SEO In 2021: Here Is What You Urgently Need To Know

The secret to SEO success is not keywords; here is why.

So, you are looking for SEO techniques to get more website traffic, generate leads and rank higher on Google.

Me too, me too. What if I told you that it’s time to stop wasting your time thinking about keywords? As a freelancing copywriter, I have spent a lot of time trying to stay updated with the latest SEO copywriting techniques.

The problem is that because of the pandemic in 2020, which has followed us into 2021, a ton of businesses moved online. Not like it wasn’t competitive before. It’s time to up your game. It’s time to be smarter than your competitors.

Today, I want to share some of the insights that I have found to be the most fundamental SEO components that everybody can start using without learning coding and other super technical stuff.

A very simple approach, which might seem too simple for you.

It all comes down to Google. If you want to succeed with your SEO, you have to understand what Google wants. Let me explain.

Keywords are DEAD. Google is too smart.

Keywords are undoubtedly important, but cramming keywords into content to make it sound like a robot wrote it, doesn’t cut it anymore. The Google algorithm is becoming smarter. Since the Hummingbird update in 2013, many things have changed.

The newest google algorithm is BERT.

BERT takes into consideration all the things surrounding the keyword. Including images and videos

Because of BERT, repeating the same keyword over and over will not help you rank better. It is important to use phrases or so cold long-tail keywords. Specific questions your audience is asking about your industry.

Such as: New SEO copywriting examples

It is crucial to bring in context. Using the keyword without having enough context around the keyword is not a good idea. That’s why key topics are essential. Once you know the topic, it will be effortless to surround the keywords with enough context for Google to be happy.

You can find key topics by using platforms like Buzzsumo, Ahrefs or Hootsuite.

Or Google trends.

Content matters for RankBrain more than anything.

RankBrain is one of Google’s algorithms that understand if you are making empty promises.

Here

Post-RankBrain, SEOs need to determine the type of content that best serves users’ needs.

There is a simple reason. Google wants the best content for their users. When your blog website or article has bad quality content full of useless keywords and outdated information, game over.

SEO now directly links to CRO and UXO. Conversion rate optimisation and User experience optimisation.

This means that your content and how your content leads to an improved user experience, by making it digestible for your audience, is key. Now there are no specific ways your content is presented on your website and what makes it attractive depends who your audience is. There is nothing like article writing guidelines. It varies with your industry and audience.

However, there is one trend that has seen significant growth—Voice search. I will not get into details on this, but you can find more on the topic here.

EAT Your Rankings

A catchy phrase you can always remember as a mental checkpoint when you're working on your SEO.

E= Expertise

A= Authoritativeness

T= Trustworthiness

The new EAT algorithm is the way that Google decides whether your content is quality or not.

Do you have expertise on your topic? Are you constantly updating important information, are you able to fact check our content and build trust with your audience?

For young companies, this might make it harder to “fake it till you make it”. Of course, established companies have taken years to accumulate content to satisfy the EAT algorithm, but that does not mean that only the giants will rank in the top 10 of google.

You need to put in the effort and do market research. This is one thing I always say and brings me to the next topic.

Market Research Is The Backbone To Optimising SEO

Google algorithms force you to create relevant content for your audience, which is good because Google helps you be more relevant and get more organic traffic.

The only way you can be more relevant is by spending enough time researching the market to pick out the topics and the right phrases that your prospects are searching for.

It’s easier than you think. Just answer the questions that are being asked in detail.

Optimise your SEO copy to the level of awareness that your prospects have

Let’s say you have a revolutionary new software or product. 99% of the people out there are not actively aware of the problem you are trying to solve. They might not even know that the problem is a problem until you tell them it is.

For most people browsing online, only 3% are in buy now mode. The other 97% are not ready to buy.

By doing your market research, you can find out about your prospects' stage and then know how to talk to them.

A safe shot is to address the red, purple and blue part of the market.

Which is 90%.

This means, educating your audience. Make them realise that there is a problem, how it affects them and why your solution is the best.

So, now we can break it down to three simple steps to optimise your SEO according to Google’s algorithms.

1. Create great content (according to EAT and BERT)

2. Create a great user experience (depends on your audience)

3. Do constant market research to optimise step 1 and 2

Why You Should Always Create Relevant Content

The more relevant content you create, whether you can link it to a product sale or not, the more you will be able to make your audience think about you as an authority. Remember EAT.

Ultimately other sites will link to your content, which will increase the number of backlinks and so the snowball gets bigger.

The importance is not to rush it. You might feel that throwing out lots of content will make the difference, but in the end, it’s quality over quantity again because many people can generate content fast.