How To Stay In Front Of Google's Periodic SEO Updates

For search engine optimization professionals who have worked in this dynamic field a few years, dealing with changes to the Google search engine algorithm is the cost of doing business. What used to work a couple of years ago may get you penalized this year, and whatever works now may no longer be valid in 2021; nonetheless, here are a few pointers that are worth following as of mid-2020:

• On-page SEO should still be the first step. WordPress themes continue to rank favorably, and you have the advantage of plugins such as JetPack, SMUSH, and WPRocket to make things easier.

• Technical SEO such as image compression, low crawl depth, XML sitemaps, structured data, and responsive design are more valid than ever.

• Local businesses should have the most up-to-date Google My Business profile, and every effort should be made to score customer reviews on Google Maps.

• Keyword research should be more focused towards natural phrasing and semantics. When writing content, longtail keywords must not be ignored, but they do not need to written verbatim. WordPress users are always better off following the YoastSEO plugin recommendations.

• Backlinks will continue to be strong ranking signals. The best purveyors of backlinks these days are established public relations agencies. News websites are still considered some of the best sources of backlinks, particularly if they cover the geographic area of the website.

• Internal linking has been a strong ranking for many years, and this is something unlikely to change in the near future.

The rest of the SEO game for 2020 does not have much to do with optimization at all. Many clients no longer care too much about how high their websites rank on the Google search engine results page; they are more interested in generating traffic that can turn into conversions. SEO professionals need to be mindful of this in 2020 because some clients are heading straight to digital marketing and public relations agencies that specialize in content promotion on social media. In some cases, clients are actually getting more traction from traditional media campaigns on radio, television, and even printed publications. For more information click here https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/hqgden/seoiseasytheexactprocessweusetoscaleour/.