In 2020, there were a number of changes in the approaches to the search engine optimization and every site owner was searching for the methods that would work best for their own website promotion. 2021 is not an exception. We see new Google core updates and some websites get hurt again and again, while others see the boost in ranking and traffic. In this article, we will review the most recent SEO trends of 2021, that will be relevant for online stores of all kinds.
By leveraging these trends you can start making the changes your e-commerce store requires, and it will have a positive impact on its rankings.
Mobile-Friendly Design
Despite the fact that this factor was announced several years ago, a fairly large number of online stores are still not adapted for different screen resolutions. If we look at the publicly available data on the internet traffic provided by StatCounter, we can see a significant predominance of mobile traffic in e-commerce stores.
The general trend contributes to the growth of mobile traffic, which is especially important for online stores. Smartphones are used not only for entertainment and content consumption, but also for online shopping, which makes online businesses adapt their store for mobile.
The gradual transition to mobile-first indexing will be completed in 2021. This means that non-adaptive online stores will have to forget about appearing in the top 10 positions in SERPs. The logic of the search engine is quite understandable, because Google gives preference to sites that care about their audience. It is difficult to call the adaptability a trend, because it is a necessity, neglecting which means eliminating the likelihood of a store getting to the top of search results.
To accomplish this task and make your online store’s design mobile-friendly you’d better address an e-commerce development company.
Core Web Vital Compliance
Loading speed plays an important role in the search engine ranking. However, since July 2021 the importance of this factor has gradually increased.
The main components of this metric include:
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint). A metric that indicates the rendering speed of the main content within the page.
- FID (First Input Delay). The speed of operation of interactive elements within the page as part of a user interaction with them.
- CLS (Content Layout Shifts). A metric that displays the percentage of content shifted when loading.
Checking all of the above points is carried out using the PageSpeed Insights tool or Google Search Console. PageSpeed reports show not only up-to-date information regarding the site loading speed, but also recommendations for improving the page speed and its usability.
Website Security
Search engines continue to follow the security trends, which makes the fraudsters’ lives much harder. The new Google Page Experience algorithm includes a special focus on security. To check how secure your website is, follow these steps:
- Install the HTTPS protocol
- Find a trusted hosting provider
- Update/upgrade your CMS on a regular basis
- Use secure passwords
- Check your statuses in Google Search Console regularly
- Use only reliable payment gateways
Microdata Markup
If earlier it was quite rare to find an extended snippet in the search results, today it is structured data that comes out on top. Structured data helps Google Bot to understand what content does your page include, which might help your page to get to the extended snippet and increase the CTR. Moreover, if you want your pages to appear in the People Also Ask section or a Quick Answers block, the markup is a prerequisite.
<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/PdZ4KmIJvaM” title=”YouTube video player” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>
That is why, without introducing micro-markup on your site, you are deliberately deciding yourself advantages over your competitors.
Using Video Content
Many online stores during the pandemic received a large number of conversions and traffic precisely due to the correct use of video content. The reason for this is quite simple – dramatic increase in the number of online customers who want to examine the product in detail. Oftentimes, photos may not be enough, so video content comes to the rescue. It is important to find ways to use YouTube for your business, and attach videos on your site, which allows you to get the following benefits:
- Improving behavioral factors
- Rising positions in the search results
- Increased conversion rate
- More domains refer to your website
E-A-T
The E-A-T factor stands for expertise, authority and trust on the part of the search engine. While earlier this factor was applied only to websites of certain topics related to medicine or finances, now it becomes equally vital for websites operating in all topics.
Online stores are no exception. After another Google update rolled out in December 2020, many webmasters noticed the impact of E-A-T.
The E-A-T algorithm includes the following points:
- The relevant section/separate page for the company’s contact information
- Detailed description of payment and shipping terms
- Footer must contain a copyright sign and the indicated years of the site existence
- Mention company’s achievements and rewards
- A website must be well-structured and user-friendly
- E-commerce store should contain a blog which is regularly updated
- Links pointing to the website must be placed on reputed resources
Local SEO
The pandemic has significantly affected the life of every person and every business. As a consequence, more people try to find nearby companies when searching for the needed products.
An excellent solution to promote your business locally is to add a business card in Google My Business, which is intended specifically for the local businesses. Here is how to do it right:
- Fill out your company profile as carefully as possible
- Indicate the current address and working hours
- Describe the activities of your company, which will allow users to have an idea of your business
- Update information regularly and publish interesting and relevant news for customers
Local SEO also includes building external links from local sites that are similar to yours in terms of location and niche.
Internal Linking
Thanks to internal linking, you can significantly help search robots navigate the pages of your site As a result, this allows you to get the following benefits:
- Improvement of the website usability
- Improvement of behavioral factors
- Distribution of weight to the desired pages
- Significant improvement of the site indexing
As a nice addition, it can be noted that thanks to the well performed internal linking, you can increase the relevance of your website pages thanks to the used anchors. Internal linking has been working great for several years already, and the advantages of its implementation are hard to be overestimated.
More of that, in 2021 a diversity of traffic is gaining more and more value. Using all the sources of traffic will not only improve the perception of the site by search engines, but will also allow you to get natural links and social mentions.
Final Thoughts
As a conclusion it can be noted that all of the above trends are aimed at speeding up the website, as well as improving its usability and security for users. Consider all of the above recommendations and implement them in your e-commerce website and it will positively impact your rankings.
Olha is a Content Manager and SEO Analyst at Whidegroup. Starting as a Content Writer for software and web development topics in 2011, Olha has always been guided by a desire to thoroughly inspect every field of study before writing a single word. She found her passion in e-commerce and delighted in expanding her expertise in web development, analytics and SEO for small to medium e-commerce businesses.