The SEO landscape’s shifting nature is equally fascinating and daunting. As advertisers, we know that staying on top of the hundreds of changes to Google’s algorithm and SEO Statistics in 2020 are essential to positioning our digital content and growing the impact of organic search.
We need to put our attention in the right place, however. That’s why we’ve brought together some of the most relevant SEO figures to help you make masterful digital marketing choices in 2020.
There are 26 metrics to help you tap into a huge amount of web traffic and leads — and to be able to attribute real value to the brand investment you’re creating.
1. Google accounted for just over 75% of all worldwide mobile search traffic in 2019 (to date), followed by Bing at 9.97%, Baidu at 9.34% and Yahoo at 2.77%. (Source: NetMarketShare)
You will play by the rules of Google to compete at SEO. Ranking high on Yahoo or Bing will attract users to your platform, but most likely enterprises that score on Google will get the most.
You can’t deny the power of Google Searches. Using Google Search Console will help you help you understand how people are currently getting to you. Keeping up with changes to the Google Algorithm means that you remain flexible and that you can make key adjustments as appropriate.
2. This year, Google earned nearly 2.3 trillion searches. Users are looking for a lot. (Source: Internet Live Stats)
Nevertheless, customers are now doing as much as 70% of their online purchasing analysis before they ever get into a discussion about pricing.
Good search engine ranking helps the customers to browse quickly on their own while spending time thinking about your words.
Prioritizing SEO gives you the ability to do what you can to ensure first appearance of your business during those 2 + trillion searches.
3. Of the billions of searches that occur on a given day, Google is new to 15 percent of daily searches.
(Source: Google) It’s important to remember that SEO is not just about competing with others trying to rank for the current terms. With so many new searches taking place every day, SEO is about finding new keywords as much as it is about what is already famous.
How are you ranked for something new?
That’s where the BERT algorithm from Google fits in. BERT is “neural network-based methodology for natural language processing (NLP) pre-training” with the much longer name of Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers.
In other words, in a series, BERT examines the context and purpose of words. So when you write about a certain topic with the intention of educating, BERT understands what you’re doing and rewards you for it.
There is therefore no secret to “hacking” the algorithm of the BERT. Writing like a human is the key.
4. On the first page alone, 67.60% of all clicks are compensated for by the first five organic results.
(Source: Zero Limit Web) The page analytics tools will certainly show you what you’re ranked for on pages 2 to 10, but this rating shows that it’s really cool to be on top.
With more than two-thirds of all clicks going to the first five organic outcomes, the competitive field is tougher than ever, and marketers need to be smart, creative, and a little lucky to gain that prime property.
5. The two most critical factors Google uses to rate the website for searches are high-quality content and link creation.
According to Andrey Lipattsev, Google’s Search Performance Senior Strategist (Source: Search Engine Watch). And even though since 2016 this rank has been pulled, it still rings true today.
Quality content has been a constant factor in attracting attention and rating for your site / page, so for the foreseeable future it is one thing we should expect to remain the same.
Focus on quality and honesty over quantity. This will help your buyer see you as a trustworthy expert in your space. This will also allow you to see the platform as competitive and worth appealing to rivals or others in your business.
Share your work with others in the business or with your clients before posting to ensure that you spend time on valuable content.
6. 57% of marketing executives state the creation of content on the website was the most successful SEO strategy. (Source: Content Marketing Institute)
More than half of marketing professionals agree that content rules the roost when it comes to SEO.
On-page material, though, goes far beyond simply providing a wealth of information and keywords. That’s why every year the average length of rating material gets longer.
7. Google’s top-position overall content page length averages at 2,416 words.
(Source: serpIQ) How long is it appropriate to have good content? Sufficient to answer the questions of your customers but if you want to rate well with that good content, shoot for the 2,000 + word limit.
The more you post, the more your followers will be aware, the more transparency and honesty you will be able to show, the greater the ability you will have to connect to other reputable sites and the more likely backlinks you will get.
As it turns out, when it comes to ranking, backlinks are not a joke.
8. A voice search response page’s average word count is 2,312 characters.
(Source: Backlinko) In terms of voice search, long-form content also rules the roost. This statistic reveals that Google often appears to use posts that exceed 2,000 words to generate voice search answers.
Tempted to keep the posts short so that people who won’t stick around to read a long article don’t scare you off? You will do more harm than good.
9. A single backlink is not available on 55.24 percent of sites.
(Source: Ahrefs) The same study mentioned in the above state reveals that more than half of the pages have no backlink at all. And another 30% have three or less backlinks. It provides an immense incentive for advertisers to outstrip their rivals by focusing on getting more backlinks to their products yet platform.
