Marketing is changing in 2020 to improve the user experience. Capitalizing on SEO intent, rich content, position zero, and having an easy to navigate website could greatly improve your SEO and help you gain business.
Remember when advertising was a matter of looking at ad rates in your city’s daily newspaper and considering a few local radio and television stations? Or maybe you had an outdoor campaign in mind. Or national print. The point is, even in the most complex and generously budgeted of campaigns, your media choices were at least finite.
That doesn’t seem to be the case today in terms of digital advertising, does it? The Internet is virtually endless and so are your marketing strategy options. That’s why at Send It Rising, a leading Las Vegas Internet marketing firm, we’ve compiled the following information. Think of it as your guide to what we see as a few of the leading trends regarding Internet marketing in 2020.
SEO match vs. intent
When Google releases an algorithm change, all Internet marketers know that the way they do business will (or had better) change. What they don’t always know is how. In other words, the mission is on to determine how Google has altered the way it will recognize and rank content on search results pages and then to figure out how to respond to that.
Get it wrong and your content will fall down the first page or maybe even find its way to page five of results. As has been proven time and again, most search engine users rarely look beyond the first few results on the first of seemingly endless pages, so you disappear from their visibility if your content falls far.
The 2019 Google algorithm change focuses on getting users the results they intended to get, not necessarily results based on the words they used when asking for it. The goal here, of course, is to improve the user experience and reduce frustration by quickly getting the user the content that more closely and thoroughly answers their queries.
What does this mean for content creators? It means that you should pay less attention to writing around search engine optimization (SEO) keywords and devote more time to becoming the authoritative voice on the subject in the information you provide
In the past, sketchy content providers could hook the attention of search engine users by throwing in a few strategically chosen keywords. The content might only do a haphazard job of supporting those words, but that didn’t matter — the keywords delivered the audience.
No more. Google long ago realized that the content offered searchers with this approach was too often virtually worthless. It reflected the interests and intent of the provider, not the audience.
This latest algorithm change makes the SEO keywords less important than the page content delivered. Your mission as an Internet marketer is to think from the perspective of the recipient of your content. You do this by creating information with greater depth than ever before.
Rich, rich content
This relates directly to what we just stated. Yes, we know that rich content isn’t exactly a new trend in 2020. Year after year, marketers like you get told the importance of writing or producing content that’s informative, comprehensive, relevant, and of value to the user. That’s because every year it’s true — and even more true than the year before.
Google seemingly devotes endless time to weeding out clickbait and superficial content. So year after year the challenge builds, to create content that’s of greater user value than ever. Don’t be afraid to write or produce longer content and to go into greater detail.
The bottom line? You want to become the voice of authority on your topic.
Position Zero
“Who is the prime minister of Albania?”
Ask Google that question and you’re likely to get a results page with a photo of Edi Rama and part of the opening paragraph from the Edi Rama Wikipedia entry. That’s called a featured snippet. It’s highly desirable because it’s the first thing you see on the results page when users submit to Google a query. This means that the response comes in ranked position even before the first paid or organic result. Therefore, this has become known as Position Zero — and that’s a very valuable parcel of digital real estate indeed.
Remember, Google searchers are not patient. They tend to click on one of the first few organic links in a page. If your snippet of information is literally the first thing they see, and the facts expressed are on point, you’re in a good position to gain clicks and traffic.
It’s not only photos and text that can earn this top spot. Featured snippets can come in the form of videos, tables, maps, lists — all of the many ways rich content can be shared.
Here’s the challenge: Google, and only Google, decides whether a question gets a featured snippet response, and which content provider gets that coveted position.
That doesn’t mean it’s entirely out of your hands. Provide content that comprehensively but succinctly answers the questions you think your customers are asking. To do this, start by asking a few questions of your own. Ask Google what diabetes is. Or what film won the first Oscar. Or for the definition of quid pro quo. Or whatever question comes to mind. In many cases, you’ll see featured snippets.
Check them out, study how they’re written and try to produce your own content in ways that might attract Google’s featured snippet interest. Even if you don’t win that position, your web writing will benefit.
Simplification of website navigation
Now that you’ve taken advantage of enough of these leading Internet marketing trends and drawn your targeted audience to your website home page or splash page you’ve got to get them to work with you.
Remember when big screens were all the rage? The bigger the better. That was when most Internet use was conducted from desks. Now a huge share of it is viewed on tablets and even smaller-screened smartphones or smartwatches used while your customers are on the go. It might now be time to second-guess your navigation strategy.
Because of those small screens, you don’t want any of your customers getting lost in tiny navigation menus. You want them to be able to do a minimum of clicking before they get where they want to be. That’s why a newer trend is toward a cleaner, simpler navigation. Don’t make your customers squint while trying to select among nine menu options when perhaps three would do just fine.
Think of the simplest and most direct way to move traffic. Then support that with large, bold graphics that can be easily viewed on a small screen and minimal text. Think small. And think small attention spans.
Contact Us
The pace of technology is so fast that your greatest challenge as a digital marketer is likely to be simply keeping up with all of the changes in the landscape that impact your business. That’s where we come in.
Let Internet marketing company Send It Rising help you get more from the 2020 trends and your Internet marketing budget. Simply fill out our online contact form and get to know us.
