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People used Google to perform over 2 trillion searches last year.

If you’re like most business owners, your main concern is finding a way to drive more organic traffic to your website so that you can convert interested browsers into paying clients.

The best way to do this is by optimising your website for search engine success.

To discover everything you need to know about Search Engine Optimisation to drive your business growth, check out my related article called How to Use SEO to Skyrocket Your Business Growth on Autopilot.

Search Engine Optimisation is one of the most important forms of Inbound Marketing that you can engage in as a business owner. Inbound marketing refers to marketing efforts that are designed to draw visitors and potential customers in, rather than outwardly ‘pushing’ a brand or product. SEO is a form of inbound marketing because it draws customers to your website via organic searches in search engines (like Google,Yahoo, Bing etc). If someone is searching for something that your business offers, you want to make sure that you appear in the Google search results so that they can contact you and become a paying client.m

Outbound Marketing refers to any form of content that you ‘push’ out into the world (advertising, social media posting etc) in order to bring traffic (visitors) to your website.

Outbound marketing relies on your own individual effort, whereas Inbound Marketing happens organically, while you're sleeping, without any effort on your part. It's essential that you intentionally engage in both forms of marketing (inbound + outbound) in business.Tweet it

But in addition to the fundamental SEO methods described in my previous article, there are also three important SEO trends that you need to know about this year if you want to stay ahead of your competition.

You can waste a lot of time and money by using marketing methods that are old or ineffective. This is why staying on the cutting edge SEO is so important. The following are some of the SEO trends you need to be aware of in 2020.

3 Critical SEO Trends You Need to Know in 2020

1. Featured Snippets Can Drive Organic Traffic to Your Website

In the past, business owners were mainly concerned with getting their website to the top of a Google search engine results page, or at the very least on page one of Google search results.

In the past few years, Google has unveiled the Featured Snippet functionality. Featured Snippets provide users with a concise, direct answer to their questions, right there on the search results page, without the users having to click through to a specific result. If the snippet is compelling and the visitor wants to know more, they’ll click through to your website and increase your web traffic as a result.

Google picks the snippet from the web page that best answers the query in a simple, concise format. This levels the playing field and leaves the door wide open for content that isn’t in the number one search result spot to be featured above everything else. This has massive potential to drive visitors to your website.

If you want to get more clicks from Google, you need to optimise what your site looks like in the search results. And you can do this with Featured Snippets. 

Featured snippets give marketers a chance to beat competitors, boost conversions, and drive traffic right to their site, because people are more likely to click through to learn more if they get direct answers to their questions.Tweet it

HubSpot research has shown that content with a featured snippet gets a 2-times higher click-through rate. This is huge! But getting your website into the coveted spot of Featured Snippet is not easy. In order to accomplish this goal, you will need to work on answering common questions about your industry in your website content. Sites like Answer the Public are great for helping you understand the long tail keywords that people are searching for in a given topic.

If you’re unable to develop content for either your website or a guest posting site, working with professionals is a good idea. Outreach Mama has a plethora of Blogger Outreach Services options to offer. With their help, getting great content and relevant back links will be a breeze.

2. Voice Search Optimisation is Important

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few years, you’ll be well aware of technology like Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri. These devices have changed the way consumers interact with search engines and other parts of the Internet. Instead of using text to find items in Google, more and more people are using their voice to search the web. As the popularity of voice search grows, you’ll have to adapt. Changing the way you approach the content on your website is essential when trying to capitalise on the popularity of voice search.

Using long tail keywords is smart when trying to optimise your website for voice search. Putting yourself in the mindset of a consumer searching for something in your industry can help you develop the right long tail keywords. Most search queries performed with voice search will be posted in the form of a question. Answering these questions can help you increase the amount of organic traffic your website receives.

3. Modern Consumers Love Video Content

If your website is devoid of video content, you need to fix this problem in a hurry.

The amount of time that consumers spent watching YouTube nearly doubled last year.

With the power of engaging and entertaining, you can draw in potential customers and increase sales. The key to making a great video is developing a script beforehand. Trying to get your point across in a concise manner will take some planning.

With an outline of what you want to cover in the video, you can avoid rambling and potentially boring the water. If you don’t have experience with this type of marketing, consulting with professionals is vital. Paying these professionals for their help will be worth it due to the results they can provide.

Don’t Let These SEO Trends Pass You By

Now that you know more about the marketing trends of 2020, it is time to take action. These trends can help you bring your marketing campaigns into the 21st century. 

Want to know more about SEO and how to use it to optimise your business success? Check out this great article:
How to Use SEO to Skyrocket Your Business Growth on Autopilot.

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In service to your success,

Kate De Jong, Ph.D
Fempire Coach for Thriving Female Professionals
[email protected]
www.katedejong.com.