Abstract
- Latest SEO trends. High-quality, audience-centered content is crucial to improving your SEO rankings.
- Author’s expertise. Google’s EAT now includes “experience”, favoring authors with practical knowledge.
- User importance. Your site’s user experience has a direct impact on your SEO ranking.
- AI in SEO: AI can help, but we don’t rely on it completely.
Most business owners want their website to be simple and rank. However, the ultimate goal is to reach the top of the search engine results page, but it requires a strategy. The strategy must also be flexible enough to adapt to the latest SEO trends.
What search engine algorithms favored yesterday may not work in favor of digital content today. It’s important to stay on top of the latest SEO trends and be flexible in your approach.
Let’s take a look at four of the latest SEO trends to consider if you want to improve your rankings.
1. Content must benefit your audience
Search engine ranks are often seen as a numbers game. The more keyword-rich content you create, the more likely you are to rank for something. It’s not that fast. Search engines are becoming more concerned about the quality of content that appears on them.
Do readers find the information useful? How well does it match their search intent? In addition to being satisfying and relevant, the work should demonstrate deep knowledge of the subject matter . And there has to be a human-to-human element to the content. Create content for your target audience, not search engines.
But aren’t rankings just a response to the whims of search engine algorithms? In a way, they are. But those algorithms are also becoming more “humanized.” You can use strategic tactics like content pillars to create easily digestible information that humans find satisfying and useful.
Using this strategy, you’ll end up creating a mix of long and short pieces that meet your audience’s intent. Short-form content like blogs answers a variety of specific questions people have about a topic. Long-form pages dig deep into a subject and provide a solid overview of everything you want to know. A content pillar strategy makes it easy for you to update Google’s helpful content while demonstrating your expertise.
Related Article: The State of Search: Top SEO Strategies for 2023
2. The author’s experience is important.
If you keep track of all search engine acronyms, you’ve probably heard of Google’s EAT. It represents expertise, authority, and trust. When ranking content, search engines consider whether the work has these elements. Google wants to know if your audience can trust you because you have knowledge and credibility on the subject.
However, gaining knowledge about a topic through research is not the same as gaining it through first-hand experience. One of the latest SEO trends is Google’s addition to his EAT method. It’s no longer just about expertise, authority, and trust. To gain experience, you need to add more “E”.
Yes, Google wants content creators to have practical experience with the information they’re discussing. For example, a blog about lawn care tips is more likely to rank if it’s written by a landscaper. Even if someone new to apartments and condominiums creates the same blog, it may not be ranked high. When choosing a topic, consider not just keywords, but whether the content author has real-world insights to add.
Related article: Sustainable Search Engine Optimization: Build a sustainable SEO strategy
3. User experience matters
Google’s algorithms are becoming more focused on what users see when they visit your site. Will they be presented with a clean, fast-loading, easy-to-navigate page, or will they get frustrated and quickly leave?
If your user experience isn’t very engaging, your ranking potential can suffer if users keep coming back from your site. Google defines a bounce as a single-page session. This means that someone visited one of your pages, but not other pages on your site. This alone is not necessarily cause for concern. For example, if someone reads your blog, that’s all they need to do.
But if a high percentage of people visit one page and quickly leave, you can run into problems. Your site may have technical errors, load too slowly, or have an outdated design. Complexities such as screen-hogging popups and confusing layouts can also weaken the user’s experience. As part of your SEO strategy, you need to consider how your target audience will experience your digital content. If something isn’t intuitive or isn’t flowing well, change it.
4. AI can support, but cannot take over.
As a result, AI can now create blog posts, landing pages, and other types of digital content in large quantities. Why not let your team create more content, faster? Well, the problem is that content written by AI tends to scratch the surface. It doesn’t provide the depth of expertise that search engines and viewers are looking for.
AI-generated content may also contain syntactic and factual errors. It may lack originality, brand voice, and style. While AI tools can reduce the time it takes writers to brainstorm and create outlines, they can’t replace human thinking. Relying solely on technology to create content can hurt your rankings because readers won’t value general information.
Google’s stance on AI-generated content means it’s not entirely opposed to AI. However, search engines recommend human inspection before publishing. Google also states that natural, human-looking content ranks higher. So while he’s not saying it’s a no-no to use AI in the content creation process, don’t eliminate the real person element.
Adapting to the latest SEO trends
You don’t want your digital content to be hidden. The point of the effort behind it is to increase your company’s visibility so that you can attract and convert potential customers. SEO strategies will help you get your content to the top of his SERPs and achieve your goals. To ensure your approach yields the results you expect, adjust your tactics to the latest SEO trends.
Find out how to join our contributor community.
