SEO Techniques in 2020: What Will Work and What Will Not Work?

The landscape of SEO has changed by leaps and bounds over the last decade. Web Search is now mobile-centric and runs on machine learning algorithms.

The strategy and tactics of the yesteryears are no doubt still very much relevant today but there has to a cap on the extent to which one can stretch the limits.

The SEO trends in 2020 are more or less going to be the same as seen in 2019, except for a few tweaks and changes.

The good content will now get more value, and users will be focusing more on interactive contents like graphics (infographics) and videos.

With continuous search algorithm updates from Google’s end, it will be now crucial than ever for businesses to focus on delivering quality services if they wish to get or maintain good ranks in Seach Engines. So, let’s see what will work in SEO this year.

Today internet has evolved beyond simple plain algorithms to self-learning and intuitive algorithms employing Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence techniques on search.

However, SEO always has and always will survive the changing tides. This blog aims to highlight the new tools that are now essential for SEO’s and also highlight the past practices which should be kept at bay in today’s environment.

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HIGHLIGHTS [Hide]

• SEO Trends And Techniques That Do Not Work Anymore
  • 1) “Keyword Overloading“
  • 2) Poor “User Experience“
  • 3) Spam “Comments“
  • 4) Unnatural “Links“
  • 5) Duplicate “Content“
  • 6) Unwanted Interstitial Ads
  • 7) Whirlpool of Exact Match Percentage
• “SEO Techniques” That Will Work in 2020
  • 1) Don’t Just Sit Idle! Start Thinking Like “RankBrain“ :
  • 2) “CTR“ (Click Through Rate)
  • 3) “Featured Snippets“ Shortcuts – The Easy Way
  • 4) Boost Your “Content“ With These Tips
  • 5) Mobile First Index:
  • 6) Importance of “Video“ Content Marketing For The Businesses
  • 7) Sure-Fire Ways to Optimize Content for “Voice Search“
  • 8) “Guest Posting“ Help Grow Your Online Audience
  • 9) Get Better “Entity SEO“ Results Through Simple Steps
  • 10) The Best Way To “Broken link building“
  • 11) Google E-A-T Rating Is The Future of Content Marketing
  • Final Thoughts:

SEO Trends And Techniques That Do Not Work Anymore

In today’s internet age, you must be careful with conventional SEO standards like keywords in content, leaving comments, and even reusing content on multiple pages. Using keywords for anchor test is acceptable a few times.

However, using it beyond an accepted threshold is bound to backfire. Similarly, pop-ups that generate leads must be subjected to first-time visitors only. A few extra visits and clicks is an unwanted tradeoff for security and safety.

Below we highlight some of the standard techniques of the bygone days which today require very careful and limited application.

1) “Keyword Overloading“

When Google was in its infancy, Keyword Density ruled SEO. Keyword Density was the ratio based on the number of times the keyword was used versus all other remaining words on them.

This made people at that time repeat keywords in their content or webpage as many times as possible.

“Keyword Stuffing” was a bad practice and it compromised content. The simpler and easy to manipulate Google search algorithm back then enabled SEO people to misuse Google rankings for marketing purpose.

2) Poor “User Experience“

Usage Data is a paramount identifier for user experience and insight. With Usage data, Google draws important insights about the user interaction with your website. One such parameter is the bounce rate.

A high bounce rate means that people spend no time on the website and leave immediately. This will alert google search that your website consent is not helpful or informative enough.

Hence, unlike previous years. any unnecessarily complex or misleading website is sure to receive negative feedback and suffer relative drops in rankings.

The Panda update from Google was specifically aimed to clean up poor content. Google collected important feedback from googlers visiting specific websites.

Websites were rated depending on the feedback. Then google looks for a similar pattern in other websites and hence Poor-quality site design and content can now receive poor ratings as well as ranking.

3) Spam “Comments“

Spam Comments easily ruin blog posts with great content. More often than not, you might find a very disturbing element in a great blog (text, image, video).

When you scroll down the comments section, you might be taken aback by the amount of dummy and redundant spam comments.

There can be hundreds of such Duplicate Comments which are not concerned about the subject matter but on the hindsight, they are solely aimed to generate successful hits or visitors.

However, these days Nofollowed links alert search engines from giving undue credit or pass for any authority to that link.

Other effective solutions for spam comment driven links are:

• WordPress plugins enable website owners to filter such comments
• Websites nowadays ask for users name or email to enable a comment.
• Some websites even manually approve comments.
• Blacklisting habitual offenders.

4) Unnatural “Links“

Black Hat SEO technique was infamous for using strategies, techniques, and tactics that did not comply with search engine rules and policies as well general ethics. Some of these include:

• People putting white text on white backgrounds as nobody could see it except the crawling search engines.
• Hidden or unnatural links are a more reformed variation of this negative tactic.

