The old SEO strategies and techniques that we used in the past still work but don’t seem to be as effective as expected. As Google is continuously updating its algorithm to deliver users the most relevant results, SEO experts all across the globe are becoming aware of the new SEO trends and strategies that are considered to be the future of SEO.

What are the Core SEO Trends and Strategies to Focus in 2020?

In order to beat the competition in the online market, we need to re-think and update our content and SEO strategy as per the ever changing updates of Google search engine. Keeping this in mind, we need to update our website and adopt the recent SEO strategy so as to ensure that more prospects and customers find us on search engines. So now, the question is “What are the Core SEO Trends and Strategies to Focus in 2020?”. Below is a comprehensive list of new SEO trends and strategies to follow in the coming year 2020:

1. Optimize your Website for Featured Snippet
2. Invest your Time on Influencer Marketing
3. Implement Voice Search SEO
4. Focus on Mobile UX Factor
5. Generate Video Content on Website
6. Enhance Dwell Time on Website
7. Content Length and Quality Importance
8. Artificial Intelligence in SEO
9. Work on Semantic Search and Intent Optimization
10. Understand the Need of Structured Data
11. Positive Impacts of Brand Mention
12. Optimize Content as Per Google BERT Update
13. Install Amazon Polly to Increase Dwell Time

Optimize your Website for Featured Snippet

A featured snippet is the search result that appears at the top in a box before the #1 position on SERP. The featured snippet has a very good click-through rate, so it is recommended to take advantage of this feature. To avail of this feature, we need to generate clear and simple answers to commonly asked questions on our website which may be featured on top of SERP based on their quality.

Invest your Time on Influencer Marketing

The current trend is showing that users are more likely to engage with a trustful, respected and well-known person than with ads. So, we should invest more in influencer marketing to enhance SEO efforts. Influencers can also help create valuable backlinks, an important factor in determining Google rankings. Before engaging with an influencer, make sure what type of content you want them to create, how it links back to your website and if they are relevant to your industry.

Implement Voice Search SEO

Voice searches have become a popular trend due to the advancement in mobile devices. So, we should optimize our website for voice searches and understand how to implement conversational searches into our SEO strategy. For voice search, you should focus on content with keywords having conversational queries, long queries, local targeting, and an FAQ page is a must for voice search SEO. For voice search optimization, make the title tags and first headers sound like a question similar to what a user is going to ask. For example: If your blog’s title is “Minimize Software Development Cost for Startups”, then try to make it “How to minimize Software Development Cost for Startup Businesses?”. Additionally, you can also optimize the old content with this strategy.

Focus on Mobile UX Factor

Mobile UX is an important factor in determining a website’s ranking, so a mobile version of a web-page is a must. Mobile first indexing is one of the core indexing and ranking factors. If your page doesn’t look good on mobile devices, you may lose ranking. It is essential to have a mobile version for a website to drive more users towards your website. Getting higher in the Google mobile page index will make your web-page highly authoritative.

Generate Video Content on Website

Videos are the new source of information for the users browsing online. As per studies from Google and other reputed organizations, 6 out of 10 users prefer to watch videos online than TV because online videos are a much better source of academic and entertainment information. As a result, this has greatly affected modern SEO, and marketers are now optimizing the videos for search users so as to reach out to the maximum audience. The video optimization starts with adding relevant keywords to the video headline and in the description. 

Dwell Time to be the Major Ranking Factor

Time spent on a web-page before bouncing back would be one of the major ranking factors in the coming days. The dwell time metrics are very important as they tell, how interested users are in your content and if they are getting the desired information about what they are looking for. Having a better dwell time means users are more interested in your content, so we should focus more on generating quality and valuable information for the users to get ahead of the competition.

Content Length and Quality Importance

As we know, content quality is one of the core ranking factors for any website, but now the search engines are also considering the length of content as a core ranking factor. Currently, users are now looking to get complete information from a single authentic source that is why they prefer to read lengthy content from reliable sources. Recent studies revealed that more no. of users are reading articles having a content length of 2000 words than fewer words. So, we should focus on generating lengthy content embedded with comprehensive and quality information that answers almost all the related queries for what a user is looking for.

Artificial Intelligence in SEO (Rank Brain)

Artificial intelligence is the new trend in SEO which many companies are following. As Google uses AI to deliver highly relevant results, to identify keyword stuffing, bad backlinks, irrelevant content for users, it’s necessary to use AI in your SEO strategy so as to meet the search engine requirements. AI also determines metrics such as bounce rate, time on site, etc. Using artificial intelligence in SEO and content strategy can be very useful to gather important data and customer insights which can lead to overall SEO success.

