Local SEO changing in 2021

Local SEO is changing for 2021. While some Local SEO strategies will stay the same others will not. Google will be looking at Local SEO in a different algorithmic way to rank & index pages. Now is time to prepare for the upcoming 2021

Google plans on releasing their Core Web Vitals update for 2021 which will affect Local SEO and how pages will be algorithmically ranked on Google. Google’s objective is to constantly improve the end user’s experience. Google wants people when searching for a product or service to land on a website that is exactly or very close to what the searcher is looking for and must load quick whether desktop, tablet or mobile and see reviews of the product or service providing the best experience possible. Google’s new Core Web Vitals update, Google will be algorithmically ranking pages according to intent of what the searcher’s needs are.

The best way to ensure your responsive website & local SEO meets Google standards is to make sure all your website’s pages are running at optimal speed. You should run google page speed test on all pages. Two seconds is acceptable, but one second is ideal. In addition, you will want to ensure that your website does not have any broken pages or links.

These are pages or backlinks where a user would not be able to retrieve content, but instead receive a 404-error message. We highly recommend for your website to be responsive that way it will automatically be mobile friendly and have Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and be user-declared canonical. Over 60% of internet users are using mobile devices, it is necessary that every mobile device is optimized to provide the best user experience available.

They say 3 things are imminent Death, Taxes and Google changing their algorithms. Google keeps on revamping their search algorithms. Over the years, there have been many major algorithm updates, as Google worked to keep us on our toes. 2020 was no different: in one big swoop, we got the news about a Page Experience update and AMP news. All the while the debate about whether or not you need E-A-T for ranking rages on.

Upcity's original data from 600 U.S. small businesses on how their SEO EAT strategy has evolved from before COVID-19 to now in 2022. How Small Businesses are Increasing their EAT Survey

Content is Still King

Times have changed since 1996 when Bill Gates made the phrase "content is king." famous overnight.

The coined term “Content is King” will remain in 2021 & beyond. However, for content to rank on the search engines it must be quality, relevant, and have value for it to rank on Google, Bing or Yahoo. For instance, Google is looking for knowledgeable content that is value-added, answers the users’ queries and comes from a trustworthy non spammy source. 

So, for example, someone who writes legal content may need to have the proper legal credentials to be an acceptable trustworthy source to Google. Content that defines a problem and gives a solution is considered value-added content.

Long form content just like long tailed keywords are also valued by Google. Google wants to know what your page is about; that’s why heavy content rich websites rank higher and thin content does not allow for this and has a hard time ranking on Google. Having longer relevant content that answers people questions lets Google know you are interested in the reader and solving their query. And that is the Google way, having an answer to ANY question!

Why is content king? What makes content so important, anyway?

There are several reasons for this. The first is content marketing of course, which is considered the “Digital” of marketing. It centers around the customers rather than itself. It attracts people rather than interrupts them, and it is more about them and NOT about you.

The main reason for the rise in content is because media has become standardized. We live in a world where anyone can get involved with it, though succeeding with it is another story.

What percentage of search is voice?

Google reports that 27% of the online global population is using voice search on mobile. eMarketer predicted that over a third of the US population (111.8 million people) would use a voice assistant monthly in 2019, up 9.5% from 2018

What is Voice Search used for?

Google Voice Search is a function that allows users to search the Web using Google through spoken voice commands rather than typing. Other than how users activate and use voice search commands, there's very little difference between a spoken voice search and a regular typed search query.

What is the best voice search?

Voice Search

• Google Assistant. When it comes to AI assistants for Android smartphones, Google Assistant offers the best functionality available. ...
• Bing. One of Google's top competitors, the Bing mobile app allows users to conduct voice search as well. ...
• Siri Assistant. ...
• Alexa
• Pinterest. ...
• Camfind...
• Bing
• Google Lens.

