Is search engine optimisation (SEO) a complicated thing, or a simple thing? In many ways, it’s both; while there are said to be more than 200 different SEO ranking factors accounted for in Google’s algorithm, the broader trends and principles behind where SEO is heading do help us a little in determining what’s likely to really matter when it comes to getting webpages ranking in 2020.
Here are a few of those ranking factors that our own experts here at PENNInk Productions reckon will be a big deal in the 12 months to come.
Search intent
It’s only really been talked about much as a big SEO ranking factor relatively recently, but it’s one that will, in many ways, define marketers’ optimisation efforts in 2020. So, what do we mean by ‘search intent’?
In short, it’s all about trying to compose content that matches well to what users are actually searching for, as ascertained from the wording of their queries.
A search like ‘best tablet computers’, for instance, indicates that the user is seeking a list of suggestions of the highest-rated tablet computers, so creating content in this format – a top 10 ‘listicle’ article discussing specific renowned tablet computers, for instance – might see you perform well for this search term.
If, though, the user instead searches for ‘tablet computer features’, it can probably be assumed that they’re less interested in knowing what specific tablets are considered the finest, and more intrigued to know what features they might reasonably expect almost any tablet computer to have – such as a touchscreen, battery, camera and so on.
So again, the first-ranking content for such a search term is likely to reflect this specific search intent.
Featured snippets
A ‘featured snippet’ is the content that sometimes appears in a box at the top of a search engine results page (SERP) for a particular query. This provides a ‘snapshot’ response to the user’s search term that in some cases, may instantly answer their question without the need for them to even click through to any other pages.
If a user performs a search for ‘buying a property in Spain’, for instance, there may be a featured snippet on the resultant SERP, giving them some instant information on the process of buying a property in Spain.
But with the ‘featured snippet’ in question being taken from a page elsewhere online that Google deems worthy of being ‘snipped’ for the benefit of its users, the person who sees the snippet does also have the option of clicking through to see the full page, should they wish to investigate the subject of concern further.
Now, as a website owner, there’s no easy way for you to ‘game’ your way into the featured snippet for any particular query. So, all that you can really do is produce the suitably relevant and high-quality content that you hope Google will feature as its ‘snippet’ for the given search term.
Fast page loading times
Did you know that the average mobile webpage takes more than 15 seconds to load – and that 53% of users will abandon a page if they’re left waiting three seconds for it to load?
That’s a shocking combination of statistics in many ways. However, in the new era of ‘mobile-first’ Google indexing, it also represents potentially very good news for you and your brand: there’s a big opportunity to eke out a significant competitive advantage, simply by shortening the loading times of your own mobile webpages.
Add to this the fact that page speed has been a mobile ranking factor for about two years now, and you should hopefully see why this is an aspect of your site you should be refining with the help of a reputable provider of online SEO services such as PENNInk Productions.
Give our team a call on 020 8144 7931 or send us an email today and we’ll be pleased to discuss with you how our online SEO services could make a significant difference to your brand’s success online in 2020.
Edward Solomon has over 30 years’ experience in project management, technical education, computer networking, web design and development and is a Digital Business Consultant for PENNInk Productions Ltd.