Semantic Search and Intent Optimization

Now, Google doesn’t use the exact match words that are being typed by users in the search box. Google actually looks at the user’s query context/intent and analyzes the highly relevant search intent to reflect the results. Google has a very good understanding of searchers’ intent that is why the traditional content creation with a single keyword doesn’t work now. So, it is necessary to use Text Optimizer and make a collection of the desired search queries into related concepts and entities. This semantic research will help create content having sentences based on some common co-occurrence analysis of the term you select.

Understand the Need of Structured Data

Structured data refers to displaying data in an organized way. It can be used in many different ways to display a website’s information as enhanced results in SERPs in the form of rich snippets, rich cards, carousels, knowledge boxes, etc. Google is interested in fetching more data from your web-page and giving more exposure to your website. So, it is recommended to implement structured data on your website to boost visibility and ranking. Marketing experts working in various emerging software development companies in India are now focusing hard with the developers to implement structured data for all websites on which they are working to enhance the SEO efforts.

Positive Impacts of Brand Mention

Google included brand mention as a part of its algorithm update and is tracking how many times your brand is mentioned online. So, it is the time to work around brand mentioning as Google is not only looking for links but also for people talking about your brand on social media and other online platforms.

Optimize Content as Per Google BERT Update

Bert is basically termed as Bidirectional Encoder Representations From Transformers. BERT is powered by AI and ML to provide a new way to efficiently understand the language for Google searches. It has an immediate effect on how websites are ranked on SERP. As per the BERT update, your focus should be on the context of the search term not on the keyword (with an inclination towards conversational queries). It will consider the overall context of the keyword by analyzing the other terms associated with the keyword in order to understand the actual intent behind a user’s search queries.

BERT will analyze the long-tail keywords to understand the overall context of the phrases in your search query. It is assumed that long-tailed phrases will help in improving results. BERT also implies that content is always the king which requires a primary focus above all SEO parameters, so it is required to focus on using long-tailed key phrases in your On-page SEO and content strategy. The use of keywords in the content doesn’t need to be exact, you can instead use different words of the keywords after keeping in mind the user intent behind the search query related to that keyword.

Just for an example: The exact keyword used within content like “software development India” will be given less value as compared to the phrases like “list of Indian companies delivering quality software development projects”.

Install Amazon Polly to Increase Dwell Time

Amazon Polly, a speech recognition tool will help you increase the dwell time of users on your website as it will read aloud any content piece for your site visitors. This tool is available as a WordPress plugin and can easily be integrated into blog posts. Having both the reading and listening options on your webpage will make users engaged for a longer period of time, and therefore enhance the dwell time which is a major ranking factor.

Bottom Line

All the aforementioned SEO strategies could be a game-changer for any website you own and will help you get a better search engine ranking and ensure a continuous inflow of highly relevant traffic as compared to your competition. We would be glad to hear your views or suggestions regarding the content. You can contact us directly through our comments section.

About the Author

Manoj Rawat, a Growth Hacker, Ideator, Innovator, techy and an experienced SEO, SMM and Marketing Consultant with over 8 years of IT experience. He loves to share technology trends, marketing tips & strategies among online communities. He is an avid sports person, traveller, & nature lover. 

Designing an office isn’t just about putting in place the best chairs and tables made up of the best quality material. In fact, if you think about it and if you do some research, you’ll get to know that designing an office includes a lot of things which  you shouldn’t take for granted. Your workspace environment, the ambiance, and the overall design affect your productivity and the productivity of your employees.

If you think about it, it all makes sense! Would you ever want to work in an office that’s untidy all the time, with broken chairs and tables that are unbalanced? That’s exactly the point that we are trying to explain here. Your office, its maintenance, and its overall environment will reflect the kind of work you do, the kind of person you are, and on top of it all, it will also affect your creativity and productivity.

So, if you are thinking about investing a little time, effort, and money to design your office, then yes, you are about to take one wise step that will pay you off later when you start working.

Tips On How To Design Your Office

Speaking of which, here are some important tips that can be very useful for you while you design your office for maximum productivity.

1-Work On The Lighting

One of the most important things to consider while designing your office is lighting. You don’t want yourself or your employees to come and fall asleep when they enter the office, right? Well, if yes, then test the lighting properly, make sure that it works in tandem with the paint on the walls of your office and so that it is bright enough for you and your team to work without falling asleep or feeling tired.

