocks will compose only a small percentage of the overall portfolio. This is exactly how you should start link building on the private blog networks. If all 100% of the inbound links are coming only from PBN then you are playing on the fire.

PBN should also supplement the other link building efforts. They should not supersede the other important link building authorities like cultivating the relationships for content promotion, within the industry and creating assets. The safe limit for the PBN is considered to be 5-15 % in the overall link profile.

When PBN is in a small percentage of your profile then the risk will be reduced a lot. The other links are coming from the internal pages like business listings, editorial links, niche blogs, forums, or branded properties.

White Hat Alternative for PBN

It is always possible to leverage the power of private blog networks without building one. The strategy for this is a White hat and it is safe too.

White Hat strategy

You will use the links which are making powerful expired domains. The tier one link is going to the expired domains and this is the reason for considering it.

Working of Expired Domain

You have to first buy the expired domain, hosting, content, and have to take all the kinds of measures for eliminating the footprints. This model will not give you a 100% link equity as it is acting as the buffer. Tier one link is the most powerful as mentioned above and you have to use that. 

This strategy is not so glamorous or cool. You have to work hard and invest more time in it. If you want, you can outsource some of the tasks for saving time. You can also take a look at some of the tools needed for this task.

Ranking PBN

You can simply open the new tab and launch Google keyword planner and then search and see how much volume PBN is getting. This is ok and this is the point where you can start.

Search Volume Flawed

PBN keywords will get only a few searches in a month. And these only search, not the actual visitors.

When you are ranking the target keyword then you are not just ranking for the single phrase. You are also ranking for many other related terms. So my article will get only a few hundred searches alone in a month. So let’s see when the disconnect is. 

The first reason is that most of the keyword phrases are unknown. So when you are ranking for the target keyword then you are ending up with long-tail variations ranking. And many of these variations will show the zero volume search in the google keyword planner.

The second reason is the title modifier. When you are adding the current year to the content then it is very effective for driving the search traffic on your target keyword. As this is time-sensitive. 

The last reason is to click-through rate. The average CTR for PBN is 5.81% in the month. The highest is 60% for a month. If you will improve your CTR then you will get more search traffic.

So it is very important to learn about improving your CTR and it will indirectly help you with a better ranking in Google.

Below are a few points for creating good SEO content for driving more traffic on PBN:

  • Try to be Unique

Unique content creation is coming in #1 position for increasing rank on google. Analyze your SEO competitors. This would apply the same when you are creating the PBN. Always try to create something unique and different. Create something which people would love to share and link.

  • Unique Data

Unique data will differentiate your content from others. If you are looking for dominating for the long-term then create unique data. The crazy part about this is that the data don’t need to be real, hypothetical data should also have an impact on your content.

In PBN also in the ROI section, you can make use of the rough estimates as per your experience. There is no requirement for a data analyst for doing that for you.

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How Google SERP Layouts Affect Searching Behavior in 2020?

How Google SERP Layouts Affect Searching Behavior in 2020

Before understanding its working we should know what is Google SERP. It stands for Search Engine Results Pages which is given to the users when they try to search for something. And after that, the person enters their search issues upon which Google shows all the possible solutions that are a SERP. As you will notice every SERP will be different as the user query is not the same all the time. This happens because virtually all search engines like Google customizes the experience for their users by giving them all the possible results and you may find that two SERP will be visible similar to by containing the same results but it will have subtle differences. Based on this, let’s discuss this in more detail on Google SERP.  

There are two types of results

Organic results

These results list the web pages which will appear as an output or result of the search engine’s algorithm. All the specializers who are known as SEOs do the optimization of the web content as well as the websites to rank more highly in organic results. There are three different types of primary internet search:

•    informational searches– in this the people want to find the information on a given topic. In simple words, the users who are looking for these queries are not looking to buy something and they only want to get informational results that are displayed on the SERP.

•    Navigational searches– in these searches the user wants to visit any specific website by locating a URL and they can no longer remember, or another kind of navigational objective.

