Growing your business is pretty important to you, right? Staying up to date with all the latest trends and technologies will be essential if you want to stay ahead. Take a look at some of the trends we think will make a big impact this year.
Voice-Search Optimization
Siri and Alexa may have been the digital “It Girls” of the past decade, but voice-search optimization is making a big swing. Since our digital and personal lives are becoming more entwined with each passing year, it only makes sense that apps and websites would integrate voice technology. Voice-Search optimization opens up more opportunities to expand accessibility for people who rely on voice chat. We’ll be able to search online stores, enter account information, and more all without even looking at our phones. Siri, Alexa; time to take a break. You earned it.
Security & Privacy
OK, so this one might be less of a prediction and more of a reminder. Is that cheating? We don’t care. Obviously website security is important to everyone who has a device, but since quarantine, online activity has gone up drastically. Between keeping up with news, online shopping, or even just browsing apps, making sure that our devices are safe on each platform is an essential. With that said, we see developers putting a bigger emphasis on security and privacy, like the need for SSL certificates or the removal of unneeded personal information, to ensure any customers who enter a website are safe from any threats. Regardless, we plan to play it safe.
Customer Experience
The internet has spoiled us. Yes, it’s great and can’t live without it yada yada, but when a website can’t load in 3 seconds, we exit the site and move on. That quick pacing has translated into customer experience as well. Consumers are becoming less and less patient, and the need to quickly answer concerns and questions are growing. Most businesses understand this in theory, but 2021 may just be the year we finally take that knowledge and put it into practice.
Working From Home
Is there a list out there that doesn’t have remote work on it? At this point it should just be expected that working from home is here to stay…at home. What was once a small slice of the population has now taken up a large portion of how businesses operate. With employers (and employees alike) realizing how doable remote work is, integrating that option into our lives is going to take precedence for a lot of companies. Remote work has made us realize that a lot of our daily functions can be achieved in the security of our own home. Never again do we have to get out of our pajamas.
Virtual Events
Like work from home, virtual events have made a bigger splash since the pandemic. Again, this one seems pretty obvious and is probably in a ton of other lists, but it’s cool to see how companies hold virtual events to showcase their products without the need of human interaction (we’re here for it). These events have expanded the possibilities of how businesses can show off and explain their products, while attracting customers from all across the globe. It’s a simple, yet effective way to reach a broader audience, and something that we expect to be improved upon greatly this year.
Featured Snippets
Have you noticed that when you Google something, you’ll get a box that tells you the answer to your question right away? That’s a featured snippet. They’re pretty neat and extremely handy in quick-search situations. While they’ve been around since 2014, it’s only been the past couple years we’ve really grown accustomed to these snippets. These features are proving to be effective in attracting customers, and we see this being the year that businesses focus on the SEO aspect and utilize the full potential they have.
Mobile SEO
We’re about to tell you something wild. A lot of people use their mobile devices to search for things. Bet you didn’t see that one coming, but that’s why we’re here. Because mobile is so dominant, it’s becoming the forefront for Google’s SEO patterns. In other words, how people search for things online on their mobile devices is how businesses need to adjust their SEO marketing strategy. It only makes sense that businesses will start to take advantage of this practice in 2021, at least that’s our prediction anyways.
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