2-Paint

The second important factor to work on is the paint on your office walls. Most people don’t pay much heed to this factor, which is what they end up regretting. If you don’t want to be one of those people who regret the color they chose to paint on the walls, then make sure to opt for a moderate tone. Go for white and off-whites because too dark or too vibrant can be disturbing for you and your staff.

3-Use Motivational Quotes

Nowadays, people prefer using motivational and inspirational quotes on their walls instead of abstract paintings. Especially for an office, this makes sense that you have some inspiring quotes or pictures that can give you a boost for your productivity and creativity. Our top suggestion: Bemore Store. 

If you’re looking for beautiful canvas prints or t-shirts with inspirational life lessons on them, then this is the store that you need to head to right away. They were built to inspire people with life’s wisdom and feature art and apparel lines as well as a dedicated blog. And on top of it all, and in line with their mission, the store donates a portion of every product sale to cancer research through a partnership with a research fund. It’s a great site working for a great cause, which is why you should try them right now. 

4-Control The Noise

The last and another important thing to work on is the noise. Noise can cause a disturbance, and it can seriously mess up your productivity levels, so don’t take any risks with it. Just ensure a design in which each employee has a separate cabin so that there’s no noise and no disturbance.

These are some of the important things you need to consider while designing your office. All of it can help you with your productivity levels, so try the tips and then let us know what you think!

Recruiting an employee is a challenging process and retaining your best people, needs a lit bit of more effort. It requires to implement honest and thoughtful employee recognition. Such a culture motivates and rewards employees in a way that extends far beyond material incentives. In today’s hectic schedules employee recognition is a powerful employee tool to reach out to your best employees and motivate them to strive harder.

So, why are so many leaders still neglecting this invaluable practice? Most of the leaders don’t recognize the importance of this powerful tool as they received little recognition in their careers. They underestimate this idea to grow and retain their company staff. Eventually, it takes extra effort from their side to recognize their employee’s achievements and reward them with suitable needs.

If you are an employee who refers to your employees as one of your valuable resources and wants to retain your top talent. Then you can start to initiate some change in your workplace by implementing an employee recognition program. To know more about employee recognition program benefits, click here. Below are some 6 helpful and loving ways for an employee recognition program that you can custom design as per your business and industry-

1. Personalized appreciation

Make sure to create a culture of recognition in which there are emails in where one employee alone is appreciated for the efforts given. This creates a sense of longing for everyone and would try to work harder to achieve it. A personalized hand-written note is something that will never go out of style since people love to feel valued. Mention highlighting what they have done to be deserving of this appreciation.

2. The Extra Mile programs

A special program to an employee who goes beyond their call of duty and strives to make things happen for the company. This is known as the extra mile program where the company will constitute a special kit to the employee who went the extra mile and made a contribution to the company. It can consist of supporting a team member, working after office hours, did overtime during a company crisis, etc. Receiving recognition on behalf of small acts of kindness will become a part of the company culture for which employees are trained to think beyond just their job descriptions.

3. Wall of fame

On achieving monthly or yearly targets a company can keep some rewards in terms of motivation. Wall of fame is also one type of recognition where the company’s most valuable employee is being recognized by having their photos displayed on a wall specially set up for this purpose. It lends inspiration for all the other employees and motivates them to take it as a challenge.

4. Offer beyond-the-call-of-duty perks

A company can also provide those employees with special privileges of parking space or paid time off who consistently perform at the highest levels. Sometimes they can even receive some financial incentives for work well-performed. The financial incentives should be open-ended and unpredictable to motivate their employees to work harder.

5. Surprise Bonuses

Appreciating your employee with surprises, in the form of money, coupon codes, vouchers, travel packages, etc. can boost their confidence.  Adding a small note of hand-written appreciation attached with it will feel extremely genuine thus making your employees feel valued. Such kind of employee recognition practices can make a difference in any kind of organization.

6. Build an employee retention program

Incorporating an employee retention program in your company will also create moments that people will look forward to. Employ a reward system or a cash bonus or paid vacation for an employee who stays with the company for many years. This is a great idea and always effective when implemented well and motivate the employees to look forward to work for more time with the company.

There is no argument that stubborn companies that refuse to adapt to the new way of business management are doomed to crash and burn in the long run. Enterprises that do not use any modern technology in their business operations are losing out on both their present and future competition. There are now many tools that exist to help companies grow and scale, such as applications that manage enterprise contracts, track cash flows and prove analytics.

Sticking to the “old ways” will not do the company any good as many systems have all been rendered inefficient or redundant by software tools. There is now a race towards building a smart company. And the fun part is that it is not exclusive to the big corporations. Even startups and small businesses are exerting efforts into integrating as much automation and AI into their standard operating procedures to gain leverage over their competitors.