10. The more backlinks a website has, the more traffic it gets from Google
(Source: Ahrefs) In a 920 million-page report, Ahrefs found that the number of referencing domains decreased as traffic grew.
What is the relationship?
The solid post you wrote — you know, the one with 2,000 + words — will not only answer the question of your client, but will please other industry leaders who are also searching for good content. With a connection, they’ll reward your effort with a link, and, in the process, increase your ranking along the way.
11. Site views, time on line, pages per session, and bounce rate are the top four rating criteria.
(Source: SEMrush) Long, quality content and internal linking are also heavily weighted when it comes to identifying, according to SEMrush’s rating factors report.
Yet top-notch prose is only going to get you that far.
If you want your users to continue on your website, you will need to understand their wishes, not only with regard to the information you offer, but also with regard to how they work through the material. This is called professional SEO, and it’s just as big a factor as the elements on the website.
12. 52% of all online traffic worldwide came from phones in 2019, 45% from web.
(Source: StatCounter) It’s important to look at your site-specific analytics before you move everything to apps. These are regional figures and may not be what’s happening in your next cyber forests.
That said, while your desktop may have the edge for your platform, if you want to succeed regionally, nationally, and internationally, you still need to be mobile-friendly.
The selection of screen sizes also means that it is necessary to be flexible to your app, rather than just having one set version for phones.
13. The headline / title tag is considered by 36 percent of SEO experts to be the most important SEO element.
(Source: Databox) It’s tempting to spend most of your time creating the perfect copy of an article and then just want to move on. They tend to treat the title as an after-thought because of this.
According to most SEO experts polled recently, that’s a gamble. The headline will not only let the search engines know what you’re written about, but there’s a good chance it will appear on social media feeds, in emails, and in all the backlinks you’ll receive.
The viewers will only click on that title if it is enough enticing to catch their attention. Take the time to create multiple (at least three) versions containing the keyword phrase for which you wish to rate. Then consult with your peers and friends on your word.
The time you spend on the right headline is going to pay off in traffic and rankings.
14. Long-tail keyword searches are 3% to 5% higher than default searches with a click-through limit.
(Source: Smart Insights) While most searchers do not look for single-and two-word words, they search for four-word or longer sentences.
They are asking for information.
This needs to be expressed in your material.
It’s the contrast between “SEO” and “SEO statistics” and “SEO results for 2020.” Do you see how special are those last searches? With each of these there is a particular purpose, and as the keyword gets longer, the customer wants new, more accurate, and more modified content.
Not knowing how to build keywords that are longer? Remember the questions that your customers have about The Big 5.
For example, if you’re trying to rank for the keyword “SEO strategy,” you might set your sights on the following long-tail keywords:
- How to build a strategy for SEO
- What is a strategy for SEO?
- What are the benefits of a SEO strategy?
- How can I get more visitors on the website?
- What is the expense of a SEO strategy?
15. 70 percent of marketers found SEO to be more powerful than PPC.
(Source: Databox) With digital marketing increasingly advanced, it is no wonder that SEO firms are constantly growing — and seeing more benefits from SEO campaigns than from PPC.
Many of the respondents reported seeing more results from SEO (including traffic, leads, and sales). Others used ROI to rate SEO over PPC as a benchmark.
Marketers described SEO as a long-term strategy, while PPC tolerated short-term bursts.
“PPC sounds like raising a lead zeppelin, as one respondent said. Bring enough power behind it (i.e. money) and there will be traffic. But the traffic stops as soon as you stop charging.
16. “Where to buy” + “close me” smartphone requests have increased over the past two years by more than 200 percent.
(Source: Google) If you’re a local traffic-dependent company or a small area of coverage, that’s important.
For smaller businesses that may not blog or produce a lot of content, local SEO strategies are critical. Make sure that your site is in the relevant registries and that all your information is up-to-date.
If your site is not designed for smartphone or local search, mobile search results will not surface and local customers will not visit your shop.
17. Updating and republishing new content and images on old blog posts will boost organic traffic by as much as 106 percent.
(Source: HubSpot) If you’ve been sitting around for a while, historic optimization could just turn into your new best friend.
Not only do you get the benefit of getting more miles out of old articles by reviewing and changing existing content, but you can also reinvigorate how those oldies but goodies rank.
If you have a good background and once scored well with older articles for keywords, this is the right approach for your 2020 strategy to take back.