Website visitors are unable to view these links and content. However, Google crawls through them in the background.

This practice has been prevalent prevent since the genesis of the internet. However, doing it today must be avoided at all costs as it may lead to bad name and blacklisting.

5) Duplicate “Content“

Duplicate Content is a recurring issue with Search Engines. People often Copy and Paste content to different sites.

There is even software like “article spinners” to jumble the contents of a particular article to be republished somewhere else.

However, this practice comes with a whole number of issues like a duplicate content problem. The duplicate content link may appear in different sections of the website.

Google finds it difficult to determine which page to pass authority to.

Unknowingly google will split up the website’s credit and share it across different pages.

6) Unwanted Interstitial Ads

Mobile phone users have to suffer from intrusive interstitial ads. Intrusive screen blocking ads degrade the smooth user experience.

Google now takes these user grievances on top priority.

Impeding visitors with unwanted pop-up ads, videos etc is no longer an effective SEO tactic. Google even issues warnings to site visitors for annoying ads.

Further, to improve mobile experience Google has been very strict with its ranking for websites where content is not easily available to users.

Even those Pop-ups which are not driving a ton of conversions may be red-flagged.

7) Whirlpool Of Exact Match Percentage

Anchor text provides info about the link user will be directed to by clicking on it.

It is a preview of the link, the webpage visitor is about to click on. The choice is for the visitor to click or ignore the link.

Except in some rare cases, the links are within accepted norms of society as well as the internet.

Search engines use these anchor links to understand the authenticity and authority of the content of the web pages that they lead to.

Hence, using too many exact match anchor text on your page will in all probability backfire.

Most SEO practices even today involves using misleading and no use “EXACT MATCH”.

If you are still doing this… 

Hence, we see that usage data, as well as better and intelligent algorithms, are now forcing SEO to shed a few of the previous norms and upgrade their armor based on the present landscape of content and internet as a whole.

We now make a detailed analysis of the modern techniques that a present-day SEO must be equipped with.

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Now let’s get into in SEO techniques, tactics, strategies, trick, future predictions of 2020 whatever you want to call it… Dig in!!

“SEO Techniques” That Will Work In 2020

1) Don’t Just Sit Idle! Start Thinking Like “RankBrain“ :

Google calls it the third most important ranking factor for search related queries. RankBrain couples Machine learning with the search.

To put it in layman terms rankbrain simply draws insights based on users interaction with the search results.

User Experience Strategies For Beginners:-

Google has been using RankBrain since 2015 and will continue to use it in 2019 to analyze and process user search in order to be able to give more relevant search results for specific queries.

Since RankBrain considers user search behaviour and interaction as a factor to rank web pages in Google results, what SEO experts need to do is devise their marketing strategies around User Experience (UX) signals and work accordingly.

In other words, first, focus on optimizing your landing page for the user before you start building backlinks to it.

The impact that it will have on SEO are:

• Even though the name of a particular website may not appear on the top of a search result. It can boost its rank if the user selects the website ahead of others before or after it. The user must also spend a considerable amount of it.
• In case the user selects the top option from the search result and immediately bounces back to the result page after being erred by the terrible content. RankBrain will make a note of this and immediately boot the website from the top spot.

Hence, RankBrain evaluates two parameters:

Dwell Time: The amount of time visitor stays on the webpage. Dwell time is used as a ranking signal.

It takes into account :

• When the page was visited.
• How much active time was spent on the website.
• When the page was closed.

The average Dwell Time for a Top 10 Google result is 3 minutes and 10 seconds.

2) “CTR“ (Click Through Rate)

Click-through-rate defines the rate at which search appearances of your page are converting into clicks. Irrespective of RankBrain, CTR is still used by Google to ranks pages in search results.

For instance, if your page on #4 position is getting more clicks than the page on #1 positions, Google will eventually boost your rank.

On the contrary, if your page on the top rank is not getting clicks, Google might drop its ranks.

That said, if you are already providing the answer to user’s query in the search snippet and therefore not getting many clicks, Google may take your rankings down even if your page is good or useful.

This is why it is important to get and maintain good CTR in order to achieve better rankings in top search engines.

Here are a few things that can help you improve your Google Search CTR.