•    Transactional searches– these searches refer to paid results which are mostly displayed on SERP. They usually have high commercial intent, and all the queries are leading to the transactional SERPs which sometimes include a keyword like “buy” and the other things which will be suggested as a strong desire to make any type of purchase. 

Paid Results

These are referred to as the paid results because when they are displayed by the advertiser they will be paid. The results are more likely to have a wide range of forms, and many advertising formats that usually attract the needs of the advertiser. 

Now we have understood the SERP thing and types of results in the search engine. Let’s see how google SERP layouts affect searching behavior now.

Searching behavior 2020

There are many results and data to know how a user uses Google SERP and then what are the things they usually ignore, and what they focus on more. The changing speed of SEO which refers that anyone working in this sector should keep abreast of the changes and try to adapt the strategies so that they can meet the ever-growing demands easily of the searcher or user. 

The time when there were featured snippets that were rolled around the year 2016 and then became the focus of a lot of attention for all the SEOs. 

•    The changing 

There are so many theories that show how a user uses the SERPs and they typically focus on the things that people like the most and what they usually ignore. All these types of studies will give you an idea of all the fascinating things and help you to shape all your strategies that are putting in place for the clients. 

•    The biometric technology

Biometric is the body measurements and all the calculations which are related to the human characteristics and its authentication are used in computer science as the form of identification and control. And the biometric technology refers to a technology which helps to identify any person based on some aspect of their biology like fingerprint recognition. And thus it is used for the identification f any person who is under surveillance. This technology can be used for a wide range of things. 

One of the biometric experts was experimenting to know the google SERP effect on searching and in this many users were asked to perform some searches in Google with the main motive of researching and buying a new phone or gadget. All the users were doing their specific tasks at various steps of purchasing intent. The test was going on desktop and the user began each task on the homepage of Google. So from that point they start telling the moderator when they found any information which they are looking for and step ahead to the next task. 

The data inputs which include in this test was 

• The eye-tracking

• The facial expression of the person analysis

• And last the galvanic skin response to the search (GSR)

Their main objective was to understand the gaze behavior of the user on SERPs and engagement behavior on SERPs. They were trying to identify any type of emotional response to the Google SERPs and the interaction with different types of results like knowledge graphs, ads, etc. 

The research scenario

The research was basically on buying a new phone and several tasks were given to the users, and then at last choosing the search term first for correlating data. And the second thing was that all the users should get the same result they search for. And in the end, this goes well but in some of them, SERP presents have some small variations.

The final results

According to a study the featured snippets usually get around 8.6% of clicks and on the other hand around 19.6% to the first natural search. But when there are no such featured snippets the first relation was getting around 26% clicks. So basically through research, the snippets are attracted the most and they are consistently the first thing which is viewed by many people and where people spent most of the time. This concludes that these snippets are giving people their desired results very quickly and effectively. And thus they are getting the importance of real estate within a SERP. 

People also ask things on the search engine and it is also a place to find out queries and answers that people are actively looking for but how do people interact with them? So after featured snippets when we take this element people also gaze back at them but there are fewer clicks and shows limited engagement. This can be considered that these are distracting the people or impacting their search journey away.

Now next is the knowledge graph, as through the research when any user searches for a purchase intent then the knowledge graph tries to attract the attention sooner, because of visible prices. but users focus on the organic results now also and this shows that the knowledge graph is useful but it does not work to detract from the main SERP column. 

Searches for the location have some keywords like “near me”. So from the fixation data, the user’s attention is more on the local listings rather than the map or any other organic listings. This whole show shows that the attention is more greatly on the details in the local listings. 

And in different variants of the SERP, the additional product was row led to the people who are spending a long time in reviewing the SERP. And after reviewing expressing their negative emotions towards SERP. 

The research for the purchase intent shows that the horizontal product bar which operates, by picking up the best engagement and clicks. People still focus on the organic listing before turning to the shopping bar. The knowledge graph was not so effective. Thus the output indicates that the results for shopping play an important role/ as in both the variations the initial result was the most clicked thing in the SERP and shows a basic PPC or say organic listings which usually remain effective highly at the time of customer journey. 

