Want to rank well in search results today?

Then you need to optimize your website.

But what really matters today?

In the good old days (circa 2009), Google reportedly used about 200 ranking factors to determine the SERPs.

A lot has changed in the past 10+ years.

But one thing that hasn’t?

You don’t need to sweat every ranking factor.

Some variables carry much more weight than others.

If you just focus on the SEO essentials, you can still crush it.

This post will delve into what those factors are and what is involved to optimize for each.

1. Mobile-First

Google officially began rolling out the mobile-first index in March 2018.

Smart marketers were taking a mobile-first approach long before the official rollout.

According to Google’s Danny Sullivan:

“Neither mobile-friendliness nor a mobile-responsive layout are requirements for mobile-first indexing. Pages without mobile versions still work on mobile, and are usable for indexing. That said, it’s about time to move from desktop-only and embrace mobile :)”

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Here are some basics for making your site mobile-friendly:

Make your site adaptive to any device – be it desktop, mobile, or tablet.

Always scale your images when using a responsive design, especially for mobile users.

Use short meta titles. They are easier to read on mobile devices.

Avoid pop-ups that cover your content and prevent visitors from getting a glimpse of what your content is all about.

Less can be more on mobile. In a mobile-first world, long-form content doesn’t necessarily equate to more traffic and better rankings.

Don’t use mobile as an excuse for cloaking. Users and search engines need to see the same content.

2. Technical SEO

Some find the idea of performing technical SEO to be intimidating.

Thanks to the many SEO tools available, an SEO audit is no longer a daunting task.

The key, however, is to know how to interpret the data provided and what to do with it.

For starters, you should check the following:

3. Core Web Vitals

As the name implies, this Google initiative is designed to quantify the essential metrics for a healthy website. The ultimate goal is to deliver the best user experience.

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Beginning sometime in 2021, this “Page Experience” Signal will be incorporated into Google’s core algorithm, as a ranking factor.

According to Google, “loading experience, interactivity, and visual stability of page content, and combined are the foundation of the 2020 Core Web Vitals.”

Each one of these metrics:

Focuses on a unique aspect of the user experience.

Is measurable and quantifiable for an objective determination of the outcome.

Tools to Measure Core Web Vitals

PageSpeed Insights : Measures both mobile and desktop performance, and provides recommendations for improvement.

: Measures both mobile and desktop performance, and provides recommendations for improvement. Lighthouse : An open-source, automated tool developed by Google to help developers improve web page quality. It has several features not available in PageSpeed Insights including some SEO checks.

: An open-source, automated tool developed by Google to help developers improve web page quality. It has several features not available in PageSpeed Insights including some SEO checks. Search Console : A Core Web Vitals report is now included in GSC, showing URL performance as grouped by status, metric type, and URL group.

4. User Intent

Writing “great content,” optimizing it, and getting trusted links is now just the start for ranking a keyword.

As machine learning and deep learning continue to evolve, each will carry more weight in Google’s core algorithm.

The ultimate goal for Google is to understand context and serve results based on searcher intent.

This makes advanced level keyword research and selection more important than ever.

For starters, you need to recognize there are some keywords and queries that will be impossible to rank for.

A keyword’s contextual relevance must align with a search query.

Before spending time and resources trying to rank for a phrase, you need to look at the current ranking websites and phrases.

Unless your website and landing page are similar to what is ranking, chances are it won’t happen.

5. Content Marketing

It is projected that by this year, 44 zettabytes of data will be produced every day.

To put this in perspective, that’s the equivalent of 8.48 trillion songs or 1,440 years of HD video every day.

The challenge to break through the clutter will become exponentially more difficult as time passes.

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In order to do so:

Create a content hub in the form of a resource center.

Fill your resource hub with a combination of useful, informative, and entertaining content.

Write “spoke” pieces related to your resource hub and interlink.

Write news articles related to your resource and interlink.

Spread the word – promote your news articles on social channels.

Hijack trending topics related to your content – promote on social media.

Use your smartphone camera. Images and videos typically convert better than text alone.

Update stale and low trafficked content.

6. Schema

Schema markup, once added to a webpage, creates a “rich snippet” – an enhanced description that appears in the search results.

All of the leading search engines, including Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Yandex, support the use of microdata.

The real value in schema is that it can provide context to a webpage and improve the search experience.

There is no evidence that adding schema has any influence on SERPs.

What Is Schema Used For?

Following are some of the most popular uses for schema

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If you find the thought of adding schema to a page intimidating, you shouldn’t.

Schema is actually quite simple to implement.

If you have a WordPress site, there are a number of plugins that will do this for you.

7. User Experience

User experience (UX) is centered on gaining insight into users, their needs, their values, their abilities, and their limitations.

UX also takes into consideration business goals and objectives.

Best UX practices focus on improving the quality of the user experience.

According to Peter Morville, factors that influence UX include:

Useful : Your content needs to be unique and satisfy a need.

: Your content needs to be unique and satisfy a need. Usable : Your website needs to be easy to use and navigate.

: Your website needs to be easy to use and navigate. Desirable : Your design elements and brand should evoke emotion and appreciation.

: Your design elements and brand should evoke emotion and appreciation. Findable : Integrate design and navigation elements to make it easy for users to find what they need.

: Integrate design and navigation elements to make it easy for users to find what they need. Accessible : Content needs to be accessible to everyone – including the 10% of the population with disabilities.

: Content needs to be accessible to everyone – including the 10% of the population with disabilities. Credible : Your site needs to be trustworthy in order for users to believe you.

: Your site needs to be trustworthy in order for users to believe you. Valuable: Your site needs to provide value to the user in terms of experience and to the company in terms of positive ROI.

8. Link Building

Links have been among the top ranking factors for quite some time now.

Google has become more adept at identifying and devaluing spammy links.

That being the case, quality will continue to trump quantity.

The Best Link Building Strategies

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Conclusion

The mounds of information and disinformation served up daily in various marketing feeds can be overwhelming.

If you aren’t careful it can lead to analysis paralysis and nothing gets done.

That said, if you just focus on these eight essentials you will set yourself up for success this year and beyond.

More Resources:

Image Credits

In-Post Photo: MichaelGaida / Pixabay