2020’s been an…interesting… year all round, and while we live in a fast-paced era, people’s browsing and purchasing behaviors have changed at lightning speed in relation to the COVID-19 crisis. One big change has been that almost all local businesses that will survive the crisis have relied heavily on their online presence.
Online has been huge for a long time, but lots of smaller local businesses either weren’t online at all or just had a small online presence. With most of us staying at home for the majority of 2020, that had to change. Now, almost every business is online in some way – meaning that there’s more competition and it’s extra important to have a great SEO strategy.
It’s almost time to welcome 2021, so let’s look forward and review what is going to be big in SEO. Hopefully, 2021 won’t be quite as eventful, but here are some key areas to focus on to keep your business’s online presence strong:
Google’s Page Experience Algorithm Update
This algorithm update is big news for every single online business. If customers don’t love your site, then it’s going to hurt your ranking. But how does Google measure if they love your site?
1. Site loading speed. People are impatient. They don’t want to wait for your site to load. If the page doesn’t load quickly enough, they get impatient and click away. Google measures this with Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – which is basically the time it takes for the largest content element on your page to load. If it takes longer than 2.5 seconds, it’s going to have a negative impact on your ranking.
2. Site response times. Google measure this with First Input Delay (FID) which is basically how long it takes for the site to complete an action. For example, if a customer clicks the “Get Quote” button on your site and there’s no immediate response, it hurts the user experience. Google expects the FID to be less than 100 milliseconds.
3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is another metric Google use to assess how user-friendly your site is. If the page layout is constantly moving as it loads, it can cause frustration for customers. Have you ever gone to click a button or link on a page just as the page shifts and found yourself clicking the wrong button, or an ad? That’s CLS.
Other elements Google measure are how mobile-friendly your site is, and if you have HTTPS for a secure user experience. Luckily, none of this is new. Google has been encouraging all of these things for a very long time. However, the new update is the first time they’ve really penalized sites for not being user friendly.
The Buyer Journey
Understanding the buyer journey isn’t something new, it’s a concept that’s been around since the early days of digital marketing. However, it will become more important than ever in 2021, as the buyer journey shifts in line with the ‘new normal’ and we adjust to life after a global pandemic.
Consumers are spending more thoughtfully, and price and value are more important than ever as uncertainty about the future affects people’s buying behaviors. And while more people are making purchasing decisions online than ever before, there’s a certain longing for personal interactions. Customers that previously valued convenience and low cost above all else are looking for more. Companies that can deliver personalized experiences and make customers feel valued will be more successful than ever before.
There’s another reason to get serious about the buyer journey too. With a lot of PPC advertising now relying on automation and AI, and the loss of third-party tracking cookies, this will be as important for PPC as it is for general SEO in 2021.
Social Media
2020 saw the huge growth of TikTok as a social media platform, alongside a marked uptick in live social media. Live video streams are big with social media audiences, and are an area that will be likely to grow even further in 2021.
The big players in social media – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, are still going to be the big players for 2021. They have huge audiences and are still excellent places to get your brand in front of your customers. If your business doesn’t have a social media presence on at least two of these, then 2021 is the year to get social in order to grow your business.
It’s always been important to stay ahead of the curve, but if the last 12 months have taught us anything it’s that you can’t always rely on predictions and an ability to pivot is crucial. Staying ahead of the curve in 2021 will likely mean being flexible – but one thing that’s unlikely to change is that your customers are online in bigger numbers than ever before and it’s crucial to have an online presence.
If your business needs to boost its online presence in Philadelphia and the surrounding areas, why not find out how Leadspruce can help?