Voice search is continuing to grow year over year. It is important that your website is optimized for longer, more-natural keywords so that it will appear in voice search results. Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and other mobile users usually are not using short, to the point words when they speak. If you have a local business, you may want to consider using common phrases and natural long tailed keywords to help users find your business when searching locally.

Link-building strategies among the most valuable in 2021 Google local SEO trends.

Content is still king, but it's the backlinks that you need to be focusing on if you want your website to generate leads and, ultimately, revenue.

Linking has always been valuable to SEO, but providing the best user experience is going to be among the most valuable in 2021 SEO trends. Linking to high domain authorities and internal linking will still be strong for SEO in 2021, but not the main focus for the year. It is still advisable to disavow spam links and reach out for earned “white hat” type links. Any shortcuts will eventually get noticed by Google and can cause a hefty Google penalty on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). 

Getting noticed in a competitive online industry is becoming more difficult with Google changing the script on organic ranking almost daily. That’s not all that surprising. Google wants to serve only the best results to the searcher. It wants your website to be useful, specific and just what the searcher is looking for at that moment. However, business owners and marketers have to work hard for that coveted No.1 position on the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Using Google Trends for Local SEO link building in 2021 

Since backlinks are, essentially, a vote of confidence given by one website to another, they can greatly impact how your brand is perceived by potential customers. Link-building strategies, such as expert roundups and guest blogging, get your name in front of large audiences that might never have heard of you otherwise. Just by associating with industry giants through links and mentions, you'll start to be regarded as one. 

Here are the four reasons why backlinks are still important, and why having a solid link-building strategy is essential for every business website:

• High organic rankings are very dependent on quality backlinks
• A good backlinking strategy helps Google discover your content faster
• Backlinks can help you drive traffic to your website
• They boost your online reputation and brand awareness

· Backlinking strategies for 2021

·    Since backlinks are, essentially, a vote of confidence given by one website to another, they can greatly impact how your brand is perceived by potential customers. Link-building strategies, such as expert roundups and guest blogging, get your name in front of large audiences that might never have heard of you otherwise. Just by associating with industry giants through links and mentions, you'll start to be regarded as one. 

·    If you play your cards right and get backlinked mentions on authority websites in your industry, you will notice that you have to work less and less on subsequent high-quality links. Other experts will notice your guest posts and features, and they'll reach out to you for quotes and potential blogging opportunities, which will result in more backlinks and more clout. 

Backlinks help Google find and index your new content.

To rank in Google's SERPs, your content first needs to be discovered by the Googlebot. It helps to think of Googlebot as a surveyor and websites as real estate in development, but at a huge scale. The surveyor goes around, marking new properties and putting them on the map, so to speak.

If a website is not crawled and indexed (discovered and mapped), there's no way for it to rank for the keywords it's trying to rank for. It's just not anywhere on the map. Each new website and every bit of new content placed on old websites needs to be crawled and indexed by the Googlebot. This takes a lot of time sometimes, depending on whether or not Google is prioritizing your website.

To get around this waiting period, you can simply build quality backlinks on authority websites and news websites that get a lot of daily traffic. These websites are high on Google's list of priorities and get crawled daily.

If you manage to get a link from one of them to your newly published content, the Googlebot will follow that link (and every other link on subsequent pages) and get to your website sooner than it had intended. In essence, your website is now queue-jumping, and your content is getting indexed faster because of the backlinks that you've earned for it.

Local Businesses must have Local Search 

Local search is still valuable to brick-and-mortar businesses, although it has taken a hit since the stay-at-home orders took place and not to mention the open then close then reopen issues. The website is still important and should be updated regularly to help businesses rank on Google locally. It is hard to predict local search for 2021 because of the current pandemic, but it should continue to be one of the 2021 SEO trends.

Mobile OPZ is a full-service digital marketing agency dedicated to consulting businesses on Website Design, SEO & Marketing Strategies. For further information on how we can help you, visit us at www.mobileopz.com or you can contact us at (720) 492-9625.