• Identify and optimize your website content with the lowest CTR (use Google’s Search Analytics)
• Make a list of the keywords that are doing really bad even after ranking on top in search results.
• Avoid stuffing your page Titles with Keywords which are not inspiring clicks.
• Add emotions to your Titles to inspire more clicks.
• Make your page title catchy and unique
• Use numbered lists as they are known to boost CTR
• Your Title should clarify the purpose as to why someone should click on it.
• Add words like “Amazing”, “Awesome”, “Proven”, “Secret”, etc, which are instantly capable of grabbing the user attention.
• Make sure that your page URL is descriptive (self-explaining).
• Research Title ideas on Google Adwords

3) “Featured Snippets“ Shortcuts – The Easy Way

A Featured Snippet is a special result that is shown on the top, even before the #1 result, of search results for a keyword.

A large number of GOOD search results are now appearing in the form of Featured Snippets, and they are getting good clicks, in some cases, even better than the #1 position.

Wondering how to add your content to that Featured Snippet? Here you go.

First, you need to find out your relevant keywords for which Featured Snippets are shown.

You can use tools like Ahrefs.com for that purpose. Then, figure out keywords for which you are already ranking on the first page.

These are the keywords you should target here because most of the Featured Snippets are taken from pages that are already ranking well for that phrase.

Then, you need to create “Snippet Bait”, which is a paragraph containing 40-60 words around the search term and include it to your page.

The snippets can be of different types, including paragraph snippet, list snippet, table snippet, etc. So, make sure to create a snippet bait that best fits your content and the search term.

4) Boost Your “Content“ With These Tips

With content, there is a lot you can do. Content never expires, it simply becomes outdated and needs regular revisions.

In 2020, keep your focus on in-depth, context-rich content.

Wondering what that is?

Well, Google Spiders have become smarter over time. Keywords are no longer the only thing that matters to Google when deciding where to rank a content.

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So, forget about getting your content stuffed with a lot of keywords, and instead, focus on making it in-depth and content-rich. Here’s how.

Features of Great Content:

• Minimum 1500-2000 words for a complete content.
• Research-based content
• Use LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) Keywords or closely related words, and
• Phrases which are strongly related to the content.
• Authoritative and Evergreen content

5) Mobile First Index:

Over the years, desktop computers have been replaced by mobile devices which include smartphone, tablets, phablets etc. this propelled Google to switch from desktop to mobile-first index.

What this means is that Google will now consider the mobile version of your website as the one and only version.

Please bear in mind the following key points for content specific to Google’s Mobile first index:

• Consider switching to a responsive design for a mobile version of your website if you have not done so yet.
• Make content exclusively for mobile and desktop alike.
• Check the user experience of your website on a mobile and do the required changes accordingly.
• Youtube is now the second largest search engine. Create video content or miss out on the bandwagon of this search engine.
• Couple your blogs with video content. It promises an interesting fusion and great content.

6) Importance Of “Video“ Content Marketing For The Businesses

Youtube is now the second largest search engine. That means a lot of people are searching for and watching videos online.

It is almost certain that videos will get more in demand in 2020 and beyond that. So, if you are not leveraging from this strategy, you might be missing out on a lot of traffic.

According to HubSpot, people want more video content. So, what you can do?

Create video content relevant to your business, website, niche, products, and services.

Thankfully, there is no lack of the type of videos you can create and the places you can share your video content.

Besides YouTube, you can share your videos on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other popular social networking sites or even showcase on your own website to make them viral.

Another great idea is to couple your blogs with video content. It promises an interesting fusion and great content.

Apart from that, you can also target “Video Featured Snippets” to let your videos feature at the top of search results for a specific query.

7) Sure-Fire Ways To Optimize Content For “Voice Search“

The evolution of voice search is largely attributed to the mobile revolution.

The popularity of smartphones and mobile searches has led to an increase in the number of voice searches in the past year.

Presently, 20% of mobile searches are voice-based. This number is expected to hit the 50% mark by 2020.

Google’s Assistant, Cortana, Google Allo, Bing Voice are some of the most used voice search apps on smartphones.

So, how can you optimize your content for voice search? Let’s find out.

According to a study by Backlinko, Google’s voice search results are taken from the top search results.

The #1 result contributes to around 38% of voice search answers, while the low ranking pages are used less.

So, in order for your content to be used in voice search results, it needs to rank high in Google’s SERP.

Also, if your content is already appearing in a Featured Snippet, the chances are high for it to appear in the voice search as well.

Besides that, you can try to include answers in your content to specific questions that people are asking via voice searches.

FAQ pages are a great example of that. If you already have FAQ content on your site, try targeting it for voice results.

8) “Guest Posting“ Help Grow Your Online Audience

Guest posting is one of the most genuine ways to build authority backlinks to your website.

It has gained a lot of popularity in the past decade and will continue to grow in the coming year.

The only thing that has changed, or improved, is the quality of guest post content.

Over time, people, especially black hat SEO followers, have started treating guest blogging as a way to get good quality links by writing just anything.

While this may work to some extent, it is not the ultimate way to do guest blogging.

