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The Gist
- Latest SEO trends. High-quality, audience-centric content is pivotal for better SEO rankings.
- Author expertise. Google’s EAT now includes “experience,” favoring authors with hands-on knowledge.
- User importance. User experience on your site directly impacts your SEO rankings.
- AI in SEO: AI can assist but don’t depend on it wholly.
Most business owners want their websites to rank, plain and simple. But while your end goal is to get to the top of the search engine results page, you need a strategy. And your game plan must be flexible enough to adapt to the latest SEO trends.
What the search engine algorithms looked favorably upon yesterday may not work to your digital content’s advantage today. Staying on top of the latest SEO trends and flexing your approach are essential moves to make.
Let’s look at four of the latest SEO trends you should consider if you want to boost your rankings.
1. Content Should Benefit the Audience
Search engine rank is often viewed as a numbers game. The more pieces of keyword-enriched content you create, the better your chances are of ranking for something, right? Not so fast. More than ever, search engines are considering the quality of the content you put out there.
Do readers find the information helpful? How well does it match their search intent? Besides being satiating and relevant, the piece should demonstrate in-depth subject knowledge. And your content has to have a human-to-human element. Create content for people in your target audience instead of a search engine.
But isn’t ranking about accommodating the whims of search engine algorithms? In a sense, yes. However, those algorithms are also becoming more “humanized.” You can use strategic tactics like content pillars to create digestible information humans find satisfying and helpful.
With this strategy, you’re creating a combination of long-form and shorter-form pieces that satisfy audience intent. Shorter-form content like blogs answers a range of specific questions people are asking about a topic. Longer-form pages dig deep into the subject, providing a solid overview of everything they want to know. A content pillar strategy appeases Google’s helpful content update while displaying your expertise.
Related Article: State of Search: Top SEO Strategies for 2023
2. Author Experience Matters
You’ve probably heard of Google’s EAT if you’re tracking all the search engine acronyms. It stands for expertise, authority and trust. When ranking your content, the search engine considers whether the piece has those factors. Google wants to know if the audience can trust you because you have knowledge and credibility on the subject.
Yet gaining knowledge about a topic through research isn’t the same as acquiring it through direct experience. One of the latest SEO trends is an addition to Google’s EAT formula. It’s not just about expertise, authority and trust anymore. You’ve got to add another “E” for experience.
Yep, Google wants to see that content creators have hands-on experience with the information they’re discussing. For example, a blog about lawn care tips will stand a better chance of ranking if a landscaper writes it. If a novice apartment or condo dweller creates the same blog, it may not rank as high. When choosing topics, go beyond keywords and consider whether your content creators have real-world insights to add.
Related Article: Sustainable Search Engine Optimization: Build a Lasting SEO Strategy
3. It’s About User Experience
Google’s algorithm is becoming more focused on what users see when they visit your site. Do they land on a clean, fast-loading, easy-to-navigate page? Or do they seem to grow frustrated and leave right away?
A less-than-enticing user experience can hurt your chances of ranking if people consistently bounce off your site. Google defines a bounce as a single-page session. It means someone landed on one of your pages but didn’t visit any other pages on your site. This alone isn’t necessarily a reason for concern. For instance, someone might have read a blog, and that’s all they needed to do.
But there could be a problem if a high percentage of people visit one page and leave almost immediately. Your site could have technical errors, load too slowly or have an aged design. Complexities such as pop-ups that take over the screen and confusing layouts can also weaken the user experience. Part of your SEO strategy should consider how your target audience will experience your digital content. If something isn’t intuitive or doesn’t flow well, change it.
4. AI Can Assist but Not Take Over
So AI can now churn out blog posts, landing pages and other types of digital content. Why not let it take over for your team so you can produce more content faster? Well, the problem is that AI-written content tends to skim the surface. It doesn’t provide the deep expertise search engines and audiences seek.
AI-generated content may also contain syntax and factual errors. It might lack originality, brand voice and style. While AI tools can shorten the time writers take to brainstorm and outline, they’re not a substitute for human thought. Relying solely on technology to produce your content might lower your rankings because your readers won’t appreciate generic information.
Google’s stance on AI-written content is that it’s not totally against it. However, the search engine does recommend humans look it over before you publish it. Google also states natural, human-sounding content will rank higher. So while using AI in your content creation process isn’t an absolute no, don’t eliminate the real-person element.
Adapting to the Latest SEO Trends
You don’t want your digital content to be invisible. The point of the work behind it is to boost your company’s visibility so you can attract and convert leads. Your SEO strategy gets you there by helping your content climb to the top of the SERPs. To ensure your approach delivers the results you want, align your tactics with the latest SEO trends.
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