SEO tips that are still relevant in 2021

Marketeers with knowledge of SEO know it is a troubling issue because there are very few hard and fast rules. Sometimes we see people who write terrible content with  incorrect spelling and grammar mistakes, somehow ranking on the top of Google. There are also websites featuring  just images that somehow beat in rank websites like Wikipedia, and there are blue-chip companies that are falling behind part time bloggers. Furthermore, we should remember that what appears on our computer could be completely different from what appears on the search engines of your friend down the street.

Here is a list of some SEO tips that are still relevant and helpful in 2021:

Consider working with an SEO agency

Firstly, let’s clarify what working with a SEO agency means and what are the dangers. Modern SEO is no longer about backlinks, social media mentions, or content stuffed with keywords. It is all about how Google targets and monitors its audience and then by using big data it presents websites that are relevant to the users’ search query. It is next-level machine learning on par with Skynet, and it cannot be manipulated or exploited.

Therefore, you need a SEO agency that can make your website more popular, not one that promises you to drive your website to the first page rankings of Google. You can benefit from working with a good and transparent SEO agency that uses white hat methods to gain more popularity for your website, rather than a SEO agency that promises you the earth but uses antiqued SEO methods as a means to get you there.

You should still use Meta Tags

It is a mistake to think that meta descriptions and meta keywords are useless nowadays. It is true that Google doesn’t rank your website based on your meta information, however, that doesn’t make meta tags useless. They are like an extra coat of paint on your boat – your boat doesn’t necessary need it, but it is better off with it than without it. Furthermore, there are still web crawlers, search engines, apps, online directories, and comparison websites that rank their entries by using meta tags. Hence, it is good to still use meta tags like meta descriptions, meta keywords, ALT text and so forth.

Page loading times are still important

Despite Google trying to downplay specific “rankable” elements, like rendering and page loading speed, the truth is that Google will penalise your website if it renders and loads too slowly. Rendering is the period that elapses from clicking on a link and the white screen beginning to load something. The page loading time is the period between the loading start and the top third of the page being loaded (in general, there are some exceptions). You can use Google’s own PageSpeed Insights test tool to check your website speed and see what is holding your website  up.

Stop Trying to Attract Backlinks

This is an odd misunderstanding that hounds the SEO industry. Some people believe that the secret to a successful SEO strategy is creating  content that other people will link to. That’s why some SEO agencies ask you to create infographics and fill your website with quotable data. However, that doesn’t affect your Google ranking the way you hope it will. Let’s say your websites provides high end software solutions – Google would expect others to link to your website in order to share the valuable information you offer. However, if you are selling oven cleaners, Google wouldn’t expect people to link to you without a very good cause. In this case, trying to attract many backlinks would be a pointless endeavour (at least in SEO terms, however, you may still receive a trickle of direct traffic from the links).

Promote your Website

A lot is said about organic online growth, however, the fact is that even successful websites need a little promotion now and again. The problem only occurs when people start relying on promotion alone to power their website popularity. This is only a plausible option for websites selling products or services and the sales from which, can cover their promotional costs. Before you start paying for promoting your website it will be beneficial for you to find a way for your website to pay for its promotion through its own profits.

 

Conclusion – Beyond 2021?

There is no guarantee that the tips we have listed in this article will be still relevant in 2022 and beyond, or if by 2022 the whole Google algorithm will have changed and a completely new list of tips will be needed. However, since the Hummingbird Update, the focus has shifted to big data machine learning rather than  defined SEO rules. In essence  we believe that some of the tips in this article about promoting your website and keeping it popular will still be relevant for many years to come.

 

 

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