Search Engine Optimization Today

Several well-established companies invest in SEO to unlock organic traffic, thereby enhancing their site ranking. However, companies have become doubtful about the efficacy of SEO. Is SEO relevant in 2021? Many companies ponder on this question.

The answer is yes! SEO will remain relevant at all times, as long as the fundamental purpose of SEO remains constant; to enhance sites and rank them on search result pages.

Read on to understand how SEO functions and how you can apply key SEO trends to optimize your brand website.

What Is SEO?

SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization. SEO aims to bring organic traffic to the site by enhancing it to rank higher in Google Search Results.

Organic traffic is essential for the website to get potential buyers to the website. More users discover your website through searching keywords related to your brand and the service or product that it offers.

For unlocking organic traffic and up-scaling your business through digital marketing, SEO is crucial. 

Is SEO Relevant?

SEO is relevant all the time. However, what is not pertinent and needs to be updated are the techniques that are used. As Google keeps updating its algorithms, the old methods do not work.

The Google algorithms are updated constantly to exclude all the low-quality content and enhance user experience. Revamped algorithms prefer content with more elements.

High-quality content with relevant images and video SEO can help rank your pages higher in the search results.

Through the years, Google has worked on bringing content that offers value on the #1 page of SERP or Search Engines Results Page. High-quality, engaging content is bifurcated from spammy content with lesser value.

Some people may argue that SEO is irrelevant in 2021 because they may be used to the old SEO practices. Google has, however, disregarded the spammy SEO practices and acknowledged informative, good quality content.

Some of the most common spammy SEO practices are:

·        Spammy backlinks to your website

·        Plagiarized content

·        Keyword stuffing

·        Clickbait titles of the blogs or articles

·        Websites with complex user-interface

·        Malpractices

These SEO practices not only get you penalized by Google, but they also decrease the chances of your site ranking further.

SEO is relevant and vital for digital marketing. One must know how to practice SEO rightfully with the latest techniques that run with the updated algorithm.

Google Search Result Revamped

The Google search result page has been revamped constantly. Earlier, the search results had a different algorithm that updated the search result with the latest blog or information. However, that wasn't of much use to the people.

The users would have to skim through all the information in the previous algorithm and then find the relevant one.

The latest algorithm has the search result optimized to rank the most relevant and valuable resource. It is optimized so that helpful information appears first, enabling the users to receive data quickly.

Some of the Google algorithm updates are Panda (2011), Penguin (2012), Hummingbird (2013), and BERT (2019).

Ranking With SEO trends In 2021

Digital marketers have unraveled the different SEO practices that helped many web pages to rank high. 82% of marketers find SEO to be effective, and its efficacy is on a constant rise.

SEO experts work to understand the overall function of Google. This knowledge is proven to be favorable when creating strategies and techniques.

Three key factors control the Google ranking:

1.     Great User Experience

2.     High-quality content

3.     Website authority

A good SEO practice helps in aligning the website with these pillars of ranking.

Two types of SEO practices have been seen to favor web pages. These are On-page Optimization and Off-page Optimization.

On-Page Optimization



The SEO conducted on the website is on-page optimization. The entire process and the output are under your control.

On-page optimization is further divided into two categories:

·        Technical SEO: This SEO practice includes optimizing the site's user experience. Making it mobile-friendly, fast-loading, exemplary site architecture, and SSL certificates are some technical SEO practices.

·        Content Optimization: Using appropriate keywords in the content and ensuring you are not overusing them helps optimize your content. The readability and the visuals of the text are enhanced. Image SEO, internal, external linking, and formatting the text are some of the SEO practices for Content Optimization.

Meta descriptions and page titles benefit SEO ranking. They need to include the target keyword. 

Off-Page Optimization

Off-page optimization includes link-building. The main aim is to elevate the site's authority in the specific niche. The SEO expert doesn't have much control over this process.

The higher authority refers to the reference of your pages the other websites give. This is also an indication to Google that your content is high-quality.

The best way to make this work is to create good quality content so that multiple sites backlink your webpage. 

Getting Started With SEO

The primary step to get started with SEO practices is to see that your website is indexed. To do that, type site:yourdomain.com. Indexed website means that Google is aware of your website, and when a search is done, your relevant keywords will help you rank.

If you are not indexed, it is not a good sign. The loading speed of the page should also be checked, as that also determines the rankings. The user can check the loading speed on Google's free tool called Page speed insights.

Another excellent SEO practice is to check whether the site is mobile-friendly. This test can be done on the Mobile-Friendly test, another free tool by Google.

Final Words

Digital marketing has become the most potent type of marketing. Each aspect of digital marketing is very crucial. SEO practices define the ranking of your page, and that is why investing in it is essential.

SEO practices only fail when outdated techniques are used for the new algorithms. To make the best use of SEO, studying the functioning of Google is helpful.

In 2021, the latest SEO trends have been analyzed and published on many websites. These trends are vital for your webpage to rank, and these trends and upgrades make SEO relevant in your digital marketing.