Blog

Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Relevant for Google in 2021?

Search Engine Optimization 2021

Search Engine Optimization 2021. Quite a grave topic, agree? No wonder why plenty of sites are authoring articles on this topic to improve their ranking. I am also in the league, but you’ll have an SEO to-do list for your website for instant implementation when you read my article.

I tell you that you’ll not have to give me your email id to access the ideas. As a digital marketing consultant, I believe in bartering best practices. So, please share your website ranking best practices with me in return for the study that I share with you. Deal? Let’s move on.

Top 8 Table Manners for Google Search Engine Optimization in 2020

Phase I: How to Conduct Keyword & Keyphrase Research

This is where the worry begins; what keyword or keyphrase should you optimize your blog with? How do you know which keyword and keyphrase to research will form the nucleus of your content?

First, determine your domain/s. Look out for high-volume queries. Run a Google search with those questions to see how they have been covered and what is still missing. If you see that the existing content has already covered the knowledge you are trying to share, it’ll be a waste of your time if your quality is not better than what already exists. If you see that the existing content displayed on Google’s first five pages hasn’t covered your idea, you win it! That’s your idea to begin a new content piece to woo Google with your Search Engine Optimization in 2020.

Second, if the high-volume questions are already covered, do not wail. Look out for medium and low-value queries that you can use as short and long-tail keywords. Repeat the process discussed in point 1; look out for what is covered and what’s not. These keywords/keyphrases rank as medium or low-value queries because they are not adequately covered and can be exploited as an opportunity for your content marketing ideas. The hustle is real, and you need the patience to keep evolving with the demands of Internet users so that your website stays relevant, informative, and entertaining.

TOOLS TO USE: GOOGLE AD PLANNER, ANSWER THE PUBLIC

Phase II: How to Create Great Headlines for Google Search Engine Optimization in 2020?

Once you have shortlisted the short-tail keywords and long-tail keywords and phrases, preferably low in competition with a search volume between 10 to 100k, it’s time to think of creating useful content for Google search engine optimization.

Now, let’s learn how to create headlines that’ll be considered useful for Google users. I am using short-tail and long-tail keywords and phrases that I selected in Phase I of this article.

According to Google Ad-Planner, between February 2019 to Jan 2020, the below-listed phrases have a low monthly average.

❌ WordPress real estate, 10 – 100
❌ wp booking system, 10 – 100
✔️ best eCommerce wordpress themes, 100 – 1k
✔️ theme wordpress, 100 – 1k
✔️ wordpress website pricing, 100 – 1k

While the first two are extremely low in search, with average monthly search ranging between 10 – 100, the bottom three queries have a monthly search average of 100 – 1k. It will be best if you go for the bottom three search results for your content development.

To avoid duplication of efforts, let’s see Google’s first page results for “best eCommerce WordPress themes.”

Do you see how the top-ranking headlines have been constructed?

Here’s the formula to write a winning article headline.

Title= (Insert your favourite number + affirmative adjective + keyword/phrase + time + characteristic)

Title= (101+ best + ecommerce wordpress themes + for 2020 + that you’ll love!)

Suggestion 1: 101 Powerful eCommerce WordPress Themes for 2020 to Enhance your Digital Presence

Suggestion 2: 101 Super eCommerce WordPress Themes for 2020 to Flex your Digital Branding

Suggestion 3: These 101 Gorgeous eCommerce WordPress Themes for 2020 that’ll Turn Every Head

So, which one from the above would you like to use?

TOOLS TO USE: SHARE THROUGH, COSCHEDULE

Phase III: Does the Readability Score Contribute to Search Engine Optimization?

READ: Improve your Content Readability Score Like a Pro

TOOLS TO USE: WEBFX, PREPOSTSEO

Phase IV: How to Set Country Specific Target for SEO 2020?

When you start with Phase I of this article, please select your target country, whether you use GOOGLE AD PLANNER, ANSWER THE PUBLIC, MOZ or SEMRUSH. Without setting a country-specific target, your Google search engine optimization will fail. Why? You need to know the audience you want so that the content is specific to the average search volume of that particular country.

Phase V: How does Grammarly contribute to search engine optimization?