The galvanic skin response

First, we need to understand what is galvanic skin response. This refers to the sweat glands activity which is reflective of the intensity of any person’s emotional state. This can also be called emotional arousal and the level of these changes responses to the environment as if we are scary or joyful. When the researchers were going on this particular thing to know the behavior then there was some correlation between the self-reported task and a higher than normal GSR. 

So from all the researches, there are many things that we can know and make the conclusions

• So first we can say that the nature of all the searches was having a great change to the engagement behavior. This happens when a similar type of SERP layouts is displayed on the desktop.

• Coming to the featured snippets which are highly effective for all the information-based searches by the users. And some are choosing not to follow through to the site after finding any solution. But most of the users still clicked through to the website. 

• The local listings were engaging and giving people all the essential information in an effective format. The users were getting the answers they were looking for. 

• And the addition of the knowledge graph, PAA and featured snippets, PPC ads, and the last SEO listings still playing a huge role in the searching behavior. 

The featured snippets were not that bad and all the changes are that you have to work on this and how snippets work and are they worth it or not. If you want to search purely informational and educational searches then this performed well. People spend a long time on this and you can also review people’s reactions to the featured snippets when it contains irrelevant or wrong information. 

In other research, snagging the top spot is challenging but around 33% of the time is enough to earn a click. The main thing which is noticed is that many users are searching to find that they need things without clicking on any type of links, not the paid one as well as the organic results. Around 33 users have searched from mobile phones on the SERP without a click. For both desktop and mobile devices paid search has gained less than 5% of all the clicks and ads get over 4.61% of clicks and similar on mobile phones. 

This doesn’t mean that you don’t get anything for paid advertising on a search engine like Google. But it’s important to know all the limitations. Branded queries are getting more attention and a very high click-through rate (CTR). If a user directly searches for your brand is likely to click through but people searching non-branded keywords are more likely to be in the no-click category. So around 70% of users will click on the organic clicks mainly but for these people who are searching for something like web hosting only around 39% do this. 

An image carousel is showing an increase in the CTR as when there is an image carousel a collection of images across the screen will be displayed to the users. The click-through rate of this has been increased by over 12%. Related searches also show a decrease in the clicks. SERPs include the related searches section of many links which has come down to 20%. All the researchers may have less to do with the links in this section and more to do with Google deciding for this section that already has less CTR. Video carousels are also shown a decrease in clicks and come to 10%. The keywords which are shown by the Google videos are very likely to those the search engine knows how people prefer video outputs. So a certain amount of videos are featured to drive clicks from the organic results. When you want to cope up with these things just make sure you win for branded keywords and always do SERP research to learn what are different features on the pages. Prioritizing your keyword is the best strategy that is based on the Google SERP features.

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Outsourcing SEO vs DIY SEO – Which Is Right for Your Business

Outsourcing SEO vs DIY SEO

SEO i.e. the technique to drive organic traffic for your website is valuable for any online business. But this does have a cost associated with it. If you are planning to outsource SEO work or do it in-house on your own, it will need a lot of money, time, or a combination of both. After that, you can expect high-converting traffic on your website.

If you have a small business or you are a marketing manager of a startup then you might be skeptical about spending money on outsourcing SEO work. Rather most small businesses think that DIY is the best alternative for SEO purposes. But is that the right approach? While most businesses think that hiring an expert for SEO is the best way to save time and get quicker results. But is it reliable? Let us find out.

Before we move on to decide whether to outsource SEO or do it in-house, let us first understand the concept of each term and look at its pros and cons.

What is the term “ SEO Outsourcing” concerning marketing?

The process of outsourcing in SEO is the method of hiring an agency or a contractor i.e. freelancer to manage the SEO of your website. This includes managing your on-page and off-page organic traffic. It includes tasks such as generating and planning as well as execution of SEO strategies, link building, content marketing, local SEO, digital PR, and even web design. 