16 Generic Ways to Find “Guest Posting” Opportunities:

“[keyword]” + “guest post by”
“[keyword]” + “guest contribution”
“[keyword]” + “contributing writer”
“[keyword]” + “guest author”
“[keyword]” + The following guest post”
“[keyword]” + “guest blogger”
“[keyword]” + “guest column”
“[keyword]” + “guest article”

“[keyword]” + inurl:guest-posts
“[keyword]” + inurl:write-for-us
“[keyword]” + inurl:guest-post-guidelines
“[keyword]” + inurl:profiles/blog/new
“[keyword]” + inurl:category/guest
“[keyword]” + inurl:contributors

“Guest post” + “[influencer name]”
“Contributor” +“[influencer name]”

This technique has always been about quality content and how through that content you can get good quality backlinks.

If you are looking for ways to do genuine guest blogging, here are some ideas.

First, you need to decide your purpose for guest blogging, as to whether you are looking to build authority and reputation for your business or simply want more traffic through quality backlinks.

Once you figure out the purpose, you can determine the kind of blogs which would be best for your blogging efforts.

The next thing is to find the right blogs for your guest posts. The blogging sites you choose should be:

• Relevant to your website/business niche
• Popular among their respective audiences
• Active on social media
• Shareable, useful, informative and readable

You can take help of Google for finding relevant guest posting opportunities.

Apart from search engines, you can also find guest posting blogs via competition backlinks, social networks, and guest blogging communities.

Another thing you can do is try and find sites where your competitors or other famous bloggers in your niche are guest posting. Then, you can try posting there as well.

9) Get Better “Entity SEO“ Results Through Simple Steps

Entity SEO is a relatively new term that not many people are aware of, let alone following it.

Basically, this technique suggests that every factor that we consider for our SEO strategy should be treated as an entity.

Now, various entities are connected with each other by things like relevancy, logic, etc.

For example, on a web page, there are multiple entities including design, content, keywords, title, sidebar, menu, etc.

They are there because each of them contributes to the authority of the page. They are important for the existence of the page. So, what you can do as SEO?

Well, you can make sure that all the crucial entities of a web page are there on the page.

If you are confused about which entity to include and which to skip, take a look at the top 10 websites in your niche and all the entities they have on their web pages.

Based on that, you can decide what all entities your web pages should have.

Similarly, when you are building links, think about entities (sites) that are most relevant to your business and will benefit you in the long run; get links from those sites.

Entities, as well as the relationship between various entities, are important, and therefore, Google makes use of them to give us the best results in response to our search queries.

10) The Best Way To “Broken Link Building“

It is important to build links, but it is even more important to re-build links Advanced SEO Techniques in 2020 to Get Rank on 1st Page on Google (with Do’s And Don’ts)that have been broken.Advanced SEO Techniques in 2020 to Get Rank on 1st Page on Google (with Do’s And Don’ts)

So, what are broken links?

These are the links that no longer work, either because the linked page was deleted or the URL is wrong.

Whatever the reason is, it is more than often beneficial to mend the broken links. So, how do you rebuild them?

Broken links usually redirect to the 404 page of the website. The first thing you need to do is find/identify the broken links that should have been coming to a content on your site but are lost in the way.

You can use a tool like Site Explorer for this purpose. It will show you all the incoming links to a broken resource (page) on your site.

The next thing you should do is rebuild the broken page. If you have removed a content for some purpose, you can consider replacing it with some other content on the same/similar topic.

It is important that you have a web page with the relevant and quality content to which all those broken links could be pointed instead.

Once you’ve got that page live, you can contact all the websites that were previously linking to your broken page and request them to link to the new page.

Know that broken link building is a chance game and will not work all the time.

11) Google E-A-T Rating Is The Future Of Content Marketing

Google’s latest E-A-T algorithm update is one of the things you should know about as an SEO, especially if you use the content for marketing purposes.

E-A-T, which stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, is a composition of Google’s guidelines for rating the quality of a content based on the authority and expertise of the writer.

Yup, you heard it right.

If you are a famous writer who people know about, chances are that your content will rank prior to the competition.

So, what you can do about the E-A-T update of Google?

Here are a few tips to get started:

Add Author Names & Bio for all your editorial content
Focus on personal branding
Edit or remove content with the low E-A-T rating
Make sure your site/content is technically secure

Final Thoughts:

SEO is not all about the techniques and tips, SEO is based on the creativity, the more creativity and innovation means the faster results.

The deeper research and reading the latest trends help you get faster results and desired rankings.

So, these are the old and new techniques with a detailed comparison.

We hope that you find these techniques best. If you have some queries and confusion regarding some techniques then please let us know by doing comment. We are always here to answer your all questions.

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