Top SEO trends for 2021

A lot of the major changes made to Google algorithms – such as the machine learning algorithm Bert – have all been designed to help the search engine determine the intent behind a search query. It should come as no surprise then to learn that intent will be a recurring SEO theme over the next 12 months. Most SEO professionals agree there will be a greater focus on the reasons behind a search and a desire to serve up content that provides those answers or solutions. 

One of the core pillars of local search is prominence; how proflific your business is across the digital ecosystem. This could also be more important in 2021, as Google and other search engines work to build a better picture of your brand (or you as an individual if you are your brand) and return results from respected, credible, authorative sources. 

Building prominence means that all of your owned media channels, from your website and your blog to things like your social media profiles and even podcasts, will need careful attention through the year. 

It seems that we assign more importance to mobile and the mobile user experience each year and 2021 will be no different. The truth is that we all rely on our mobile devices more and more, and are increasingly now using our phones not just to research and shortlist, but to transact purchases too. Mobile has also been a huge priority for Google for a number of years so expect mobile optimisation to be crucial to your search success in 2021. This could mean you spend more time on the mobile user experience, work to improve mobile page speed, dedicate more time to local SEO or craft content specifically for the mobile rather than desktop search user. 

There is always some debate between SEO professionals and marketers as to what exactly constitutes long form content and, whether it is really important with the diminishing role of keywords but, 2021 is set to show us that content is still king. Rather than multiple shorter posts, longer, more detailed content which follows the E-A-T methodology will be essential for SEO efforts.