With outsourcing, you can take advantage of the agency or freelancer’s expertise and it can save time and cost too. This is a better option if you are hiring an SEO expert in-house because salary and benefits would cost you more. But if you are considering DIY then outsourcing would be costlier. 

With outsourcing, you can get access to the strengths of a team that will cater to your SEO needs. This is true if you are hiring a reputed agency or a team of freelancers. A team will have different experts for different needs of SEO such as PPC professionals, content marketers, graphic and UX designers, website developers, and SEO strategists. 

Pros of Outsourcing SEO

Efficient and Faster Results

Outsourcing will allow you to take help from the SEO specialists who are dividing their tasks and producing the results more efficiently and quickly. If you want to achieve your goal then you can try outsourcing your SEO campaign to a digital marketing agency.

With the help of the digital marketing company, the SEO campaign is having a better chance of producing positive results. It is much quicker than accomplishing the task alone. If that is the case then you should hire the SEO company.

Focus on Other Tasks

Digital marketing campaigns are not exclusive to SEO. There are other aspects of a digital marketing campaign like content marketing and social media. Fortunately, outsourcing the SEO service can give you more freedom to focus on other tasks.

Your SEO specialist will monitor and handle your campaigns while you will be able to evaluate the results and be able to come up with better strategies for the future.

Cons of Outsourcing SEO

Costly

Most people are afraid of outsourcing the SEO service because of the cost related to it.

Although all the SEO agencies are offering different prices the cost of outsourcing is mostly very expensive. Because of this most people are looking for a cheaper alternative.

Before you finalize on outsourcing the SEO service, first set your budget. The price of the SEO service mostly depends on how much you can take up digital marketing. To find out the company which is offering affordable services and it should match with your budget.

No Guarantee

Of course, there are always chances of improving the SEO rankings when you are outsourcing your SEO. But the main problem is they are not giving any guarantee of increasing your rankings on search engine results pages. But the chances of higher ranking are much higher as compared to SEO service which is done by you alone. So always keep this point in your mind. 

What is DIY SEO?

DIY SEO is doing SEO on yourself. it is common in small businesses. For medium-sized and big businesses, they may opt to hire an in-house SEO expert for their website SEO. This staff will be responsible for creating and executing their strategy of SEO. He will also be handling other marketing tasks of the business. The SEO professional might be the business owner himself in the case of DIY or a person or team that is hired on a salary basis.

The expert that you are opting for will work in your premises in this case and will understand your business processes and goals in a close manner. The member will thereby have a better understanding of your SEO needs and can make suitable changes to your marketing campaigns, product/service offerings, and the website too. 

But hiring someone in-house can be more expensive and one person might not have complete experience and expertise in all aspects of SEO. Also if you try DIY then you might have to first learn SEO on your own before implementing. This might take up a lot of time that small businesses and startups might not have as you would be handling other business tasks too. 

Pros of opting for DIY SEO: 

  1. Save money: most owners of small businesses opt to save money by learning SEO on their own. If you are low on budget then doing SEO on your own can be the best choice for you. It is cheaper to do SEO by yourself as compared to outsourcing the work to a freelancer or other agency providing digital marketing services. 
  2. The experience about SEO firsthand: initially you might find the concepts of SEO to be a bit complicated, but once you get in the flow then you can understand the techniques of SEO quite simply. The more you work on your digital marketing campaigns, the more you can implement it for the benefit of your business.

Cons of opting for DIY SEO:

  1. Time-consuming: the thing that most start-up and small business owners lack is the time to handle multiple activities simultaneously. DIY SEO comes with a lot of time-consuming responsibilities, especially during the initial phases. Because at that time you have to learn and implement SEO together. This can be an exhaustive task especially if you are not having any professional assistance. In that case, hiring an expert for the job can be the best alternative.
  2. A steep curve of learning: most business owners opt to hire an agency or freelancer for their SEO needs because these experts are always updated about the new trends in the SEO industry. Learning new trends of SEO on your own can be highly challenging for an individual, especially if you are new to IT. You might understand the basics easily but more advanced techniques would be difficult to implement and understand. 

