Impact of AI on SEO Strategies in 2021

Global spending on cognitive and AI systems will reach $57.6 billion in 2021 with 75% of commercial enterprise apps expected to use AI by 2021. 

 Technology has been transforming every industry since its inception at a dynamic rate. Now with AI (Artificial Intelligence) no longer just an imagined reality, its impact on various industries and their marketing strategies is said to be the next big thing.

SEO services have been dominating the digital marketing strategies for every brand in a bid to get noticed by their prospective audience. However, as AI and machine learning continue to evolve, certain strategies commonly used in SEO will need to evolve as well to say in the game.

Here, we take a look at the impact of AI on SEO.

From keyword-stuffing to relevant content

When the concept of keywords was introduced, SEO experts spend long hours devising and analysing the best keywords used by prospective customers. However, soon the focus of content shifted from providing valuable information to simply getting searched by using the right keywords.

Google, though, saw right through this scheme and constantly evolves its algorithms in order to be relevant to the user. Now with AI, keywords play a secondary role in the quality of content created, making good and relevant content an integral part of every brand’s digital presence moving forward.

It’s all about the experience

SEO is all about optimisation, but for Google, the optimisation has to be the user experience. One of the most important ranking factors for Google is the overall engagement and experience of the user. Simply using SEO techniques to get customers to your website is not enough. The site needs to be easy to navigate and offer relevant content for a user to spend time on.

Google’s AI algorithms analyse everything from user engagement with a site, how long they stay, the bounce rate and numerous other factors that determine which brand to rank higher. To know how to create the perfect user experience for your brand, connect with an SEO company today.

Prioritise search intent

The need to go beyond keywords has been made extremely clear by Google’s algorithms – RankBrain and BERT. The idea behind the algorithms is to not just use keywords but rather historical data to understand the customer’s search intent and provide the most relevant content.

Everything from the location of the search, previous searches, and overall perspective is analysed to offer only relevant information to the users. This has led to a massive shift in content being ranked from general information to high-quality specific content.

A mobile optimisation is no longer an option

With an increasing number of searches and online activity coming from mobiles, Google has consistently been highlighting the importance of mobile optimisation for a better ranking. As AI gets more dominant and overall user experience gets more prominence, faster-loading mobile sites are going to rank higher than those that aren’t mobile optimised.

Even though mobile optimisation may or may not be listed as an independent factor, its role in determining user experience can have a significant impact on your ranking. Brands, old and new, have to optimise their website and links to be mobile-friendly while also ensuring that all links, content and pages are regularly updated.

Optimise for voice searches

This is the next big thing that is slowly taking over the digital world. With an increase in the adoption of smart speakers and devices, voice searches have become the new search method.  This is going to have the biggest impact on your SEO practices.

When it comes to written searches, a simple short-tail keyword can bring up relevant results. However, voice searches tend to be more conversational and are likely to be framed in the form of a question. Understanding the way a user would search for information through voice is of immense importance for brands to focus on. By not adapting their search practices to voice searches, they can lose out on massive opportunities in the coming years, and even months.

Thus, AI is no longer something expected in the future, but it is here now and it’s changing your SEO game moment by moment. Automation is the key to staying relevant and updated in the future and building a stronger brand presence. Everything moving forward will be on creating the perfect user experience for every visitor – this can be general in terms of your website or personalised through chatbots and messengers.

To ensure your company continues to stay relevant and evolves with Google, reach out to an SEO company in Mumbai.