As per a recent 2020 study, mobile traffic has incredibly grown to 504% in media consumption daily ever since 2011. While we have an increase in consumers using their mobile phones to access content, it becomes even more important to optimize for the mobile experience. Optimizing the mobile experience is not just for the users/readers but also for your SEO. What Google does is detects the pages that are loading slowly or have a higher bounce rate and will eventually rank those pages lower in the search result pages.

We understand that mobile optimization is one of the important aspects of your content strategy and SEO, and Google AMP is a technology that helps you with that. But whether it’s the best tool or not for your business majorly depends on your industry, business size, content strategy, and much more.

AMP promises to help with fast page speeds and additional visibility on Google search result pages but it requires submission to the stripped-down form of the HTML. The interesting part is that putting your website on diet will ensure to be more attractive to the users.

Regardless of Google AMP is right for you or not, by the end of this blog you will garner SEO knowledge that will help you feel confident about your site’s SEO and mobile performance.

What is AMP?

AMP, known as Accelerated Mobile Pages are the lightweight pages that are designed in order to give mobile users a fast and more engaging user experience.

AMP is an open-source HTML framework that provides a straightforward solution for the creation of webpages that work faster, with smoother loading capability thus prioritizing the user experience above everything else. In most cases, AMP helps in creating stripped-down mobile-optimized AMP copy for existing HTML5 page content. In such cases where AMP alternatives are available, the user is served on the AMP version, over the canonical page.

AMP’s main motive is to prioritize the user experience through restrictions on ads and user interface design.

• Limiting CSS to 75 KB
• Limiting JavaScript to 150 KB
• Removing fluff from the critical rendering path.

In order to create faster webpages, the above-mentioned restrictions are more than enough but one thing to note that this is not the secret sauce that will be instant. 

Advantages of AMP Pages

There are several potential advantages of AMP which is totally dependent on your site which includes lesser data consumption along with improved server performance, a free CDN, and that too with a higher ad view-ability.

1. Faster Page Loading Times
   AMP can not be the only SEO Ranking Factor for 2021 as speed is also the one to rank. 2021 with core web vitals is becoming a ranking factor. If these are implemented correctly then the load time improvements are often sizeable. Google has claimed that the median load time for an AMP page is lesser than a second. This is well within core vital requirements. Having a higher speed has an optimized user experience that is witnessed by:
   Lower bounce rates
   Higher time on site
   Increased conversion rates.

2) Additional visibility in Google SERPs
AMP Pages to work are always accompanied by an enhanced appearance in Google SERPs on mobiles.

The Bolt Icon in SERPs
At the very basic level, AMP pages are highlighted through the bolt icon in the Google SERPs.
SEOs have claimed that this designation helps increase the click-through rates of pages as the users will choose the AMP results over others as they know the fact that it will lead them to a fast loading page.

AMP + Structured Data = Chances of Getting Richer Results

AMP when in combination with valid structure data helps in increasing the likelihood to appear on a host carousel or with results that are richer features such as the headline text and larger than thumbnail images.

Swipe to visit functionality
This functionality is exclusive for AMP pages in Google Images on mobile. For example, when a user has selected an image, they will see a preview of the site header which they can swipe up in order to visit the site page. What’s to be noted is that for additional visibility the AMP is required for the inclusion of coveted top stories carousel especially when the exception is the COVID-19 related content. But over the period of time, it is set to change in 2021 with the core web vitals update that will allow both AMP and non-AMP pages that too with a focused on-page experience metrics.

Disadvantages of AMP

• From a Developer standpoint
• Restricted framework when it comes to design
• The added burden to implementation
• Creates a technical debt
• No guarantee of light speed without AMP cache

• From a Sales standpoint
• Lack of presence of AMP inventory creates complexity
• Limitation in ad features due to the framework.

• From Marketers standpoint
• Cost is double when compared to crawl for one piece of content.
• An extra burden to optimize
• The AMP viewer of Google dilutes the brand identity.

AMP’s case studies along with case study outcomes have been a mixed bag of both advantages and disadvantages. It is clear that many publishers enjoy and have been enjoying the exclusive placement of AMP of the top stories carousel. 