To outsource or not to outsource:

We have addressed the pros and cons of each type of SEO i.e. outsourced and DIY. Now the question arises, which one should be preferred for our business. The best alternative is to do your research well and outsource your SEO work to a reputed agency that fits your budget constraints. 

The choice greatly depends upon your needs, goals, and budget. You should consider your skills in IT and search engine optimization services and your willingness and capacity to learn as well. 

Usually, one person cannot handle all management, marketing, and development tasks. So you should be ready to partner with an agency or team that understands your business needs and can use their expertise to provide you the best SEO results. Before you opt for DIY it is always advisable to consult a reputed digital marketing agency to understand their service offerings and pricing plans. 

After consulting them you can understand the benefits that a professional can offer. Every digital marketing expert and agency is different from each other. Do your research well and finalize a company that has a similar outlook, mindset, and business goals to your brand. Doing SEO on your own is a good idea, but you need to make sure that you will be able to devote enough time and take on the difficulties and challenges that will come on your way ahead. 

You should be ready to give numerous hours to learn and stay updated about SEO, PPC, web design, and similar stuff while you are doing SEO on your own. DIY SEO can teach you hundreds of things on your way ahead but you need to put in the efforts. Who knows you can soon become an SEO specialist in the future. 

Finally, the choice is entirely yours. Before you plunge into any decision, it is wise to consider the available choices in the market and set your budget, analyze your skills and knowledge of search engine optimization. While DIY and an in-house SEO expert will provide you better control over your budget and SEO strategy, outsourcing will give you a strong SEO partner that will work according to the latest SEO trends. 

The last point to consider here is whether you are looking to have SEO services regularly or is it a one-time requirement.

Ongoing SEO services:

SEO needs to be an ongoing process. If you stop working on your SEO then your website page ranking will eventually decline and it will impact your organic traffic. Some businesses need ongoing SEO services and for that purpose hiring an in-house expert might be a better idea. Working with an outside agency, in this case, has several risks, because the staff might change, the company policies, etc might change. But if you are holding a long-term contract with the SEO agency with strong cancellation policies then this might be avoided. 

On-going SEO services that can be outsourced would include link-building, content marketing, technical and on-page SEO, digital PR, article posting, and local SEO. This will help to reach your business goals and drive organic traffic to your website. This is very important if your business is in a highly competitive industry. 

One-time SEO project:

If you are planning to do SEO on your own, it is better to outsource it initially just for a start-up push. In this case, the SEO strategy will be set up and the agency to whom you will outsource the work would manage the content, web design, and development issues of your website to make it SEO friendly. Once the SEO is all set up then you can handle the marketing process i.e. SEO on your own and take help for some tasks if required. This will save on cost and time too.

If you are not comfortable with technical SEO or writing content for your website then you can outsource the task of a one-time audit of SEO for your website and then work accordingly. The digital marketing experts can handle the work for you for a month or two and then when everything is set up you can take over. By taking a few help sessions with an expert you can work on the areas that you are not strong at and get SEO done faster and efficiently.  

But before you choose to outsource your SEO work to a company you should do proper research about the company background, team, and expertise. It is beneficial to choose a local expert that can visit your office regularly for help if required. Also, read the reviews and ratings of the agency before you make a contract. Also, it is important to mention the costs and the package inclusions clearly in the contract that you make with the digital marketing agency. Hidden terms and costs can hurt your website SEO and business growth too. 

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Link Building Strategies to Help Businesses Recover From Covid 19

Link Building Strategies to Help Businesses Recover From Covid 19

COVID 19 has brought the world to a halt where the businesses are facing so many losses and they are going down with no money in the economy. At these unprecedented times, it is important to have strategies to come out from the foregoing agony. Business owners are understanding the essential elements in digital marketing and are planning to get digital in their business. Learning is considered to be a never-ending process where you can learn about the technological and digital marketing ideas and channels for implementing in your business. Your target must be how to attract the customers towards your brand and retaining them in the business for a longer time. Based on this, let’s discuss more about this in detail.   

