It’s a new decade, which means you’re probably making resolutions and setting new goals for your business.
If one of your goals is to grow your business through inbound marketing tactics like search engine optimization, then there’s some things you need to know.
Google made some big changes to their algorithm last year, including BERT, which changes the way that Google interprets complex searches.
Google says that BERT will affect one in ten search queries, which makes it one of the most significant changes to rankings in the past five years.
That’s just one of the ways that search changed in 2019.
Here are three huge shifts happening in SEO right now that you need to optimize your website for if you want to rank in 2020.
3 SEO strategies you need to implement in 2020
1. Optimize for BERT
Although Google says you can’t optimize for BERT, one of their newest algorithm updates, it isn’t really true.
BERT made Google better at understanding complex search queries. For example, the query “can you get medicine for someone pharmacy” used to return results about filling prescriptions. Now, Google understands that you want to know whether or not you can fill a prescription for someone else and turns up more relevant results.
Because Google can interpret complex search queries with a greater degree of accuracy, this opens up opportunities for marketers.
You’ll likely be able to rank for more complicated queries and long-tail keywords than you were able to before the update. So keep that in mind when you’re conducting keyword research and formulating your content strategy this year.
2. Optimize for zero-click searches
Over half of all search queries in 2019 were zero-click.
Since more and more users are getting their questions answered on the results page, you would think this would hurt your website traffic.
But as The Drum points out:
Most zero-click searches have little commercial value (eg: “weather london”). In other words, the other half of searches (that are still generating traffic) are where most of the business opportunities are.
Although the rise of zero-click searches is unlikely to affect your website traffic, you should still try to optimize for them, especially if you run a small business.
The few zero-click searches that do have commercial value are usually local searches. So if you can optimize your images in Google Maps and the info on your Google My Business Profile, you can turn those zero-click searches into store visits and phone calls.
Some other things you should be doing to optimize for zero-click searches include:
- Creating content geared toward no-click searches, including step-by-step guides and FAQs
- Design featured snippets to get users to click through for more information
- Rank in featured snippets to build your no-click presence
3. Optimize for featured snippets
Featured snippets usually show up for informational searches and present an opportunity to get new customers into your sales funnel.
Research suggests that featured snippets are appearing in as many as 86% of desktop searches and 73% of mobile ones.
That’s why it’s more important than ever to optimize your content for featured snippets.
Here’s how:
- Answer questions in your content
- Identify what questions your customers are asking
- Include these questions in H2 headings and answer them in the body
- Produce higher-quality content than competitors
- Provide short, 50-word answers to questions — they’re more likely to get featured
- Break up your content with charts, bullet points, and numbered lists wherever possible
These strategies show that to succeed in 2020, you’ll need to keep creating great content that answers people’s questions.
If you do that, you’ll be able to increase your search traffic and grow your business this year.