18. A highlighted sample accounted for 40.7 percent of all voice search responses.
(Source: Backlinko) The samples featured have been around since 2014, but their voice search domination continues to increase.
Hold the featured snippet game in mind as you build posts to gain traction for SEO.
It’s not as difficult to create featured samples as you might imagine, and the effort you put into them will certainly pay off.
19. “Excellent” + “right now” smartphone searches have increased over the past two years by more than 125 percent.
(Source: Google) When contemplating blog topics your audience wants you to write about, make sure you include a list of “Excellent.” Web searches are not only on the rise, but also demands for best lists.
Consider about how to use related searches in your own plan: Good market flooring choices right now Best phone out Better investments to make Best SEO strategy right now.
Key takeaways
Marketers spend more time and money on SEO, which ensures they can continue to ramp up the competition for top spots.
The best approach to ranking in search engines is to provide value to your client, so keep writing quality content and building top-notch user experiences.
Mobile is becoming increasingly a bigger ranking factor, particularly when it comes to local marketing.
When designing a SEO strategy, there’s so much to remember, particularly when so much is evolving year after year.
You will set up a long-term plan by keeping up-to-date on SEO analytics and using their details on your approach. So performing a professional SEO audit is a useful way to fine-tune your approach so build some fast SEO wins. Together, with a plan for both short-and long-term success, you will be ready to enter 2020.
References:
- NetMarketShare
- Internet Live Stats
- Zero Limit Web
- Search Engine Watch
- Content Marketing Institut
- SerpIQ
- Backlinko
- Ahrefs
- Google
- SEMrush
- StatCounter
- Databox
- Smart Insights
- HubSpot
The nature of SEO is extremely dynamic. Sure, certain things remain the same like adding important keywords in your titles; make optimizing for mobile users a priority, etc. But in a never-ending loop, other things continue to change. Together with other major networks, Google is constantly seeking to be the end destination of the journeys of its users this year.
That, more than anything else, describes big developments in SEOs for 2020, as we now need to find the best approaches to be successful within Google’s system.
1. Zero click searches
Due to apps such as embedded SERP samples, Google’s Community Packs, Knowledge Graphs, and so on, more than half of all requests are now “zero-click searches,” meaning the user’s question is answered on the SERP page, without having to click anywhere.
What are we going to do?
Don’t fret. Remember what kind of searches these are: people searching for your website and telephone number. And people who are looking for a quick and easy answer to a question. Perhaps those individual clicks wouldn’t move anyway, so don’t think about it.
Identify the keywords you should get clicks on. Use any SEO audit tool in combination with your Google Search Console account; you can evaluate which keywords you customize to actually bring clicks to you. Therefore, you’re spending a lot of time and effort to automate keyword queries like “what,” “how many,” “what year,” and so on.
For material, of course, these are important, but should not be the subject of your SEO efforts.
2. Optimise for Rich and featured Snippets
The details shown on the SERP itself is now more important than ever in the situation where zero-click searches are so prevalent. Rich or featured snippets are two great ways to stand out.
Rich snippets— those that show images, ratings stars, product prices, etc. in addition to title and definition — are easier to obtain, but will also offer smaller CTR increases relative to a featured snippet.- Nonetheless, the result will be more apparent, even if your place in a SERP stays the same.
Included fragments — a full block of information displayed at the top of a SERP — bring large improvements in CTR. But it’s a bit trickier to get one.
What are we going to do?
Having these two types of samples involves, above all, structuring the results. Switch to Website Auditor and search for already structured data on your site.
Using this tool to check for featured snippets opportunities. Don’t just check for the keywords for which you list. Look specifically for keywords that have already included a snippet for your rivals.
Also bear in mind that nothing truly guarantees you to get Rich or Featured snippets, like ranking first. At the same time, they need to optimize them for potential gains.
3. Local SEO is evolving
A huge number of the above-mentioned zero-click searches are local searches in so-called Local Packs for which the results are shown on the SERP itself. A single Local Pack will take up as much space as a whole SERP shown to a consumer for mobile devices.
What are we going to do?
Through building a Google My Business page for your business, you will cover a large number of searches, mostly those with keywords such as “near me” or “email” and “phone number” in one full swoop.
But that should be just the start of your efforts. There will be no limit to a huge number of searches on local sets. People looking for more detailed information, etc., who want to compare goods. The standard SEO strategies are still going to be important on your website.
It is therefore important to have a good backlink profile. Look up what kind of backlinks your rivals are receiving, and try to get them on your own.
A particular feature of local SEO is that you need not just any backlinks, but those that Google finds to be globally authoritative.
