Search engine optimisation is one of the keystones of any website. As an affiliate, you need to make sure that your practices always fall in line with the latest in SEO trends. These trends are always shifting, and a smart affiliate will ensure that their strategies keep their site relevant and ranking well on SERPs. Here are some of the trends that should be watched for and implemented in 2021.
User Experience
Being able to rank well often comes down to the quality of your site and how your visitors interact with it. You can pull all the strings you like in terms of keywords and other factors, but you need to be able to deliver a high-quality site that users want to engage with.
Julia Logan, CEO and Founder of Irish Wonder, says: “Site speed and performance are definitely something to focus on – Core Web Vitals are going to become very important. Also, every site owner should really be looking at what works in their specific SERPs as every vertical is so different. Google is testing a lot of new features, make sure you don’t miss your chance to benefit of those applicable to your niche.”
AI
Artificial intelligence is becoming far more commonplace in our society, at a rate that many do not actually realise. This is especially true for SERPs. Google’s AI algorithm RankBrain is designed to study and learn more about how people are interacting with SERPs and various sites. In turn, this then generates SEO trends.
While Google does not release the exact specifics of what RankBrain considers to make for good SEO, there are some educated guesses affiliates can make as to what would help them rank well. Good content is key, so ensure that you are producing unique and insightful content that your audience will want to engage with.
User Search
In addition to noting what Ais such as RankBrain consider to be good practice, it is also important to consider what it is that the users themselves want. We as consumers are interacting with search engines in very different ways, be it through the way we are accessing the results or through the actual things we are searching for.
Sharon McFarlane, Managing Director of Crystal Content, says: “Taking into account the user’s search intent will be more important than before. User behaviour and search intent is constantly evolving – particularly after such a highly unusual year. When you understand the nature of a search, this allows you to create content with the answer the user is looking for, and you will in turn reap the rewards. Websites that will see the most success in 2021, are the ones that have a clear grasp as to how they can meet the searchers needs over anything else.”
Focus on Page Performance
Performance is also a vital consideration that affiliates must make going forward in 2021. More recently, factors such as log file analysis and mobile friendliness are driving the trends when it comes to SEO.
SEO Expert Fili Wiese from SearchBrothers agreed with this sentiment. They said: “Website operators including affiliates are well advised to focus on their page performance, if their resources do not allow for a more comprehensive SEO strategy, which beyond performance aspects should also include crawl budget evaluation, content quality, internal link structure, SERP snippets representation, user experience, the application of canonicals and hreflang annotations, managing backlinks liabilities, investigating structured data, Google Webmaster Guidelines compliance and many, many other critical factors that make a website rank.”
Experiment with content
As we mentioned above, content is absolutely key here. You need to make sure that you are experimenting with different styles of content to play into SEO trends and engage your audience in new ways.
You could try making a podcast, or looking into video content such as tutorials or demos. There is no end to the new styles of content that you could try to generate, you just need to make sure that everything you do try is optimised for the latest SEO trends. Make sure this content is informative first and foremost – there are other avenues you can pursue for selling.
These are key SEO trends that you need to watch for in 2021. If you are not yet implementing them in your own affiliate business, take the steps to introduce them now.