How to attract new businesses during the Pandemic time?

1. Investing in digital marketing

During COVID and the norms of social distancing, many businesses had to change their business plans and go digital to provide help to all their customers. Now the Internet was widely used with businesses learning all the tactics of digital marketing to start. Now, guest blogging is so widely accepted during COVID and guest blogging websites are seeing more crowds than what is actually there. 

2. Using of blogger outreach service

Blogger sites benefit your companies with their SEO outreach for drawing in a large number of targeted audiences. Many websites help you in partnering with high authority bloggers who can help you in moving ahead in your business. This way your bloggers can also promote the products of your company. They are known for offering top quality contents that you can use as backlinks in your website for making it easy for people to view it.

3. Updating of website

Your website creates the first impression that the buyers get of your business. So, it’s your responsibility to upgrade your business by providing the latest information about all services and products to convert all your visitors to your customers.

4. Resources for helping your business

Adapting to different business changes requires a lot of financial support and many businesses are not even able to earn a decent income during the COVID times. You should be financially independent so that the banks grant loans for keeping your business moving forward. 

Benefits of blogger outreach services

1. Having connections with so many markets

You can expand your market by targeting various audiences and turning them into customers. You can explore various markets by reading about those markets and also knowing how to change their minds. Bloggers write about various products and services so you should make it a point that your audience comes to know of your brand well.

2. Increasing profits globally

Digital media gives you a vast platform which is generally not possible for you to get. You can have your website that will be viewed by everyone in the world. You can extend your reach even to the international markets and earn money in foreign currency. And only with blogging services, you will be able to do that.

3. Creating of backlinks

Also, the main benefit of using blogging services is the creation of backlinks that can be used as marketing campaigns through which customers will be able to read various content written by bloggers and writers through the backlinking process. This way you can attract higher customers to your website. The ratings on search engines also increase.

Strategies for businesses to recover from COVID pandemic

COVID 19 has led to a global downfall and now businesses are trying their best to uplift their industries to continue with the works. Many companies have also left their employees because of a shortage of money supply in the economy. Now you need to be proactive in taking the right steps for your business. This way you will be able to recover as soon as possible without much difficulty:

1. Focusing more on long term investments

If you are moving into B2B sales, it is the best time for your business in making long-term investments. Even if you are having a short-term loss, then also, ensure you will be having the long-term goals for earning profits in the long run. Having long term strategic planning can save you from this havoc situation.

2. Evaluation of the effect of COVID on the customers

Your customers are also getting affected by the Pandemic so now is the time for you to understand your customers as well and how you can help them in overcoming all the problems. You can make products easily available to them for making their lives easier. Also, feedback is helpful as customers will give honest replies on what is missing and what things are on point.

3. Preparing for the worst Post Pandemic demand

In China, the post recovery period has been quite fast and they are back on track even in business. People might be increasing the demand for goods and services soon with the businesses being able to meet the demands well. Even though your business might not fulfill all the demands presently but you might be thinking of steps for making up for the current slowdown.

4. Embracing new ways

The world might have come to a halt but people will always be needing their essentials and your business has to provide it proportionately. You will have to be engaging and serving customers with the help of brand-new channels. If you are into a retail business, then you can be investing in E-commerce as well. With the help of SEO companies, you will be able to increase the ways of your digital presence with the help of effective marketing strategies.