And remember to chart your success in the local rankings, of course. Keep in mind that the least change of place will affect the user’s sort of performance. You should use a keyword research tool like Serpstat to look up keyword ranks down to a street and a building.
4. The Machines are here
Google has been using and learning algorithms for years now to enhance the browsing experience of its customers and help prevent keyword-stuffed web pages. By 2020, with Google’s new algorithm called BERT, this will be more relevant than ever.
Today, as far as we learn, Google is using three mechanisms: first, Neural Matching, which determines the query’s meaning. Second is RankBrain, which determines the dependence of the SERP on the user experience data collected. The third, the newly implemented BERT, is the algorithm used to evaluate a search’s composition and help understand the context of using keywords.
What are we going to do?
As far as neural matching or BERT is concerned, there’s not much we can do about those algorithms— neural matching is really the inner kitchen of Google, so BERT just needs you to write good quality content.
Yet RankBrain should be very properly accounted for. The goal here is not just to list for any keyword. Intentional alignment is now, and potentially in the future, key in producing good material.
And right now, you will be cut off from a huge number of SERPs by merely ranking without meeting aim.
You need to keep your hand on the pulse of what’s ranked right now to realize the correct search intention. Using arefs.com keywords opportunities tool, track the findings to see just what information Google finds important to the searches on which you want to rank.
Upon correctly identifying the intention behind the search queries on which you want to rank, build the content to suit the intention of your search users.
5. Building your brand is a top priority!
For any marketer who works today, one notable phenomenon is that organic media is almost gone. While paid ads also works brilliantly for social purposes, the fact that it is being conducted by more and more corporations creates a real pattern in which ROI for paid advertising is going to fall.
At this point, it is clear that paid ads will become more common and costly for anyone who wants to grow through that avenue. In these conditions, brand awareness and brand building are at the core of initiatives by digital marketers. On the other hand, linkless mentions are becoming increasingly important, with Google and Bing stating that they are being used as cues for rating.
What are we going to do?
We need to go and create important mentions first and foremost. And we need to pay as much attention to building quality link profiles for 2020 as we are thinking about treating so maintaining linkless products.
For example, using what is known as listening to social media would help you to track any reference of not just your brand, but even the type of service / product you have.
First of all, this helps you to engage directly with your clientele. Additionally, by providing public customer care, it gives you the opportunity to create brand awareness.
It will inform the people who are really involved in your company about any ads, discounts, etc. You can also look up where the biggest rivals are listed and launch a campaign to get named.
Marketers are able to build brand awareness by using social networking techniques through direct interaction with their customer base, meaning that they should not be tossed out of the agenda of any digital marketer.
Conclusion
The laws begin to shift and change every time advertisers think we’ve got this SEO thing down. A great example is the shift in local SEO. Now, for some local businesses, making Google My Business is becoming more important than having a website, and this is only a symptom of a larger phenomenon.
We always have to keep our hands on the pump and then adapt our practice to the new challenges we face in order to deliver the best possible results for our customers.
You will need to consider how to maintain SEO rankings and domain authority before, after and during the process if you are working on a website redesign.
The site’s aesthetics are not the only thing you need to worry about when creating a new website design. You need to take time during this period not only to preserve the SEO, but also to look for ways to boost it.
Many companies often make the tragic mistake of thinking of redesigning a website will have no impact on SEO, but it does. If not done carefully, all of the past SEO attempts could be washed out.
With major web design and development activities, both technical and non-technical areas need to be considered.
You
must take specific steps to ensure that when you move from your old site to the
new site, you do not damage your SEO quality. You will learn about SEO
redesigning best practices in this post and how to make sure you don’t lose the
value of SEO.
SEO Site Overhaul–Core Areas to
Remember While redesigning the page
There
are three main areas to remember when preserving your SEO rankings while a
redesign of your website:
- What fits with
your current SEO strategies
- Certain problems
that may emerge during an overhaul
- Improvements that
come with the new site
By working on these three things, you will be
able to discern the SEO vulnerabilities so that you can strengthen these areas.
You should also work to improve them in addition to just retaining the ratings.
Challenges
with SEO when redesigning a website
While working on a website redesign, there are
many problems that may emerge while you concentrate on rebranding, optimizing
user experience, and upgrading the backend. This is a list of areas that may be
challenging:
- Content that is
deleted
- Content that
evolves
- Content may shift
depending on the functionality of the new site or site map
- URLs may alter
- page-level optimization changes
- Include new
content, new pages, new technology, and new features
- New technical problems
- External connection layout updates
- domain or subdomain changes
- Server change
All of
these areas that impact it may be difficult to identify just what needs to be
tackled with so many potential obstacles. A
business change would be one of the biggest challenges. The other aspects are
also significant, and the more improvements you have, the more difficult it
will be to retain SEO.