Grammarly: A lot of bloggers depend blindly on Grammarly that serves like Grammar As Service or GAS. Here it is important to note that nothing can replace the human brain, not even bots. I have noticed-

  • Grammarly has a problem with transition verbs which is essential for the Readability quotient of your article.
  • Grammarly has a problem with a preposition at the end of a sentence.
  • Grammarly loves the chicken without bones but doesn’t justify its obsession for short sentences.

There were situations when Grammarly got drunk with articles and spat them out from their positions.

See, if Grammarly’s auto-correction doesn’t make any mistake, it can’t sell its human services. A writer and Grammarly have to work together because grammar, my dear, informs Google your language authority. Any native reader will frown on your content riddled with grammatical errors. To err is human; repeating is stupid; thinking of SEO without natural language abilities is I-DONT-KNOW.

TOOLS TO USE: BROCA’S AREA, ANGULAR GYRYS, INSULAR CORTEX, WERNICKE’S AREA

Phase VI: How does YOAST SEO contribute to search engine optimization?

  • Yoast SEO is an important WordPress plugin to guide a blogger toward SEO compliance. But this tool has its quirks which often lead to conflicts between the “SEO MANAGER” and the “CONTENT WRITER.”
  • Yoast SEO asks for a focus keyword, but you may know that there can be more than one focus keyword/phrase depending on an article’s length and information-bearing capacity. For that, you need to have a premium subscription or field knowledge.
  • Yoast SEO asks for the focus keyword to be moved at the beginning of a title, and let me tell you that obeying so against the natural expression of the headline, will make your content a diaper of a noob. Advanced cognition can be expected from this plugin if you have a premium subscription.

The plugin has bugs that can often suggest a false count of your keyword.

Here’s an example.

John wants to target the US audience, and he overlooks that their Grammarly is set to British English. It is normal to err at this stage. So, the article that John writes has a meta description set in American English. Grammarly suggests changing it. John does it because Grammarly says it. When the article appears on Google, the meta description reads in British English for the American audience. A native reader understands your link doesn’t deserve a click, and therefore Google doesn’t rank it on SEO. Don’t be John.

Please note that Phase VI is not independent of Phase 1. You still need to do your keyword research to implement that in your article. Yoast SEO plugin won’t complain as long as your keyword appears the measure number of times.

Phase VII: Significance of Page Speed in SEO 2021

It won’t be a smart thing to blame the writer of your content that isn’t ranking on Google, which you believe is chiefly the contribution of On-Page SEO. Many people suppress essential page and image scripts by using WP Rocket, a popular Page speed plugin with WordPress. If only page speed optimization were so easy.

Learn about Off-Page SEO, and you’ll know how important it is for search engine optimization in 2021. The bottom line, Google hates slow loading pages. Audit your site with Lighthouse.

What is Off-Page SEO?

In simple words, while On-page SEO efforts focus on content quality (non-technical SEO), site structure and speed optimizations (technical SEO), Off-page SEO focuses on, among other things, link building, social media, and local SEO.

READ: Local SEO, Link Building, 5 Things You Need to Know About Social Media & SEO

Search Engine Optimization 2021

Now you know how these fundamental rules hold back your content from ranking. With quality content on the compromise, because the source has lost its elasticity to an unprecedented number of people claiming to be the astronauts of SEO, a startup founder has to rethink content creation strategy for better search engine optimization in 2021. If you are reading this article as a fellow content writer, you now have the hacks to moderate your content from technical and non-technical perspectives. If you are a buyer, you know what to expect and how much you should be ready to pay when Google can easily determine your keyword stuffing habit in a poorly written article which you bargain for dust.

This Post Has 3 Comments

  2. Jason Weiland March 17, 2020 Reply

    I agree about Yoast> I’ve gotten to the point where I turn off the focus keyword and use the plugin to set the meta elements and such.

    This a great reference. Good job!

    1. Linda Ashok March 17, 2020 Reply

      Hello Jason, do you have any preference over YOAST? I think YOAST should go for affiliate marketing helping serious new bloggers avail their premium services through actively recommending their plugin.

Leave a Reply