Here I have created a list of the best tools for some business operations that your company needs this 2020.

Internal Communication

Communication is essential within any organization. The chances of miscommunication in a team that has no reliable messaging platform are high. In line with this, the resulting consequences from even the slightest sense of misunderstanding could bring in a lot of unnecessary confusion and mistakes to the company. 

An effective messaging platform needs to be set and standardized to foster not only a good working relationship between employees but also improve the overall efficiency and productivity of the office.

Some of the best tools that I found are:

• Slack
• Glip
• Skype

Data Storage

In the past, the only way to have records of a company’s business transactions are through a paper trail and hard copies of documents. However, with the advancement of technology and the improvement of cloud-based systems, it is now possible to upload all of the company’s files on an online server where they are safe from physical harm. Aside from the security, a search tool makes it easier to locate files instead of having to browse through hundreds upon hundreds of folders. 

On top of that, a convenient feature of online data storage is that any administrator can access the files wherever and whenever as long as they have access to the Internet.

 Some of the best servers for data storage are:

• Dropbox
• Google Drive
• One Drive
• Media Fire

Analytics

Analytics and Search Engine Optimization may sound like intimidating concepts, but with the right tools and training, they are easy to understand. Analytics is vital to any business, regardless of whether it’s a big corporation or a small startup. Analytics provide valuable insights that greatly help with a company owner’s decision-making.

The best analytics tools available so far in the market are:

• Google Analytics
• Ahrefs
• SEMrush
• Moz

Social Media Marketing

Social Media is now one of the most significant time-consuming activities in the world. It is estimated that in 2018, the average person spent an average of 136 minutes a day. As of today, this number has probably already doubled as there are now more fun features to keep users occupied. At the same time, the life of an individual, both social and professional, can now revolve around social media.

This is why social media marketing has become one of the best marketing strategies to use to help brands connect with customers, increase their brand awareness, boost their number of leads, and increase their sales. Managing social media accounts can be quite a tedious task, and thankfully, there are software applications available for companies to use, such as:

• HootSuite
• Buffer
• Social Clout

Other Internal Processes

Some internal processes are best left to automation. For example, GatekeeperHQ’s contract management software can easily make your contract management process much faster and with fewer errors and hassle than any experienced contract manager can. On the other hand, there is Quickbooks which allows users to track company expenses, carefully manage cash flows, and create online invoices for better business management.

Summary

At the end of the day, this technology is only as powerful as the one using them. Users must take the time of the day to properly understand each aspect and feature of the automation tools to get the optimal results!

While the internet has greatly changed job searching, it has not changed the basic guidelines for being hired. In this article, we are going to look at these basic guidelines to help you increase your chances of landing work.

1. Determine What You Are Looking For

When searching for a job, you need to know what you want to do, where you want to do it and who you would like to work for. To do this, you may have to do research, ask yourself a lot of questions or ask a mentor or career coach to help you. Targeting your job search will help you save your precious time.

2. Avoid Limiting Your Job Searches to Online Applications

I understand that online job applications will make you feel like you are doing something. However, the problem with online job applications is that they are not time and energy saving. It is a good idea to spend most of your day on real-world job searching efforts such as cold calling and networking.

3. Tailor your Resume to The Job Description

It is so easy to tailor your resume to the job description. All you have to do is to understand the words and phrases in the description and use them in your resume read how to write a great CV. When listing your accomplishments, only include those relevant to the job you are applying for. Look into enhanced successful resume examples to stand out.

4. Take Job Searching Seriously

Do as much as you can when looking for a job. Use all your skills, set daily goals and be disciplined. Stay positive since looking for a job can be an overwhelming task. It may even be a good idea to join a job search support group.

5. Find Out as Much as You Can About Your Potential Employer

Some of the most important things to find out about a company you would like to work for include: the company’s mission, history, and products or services the company offers. Do an online search of the people you are likely to speak with. You may be surprised to find that they have a hobby or background like yours. Think of questions that you may be asked and practice how you will answer them. This is true, especially for hard questions.

Pro tip: Some interviewers ask job applicants what they have done to prepare. Have a ready answer to such a question.

6. Write A Thank You Note After Every Interview

This final tip is an oldie but goodie. The good thing is that it is so easy to do it. I even wonder why many people don’t do it. One of the best ways to present yourself as a unique job applicant is to follow up with your interviewer after the interview (Referring to something specific your discussed will earn you extra points)

Infographic provided by Swoon Staffing