Should You Use SEO In 2020?

For years, marketers have been beating down your door with their insistence that you optimize your website for search engines. SEO is a huge industry, and specialized tools, websites, and strategies to boost your SEO are a dime a dozen. But with new changes to Google’s algorithm and increasing social media traffic, SEO might not be as important as it once was.

For years, SEO has prioritized organic search, and for good reason: More than half of all website traffic comes from organic results. However, more people are arriving at sites via social media, and voice search is becoming so popular that many users are accessing content without even opening a browser. For those reasons, Google has implemented its new algorithm, BERT, which prioritizes great content over superficial metrics such as the proportion of target keywords on a webpage.

Your marketing strategy needs to accommodate the content-focused Google algorithm, as well as the new ways that how people access information online. Keep in mind: Content is king. Read on to learn some surprising statistics about Google and how they will affect your use of SEO in 2020.

Keep in mind: Content is king.

75% of people don’t go beyond the first page of search engine results.

It remains crucial to nab a place on the first page of Google results, because you’re unlikely to be seen on subsequent pages. That said, achieving a first-page ranking is now more likely if you have good content that matches the user’s intent. In other words, what are they really searching for? BERT favors high-value content over high-keyword content. To get on the first page, your SEO strategy should shift to tap into what your target audience is searching for.

67% of SERP clicks happen on the first five organic results.

While the number-one spot in search engine result pages (SERPs) is the Holy Grail of search engine optimization, most users are clicking on the first five results. To achieve this ranking, marketers need to optimize their content for their target keywords. With a rise in long-tail search queries, such as those in the form of a question, it becomes more important to match a user’s intent rather than a combination of keywords. BERT, Google’s new algorithm, affirms this trend. As mentioned above, content is king, so again, focusing on traditional SEO strategies might not be as effective as creating great content.

15 to 20% of Google searches are unique.

A significant percentage ofGoogle searches have never before been entered into the search engine. What this means is that your site may actually rank for unexpected and unpredictable queries, with no input from your best-laid SEO efforts. Given this, traditionalSEO might not be as important as optimizing your content for your users. Imagine what your target audience would be searching for, then create high-value content that might appear to them when they perform a unique search.BERT is designed to accommodate these queries.

40% of voice search results come from Google Featured Snippets.

When Google rolled out FeaturedSnippets, that changed the game for SEO. Suddenly, it wasn’t as important to rank as it was to get your content into one of those snippets. What’s more interesting is that voice search is becoming increasingly popular, and many AIs will draw from the Featured Snippets to answer voice queries. Even if you achieve a first-page ranking, you won’t be seen by someone who’s asking Siri.Still, being the #1 search result is no guarantee of becoming a FeaturedSnippet. Once again, your content must be high-quality and high-value to achieve this coveted spot.

Wrapping Up: Does SEO Still Matter?

In light of these current trends and Google’s new algorithm, traditional SEO techniques won’t be as effective as simply producing content that both users and Google favor. To ensure that you rank highly on SERPs in 2020 (or gain a featured snippet position), focus on creating great content that appeals to your target audience.

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