Steps
to redesign your website and not loose on your SEO ranking
It is critical to understand the best
practices that will enable you to preserve your SEO rankings before you start
your redesign. Before you start, consider these parameters of redesign:
- Run an SEO audit on your current site: – You can start by performing your site’s SEO
review, learning all the keywords you’re trying to rank with, and what pages
are affiliated with. In addition to redirects, you should also think about
sites and basic on-page modifications that go from dev. to the live site. This
is particularly helpful if your website has a lot of interactive content.
The importance of history web crawls
It’s
a good idea to save crawl information from the old site. You can use a tool
such as Screaming Frog to load and analyze the old site crawl.
- Optimizations On-page: – You can export all the key elements on-page, including Meta names, Meta descriptions, alt tags, and headers, by browsing the old site. Also, if it works well, try not to change things too much if the products or services of your business have not changed significantly. You should also think about sites and precise on-page configuration from web to live site. This is particularly helpful if your website has a lot of interactive content.
Setting
Up 301 and 302 redirects
First and foremost, you need to move old URLs
to new ones. When you make any major changes to the structure of the permalink,
you will need to have a list of all the redirects you need. Once you’ve got the
new page up, check the old list of URLs and make sure it all redirects as it
should.
When to use
301 redirects
A 301 redirect is a constant path from one URL
to the next. Such redirection takes place with visitors to the website and
search engines. In many situations, a 301 redirect may be safer than a
temporary one for SEO because it also moves the inbound links, around 90 to 99
percent of the reference equity. In most instances, this is the preferred
method on your new site to introduce redirects.
Setting up
302 Redirects
A 302 redirect is temporary, redirecting users
and search engines for a short period of time to the desired page until it is
removed. Because it is temporary means that during a web page update you should
use it so that users have a seamless experience. In fact, a lot of 302
redirects will hurt your SEO so be careful when you use them.
How
to maintain Page structure during a website redesign
Site structure has a lot to do with the
ratings of your SEO. This is because it provides a good user experience because
with less effort they will find things they are searching for. The more
attractive your site is for users, the more attractive it is for search
engines. If your page has weak click-through rates and low dwelling time, it
will be negatively rated by search engines.
Stick with the same layout when you add a
section. You might have website.com/solutions/solution1 for example. Leave it
under the parent site solutions if you add another solution.
Remember to
update the XML Sitemap
Update and upload your sitemap to search
engines. Your 301, website layout, routing, and XML sitemap should all be
compatible and the new site structure should be shown.
Review and
update your website’s Backlinks
Backlinks are the key to your SEO position
development. Check all the backlinks that lead to your blog, and if you notice
that they point to pages that you deleted or altered, then try to contact these
sites and correct the backlinks. If this is not possible due to the volume, you
can also create redirects.
Internal
link structure
Be very aware of the changes you bring to the
design of the inner link structures. Crawl information can also be useful here.
You will have broken links in your site if you make changes to a lot of URLs,
so you need to do an audit. There are plug-ins available that can help make
this easier, as you don’t want to uninstall any of these because it could have
a negative impact.
Producing
high quality SEO content
If you have good performance of content on
pages, then leave it as it is. Minimize modifications to the quality of high
rankings. It is also a very important step to consider when redesigning your
website to retain photo and video SEO. Make sure to keep all the documentation
and file names as they are when you move these resources to the new site.
How
to avoid these SEO redesign mistakes
Now that we’ve covered all you should do,
here’s a warning to avoid errors that might cost you your SEO rankings.
- Don’t continue
with content from scratch: don’t give it up if you have content that’s ranked.
Not moving content to the new site could cost you in the rankings.
- Do not forget
redirects: if visitors receive “page not found” errors, this means
that pages are dropped off the index of Google.
- Don’t forget to
connect internally; it’s a mistake not to move this to the new site.
- Do not forget to
update links outbound as necessary.
- Pages with high
rankings and multiple backlinks should not be overlooked. To find these, you
can use Ahrefs to store or move them.
Redesigning a website is a step to be taken by most businesses as a brand grows. To maintain SEO rankings from a website redesign, you should follow these best practices. You don’t want to start over as if your website was never there. Implement a detailed guide in order to leave nothing out.
If you have any queries you can speak us for more details to handle site redesign.
