93% of all online experiences begin with someone typing in a query on a search engine. That accumulates to a total of around 1.2 trillion searches annually, with that number steadily increasing year to year.
Because of that, marketers in all industries have been putting SEO at the top of their priority list. And even though the tech industry might be more sophisticated, its users use Google for research just like anyone else, which is why the potential for results is just as significant if you can rank for the key queries in your niche.
Still, even though the organic search is booming, there are quite a few obstacles facing tech companies as well. The audiences are usually very sophisticated, the competition is fierce, and Google is making changes to its result display that make attracting organic traffic a harder task than ever before.
The only way for tech companies to overcome those obstacles is to stay ahead of the curve and anticipate the most important trends surrounding the SEO world.
So, in this article, let’s go through some of the most important SEO trends that savvy tech companies simply cannot ignore if they wish to dominate their rankings and achieve a never-ending influx of new customers.
1. Organic SERPs Are Getting Crowded
Bumping elbows for top placements on Google SERPs has always been a challenging process, but the more recent changes by the search giant have made this even more noticeable.
Google is trying to maximize its profits, so it is making changes to the way that paid ads are displayed, masking them among the organic results, and further increasing the competition for already highly competitive tech-industry keywords.
Then there’s the Featured Snippets function, which is absolutely amazing for those that can obtain it, but basically a death sentence for everyone else below it.
The “People also ask” box is also an addition that takes a ton of space and reduces the number of people who actually scroll down to the lower results.
With all of these obstacles, not to mention the ever-increasing Google requirements for ranking, achieving good results in cutthroat niches in tech becomes a tall task even for companies that have experience with SEO.
But what should that mean for your strategy?
Well, first off, you need to get help from SEO marketing services that have an impeccable reputation and can prove that their methods achieve success. Every little edge that you can get is immensely valuable, so tech companies that can find innovative ways to improve rankings will reap huge benefits.
Another important consideration is your SEO strategy focus. You won’t be able to achieve the highly-coveted “zero spot” of the Featured Snippets for all the keywords that you’re targeting, so you must have a diverse profile of long-tail keywords that are easier to rank for and have a wide variety of organic traffic sources you can count on.
Finally, when you do achieve a high ranking for one of your pages, you will need to make it count using engaging headlines and descriptions, excellent writing, and impeccable user experience that gets people to stay on your site and take the action that you want them to take.
2. Voice Search is Here to Stay
Voice search is becoming the new frontier that SEO experts are raving about. 50% of all searches across the internet will be made using voice search in 2020, and 30% will be done using devices that don’t even have a screen.
So, while there’s certainly a lot of hype surrounding the topic, there’s actual data that points to the fact that voice search is becoming too significant to ignore.
For tech companies, voice search can be especially useful because it’s a relatively new field, which means that the competition isn’t as fierce and the results pages are typically not as crowded.
Sure, they may be harder to identify in tech industries with sophisticated audiences, but people still use the same devices, no matter how complex the problems that they are trying to solve.
By targeting open-ended questions that require elaborate and informative answers, you can tap into audiences that you might not otherwise have access to, and familiarize them with your brand, potentially bringing them into your funnel down the line.
And even though the vast majority of voice answers come from the Featured Snippet, the semantic differences of voice search also mean that you might have a much easier time ranking, and can capture the majority of the traffic for those keywords.
3. Use Video to Supercharge Your Rankings
Last year, an estimated 80% of all traffic online was video streaming.
Sure, part of it is because of the fact that streaming does take up a lot more bandwidth than other activities. But at the same time, video streaming is at an all-time across all industries, and consumers want brands to produce videos above every other type of content.
Because of the changing user preferences, getting video is no longer optional if you want to cater to the majority of your audience and ensure that people actually consume the content that you produce.
What’s more, getting one of the video spots for search results can help you gain valuable clicks with much less effort, as video rankings are still a lot less competitive than traditional website links.
But how can you get your videos to rank?
Well, Google has a set of criteria that it looks at when ranking videos. Instead of merely looking at the views, Google looks at how long people are watching, as well as how many likes, shares, and comments it receives.
Therefore, it makes sense to create longer videos that are very informative, engaging, and relevant, as that will help your videos to stand out not only on Google but on YouTube search as well.
Another crucial aspect is picking the right name and description. Since your ultimate goal is to rank the video for SEO, you should take the necessary time to use the keywords and tags that Google will understand and associate with the right themes.
4. High-Quality Content is More Important Than Ever
Content is king is one of those SEO mantras that will probably never completely disappear. Especially when you consider that content is indeed what SEO is really all about in the first place.
In the tech world, content is even more critical because of how informed and to-the-point the buyers usually are. You will have a tough time trying to get by with fluff pieces that don’t get the very core of the problem or provide useful insights that can be used to solve it.
Every piece of content that you produce must be incredibly informative, but on top of that, it must have a way to connect with your audience and get them to listen to what you have to say. Finally, you need to showcase your expertise that proves your authority on the subject and helps understand why people should listen to you in the first place.
When mapping out any piece of content that you want to create, you should first look at the current landscape for the keyword that you want to rank for. Use SEO tools to look at technical details about your competition’s content, but you should also analyze the content itself, looking for ways to gain an edge and build upon what others have done.
Succeeding with SEO content in 2020 is all about providing real and unique value to your readers as Google has learned to recognize the signals that show which articles and videos are the most useful to the target audience.
Want to know how SEO can help generate more leads for your business? Get in touch with Dignitas Digital, a leading digital marketing agency in Delhi that has helped businesses grow with strategies that drive significant results.