Preparing for Business Post Pandemic Times

As business owners, you will be focusing on the future of business as well. After the Pandemic is over, you will have to function better than all others and for that, your preparations should start from now. Businesses might be having a faster recovery phase than what you might be thinking if they know from where to start. For preparing yourself for the post Pandemic times, you have to remember these:

1. Preparing all your employees

Your employees might be feeling scared about coming to offices post COVID but you can help them by motivating them by providing online training sessions. These training sessions will prove to be fruitful as it will boost their ideas and motivate them to work together for the betterment of the company. Ways of viewing the current progress:

  1. Cut down on all the normal levels that have been conducted by the business for making faster decision makings and communications.
  2. Simplifying of all the norms for making it hassle-free and easy for the customers
  3. Developing a responsive customer service cell for helping customers whenever they need it.
  4. You can allocate the money for setting up the right platform beneficial for both clients and the employees. You must make use of effective marketing for helping the company attract a larger audience in the deal and process.

Link building strategies for boosting of search rankings after COVID 19

Link building strategies are formulated for increasing traffic on your website and increasing the rankings on your search engine. Some strategies worth using:

1. Producing online content

You have to have a good website if you are planning to link your website to the guest bloggers write-ups. And creating good online content always has a way of going to the heart of the customers.

2. Articles

You can share the reviews, information, and ideas about products and services that people are using by reading all the articles that you have mentioned in your blogs. This way it is also a kind of promotion on other’s blogs.

3. Videos

Producing video is so time consuming and expensive but having benefits of its own. People are more attached to videos as they are entertaining with people loving to watch than read articles. So, your videos have to be short and crisp for grabbing the attention of all your readers.

4. Infographics

An infographic is also eye-catching where there is something to read and then there is the statistic working as proof for the information that you have. Infographics can be added on the search image page of the search engines.

5. Analyzing the competition

You can research all your competitors for knowing what kind of backlinking strategies they are using. Then you can plan on using something else more innovatively.

Ways in which COVID is affecting the marketing strategy

1. Leading to more online activities

With everyone being locked up in their homes, the online world is the only world where you seem to be active all the time. This way, businesses have taken advantage of the increase in online activity through SEO. Even though you were not selling products at one point, but you were planning on how well you can use it to your marketing strategies.

2. Online shopping

People are becoming interested in online shopping as it has become an only option now. You just need to check the area from where you belong to see if the products are available there and deliver it to the customer’s doorsteps. 

3. Increasing the scope of online marketing

You should be sure that you are using the right online marketing in promoting your business. Some websites are reliable that you can use for online marketing and keeping the brand’s name fresh in people’s memories. There are online marketing strategies that you need to know before moving ahead.

Ways in which SEO is going to help business in increasing traffic

1. SEO helps in providing long term traffic equity

The content you are creating today affects the future as the future generations will be giving their views on it. You have got opportunities of giving top-performing content that will be accepted in the markets leading to the profit of your business.

2. SEO gives conversion optimization benefits

Businesses are constantly thinking of how they can carry their business forward. Due to COVID, it is the best time for filling in the gaps of the customer’s complaints through top quality contents and products as well. It all depends on the type of business you are doing to check whether the converting prospects are proper or not.

3. Provides a fresh concept to the edge

Being able to regularly publish content that is properly optimized, clean, and crisp, SEO helps in providing new concepts and edge to your business taking it ahead. Update all your content from time to time because customers are always in search of something new and unique. There might not necessarily be COVID-related topics, but you can add something which can make people cautious of the situation going on in the world.

The world is slowly trying to adapt to the COVID situation and people are learning about the New normal. But businesses have to plan for running effectively as no one knows when the situation will be under control. Digital marketing and online are the two vast ways in which you can lead your business during COVID times. It is turning to be a two geared process acting as a balancing mode between transitioning safely into the new running world. About 44% of the people have been doing grocery shopping online because of COVID. Customers are getting anxious about whether they can go to a certain place or not.

Conclusion

You will be faced with many tough decisions that you have to take for your business post-COVID also. Reactivating to the digital strategy might seem like a slow process but it will be imperative in the months to come. Sit down with an SEO specialist for listing down everything that you are planning to prioritize.

So, get ready for a time where only businesses are mainly going to strive online and make plans for it! Preparing for the COVID situation is the need of the time because you don’t know what is in store for you! So plan properly!