There are millions of websites in the world, all trying to rank in the top positions of Google search engine result pages. Google is more focused on providing quality results to its users. So, it shows only the results that it believes are the best response to user queries. That’s why everyone keeps trying to make this search engine believe that they are the best result for specific relevant queries.
Many try to trick Google into believing this instead of working on delivering quality content. So, Google uses a large complicated algorithm with many sub-algorithms to scrutinize each result before showing it. This is how it decides the ranking for all of them. However, sooner or later, everyone finds a way to get around those algorithms. In response, Google keeps updating them every day and launches a major update every few months.
Search Engine Optimization to rank in Google is not the same as it was one year ago. Here are some basic mistakes you need to avoid in 2020 to avoid any penalty and increase the chances of ranking in top results.
Unnatural Link Building
Google started its crackdown against unnatural links a few years ago. People keep trying to come up with new ways to build powerful backlinks and Google keeps updating its algorithms to nullify them further. Backlinks are no longer the most powerful ranking factor. Even if you get guest posts, Google can identify if they were paid by studying some patterns. If you want this to work in 2020, you need to forget everything you know and again start learning how to do link outreach. This will enable you to create backlinks that actually matter to Google.
Ignoring User Experience
Google has become what it is by providing the best service to its users. There also other search engines like Yahoo and Bing that don’t even come close to it by the number of users. If these users left, Google will lose all its business. That’s why now Google pays more attention to user experience. Its recent May Core update has particularly targeted sites that didn’t offer a good user interface. Its next coming update in 2021 is also centered on user experience.
Not Designing Schema Markups
More people now use voice search and a detailed query. In SEO, we call them long-tail keywords. These queries precisely describe the solution the user is looking for. Google doesn’t just present pages, now it also looks for the answer in the page and highlights it. Such pages are also used in featured results at position 0. You can also do that by adding a schema markup on your website.
Not Using Infographics
All bloggers recognize that graphics are important in any article for it to rank. However, they started using decorative images that provide no value to the user because Google only sees an image and not its content. These images also block the user’s view of the content. Even these things can now affect the rankings of a website. You need to start using infographics that not only provide value to the user but also work as a linkable asset.