Do you remember one of the old phrases: “More the things change, the chances of them staying the same is even more”? While on the other hand in the world of SEO the saying is more like: “The more things change, the more they change.”

Trying to figure out how to increase search engine traffic in a short span of time? In such a scenario a digital marketer should follow a proven SEO strategy that can be tapped into a hungry market through the creation of in-depth content that is backed with stats and data. Doesn’t this look very basic, but that’s how you can win at SEO.

Here are a few SEO realities that most of the industry practitioners claim that they have been struggling with the most and how they think SEO trends to drive traffic in 2021. 

1. SEO cannot be replaced for PPC
2. SEO is just one of the brand marketing tactics and one must note that it is not a form of direct advertising method.
3. SEO should not be measured based on the total revenue generated.
4. Businesses mostly do not have sufficient SEO budgets to achieve success.
5. It noticed that most marketers to date couldn’t appreciate SEO.
6. In order for SEO to work it requires a strategy, if not done it will be a waste of time and money.
7. In order to find your SEO’s ability to is to ask to see a website they own.
8. SEO acts like medicine for your digital marketing. In order for it to work, you need to first diagnose as to why the site is not ranking after which you can prescribe a solution and keep repeating the treatment as long as it takes to fetch you results.
9. For you to generate better SEO results you must follow the 80/20 approach.
10. The value of SEO is always misjudged as most marketers have a poor understanding of analytics data.
11. Ensure that your SEO investment should come from the brand marketing budget.
12. You can measure the success of your SEO through the number of new visitors your website has garnered. SEO’s job of conversion optimization ensures either visitor’s return, sign up, or even make a purchase.
13. SEO’s services cost is going to skyrocket due to the result of your pandemic as there is a number of companies that are focussing online.
14. Content creation is one of the most important things when compared to link building.
15. Make sure that SEO is not the only marketing strategy that you are going to utilised.

Hope these realities of SEO help your site grow and you get better ways to cater to your targeted audience. Because the best way is by upgrading knowledge every now and then through the help of knowledgeable marketers and keep reading blogs of others. Because in the end the web or digital platform is one of the dynamic platforms.

When the matter comes to Search Engine Optimization, site structure is a foundational part. This is one of the things you really want to get right at the first attempt itself. There might be situations wherein you would gain new insights on your website when you almost thought that you have nailed it. If your site needs a few tweaks or if you are planning an overhaul, then in that case you should have a closer look at website information architecture. SEO in one of the integral part for businesses to strive better results.

The better your site structure is the better are your chances of ranking higher in the search engine platforms. Each Page has a structure in itself. It might have a streamlined structure or it might be a disorganized one. But if you are careful in creating your site structure, it will help in achieve search excellence. 

Why does site structure matter?

It’s very strange to see how often businesses overlook the site structure. But it’s important to note your site structure is one of the crucial aspects of your better SEO performance. Some webmasters definitely understand the importance of site structure that helps enhancing the SEO. Here are a few reasons why site structure becomes so crucial in creating your SEO-friendly site structure.

A great site structure has a greater user experience

Having a great site design is about having a great structure. According to a study, a human mind craves cognitive equilibrium – wherein they put together pieces logically, finding the things that they are expecting and trying to locate what they have been seeking. Hence, having a strong, logical site structure satisfies the needs of users.

As you would note the more your site is appealing to the users the more appealing it is to your search engines. In order to rank your site, Google’s algorithm uses information from the searches. But do note that if your site has poor CTRs or lower dwelling time then it is for sure that it will not help in the SERPs. On the contrary, when a user finds a site that they are looking for, that is a site with a great structure they don’t bounce off to other websites as well as stay longer on your page. Having an accurate site structure to your site helps you in reducing bounce rate along with increasing the dwelling time and both of which are going to lead to the improved rankings of your website.

Site structure helps provide the site with site links

Sitelinks are a form of listing in the search engine that helps to show your site on the main page along with several other internal links indented. As mentioned below site links are a huge advantage to your SEO. These site links help in easily navigating your site thus pointing your users to relevant information that they are looking for, increasing your brand reputation, and improve their trust which will, in turn, help you in dominating SERPs. Sitelinks work wonders.

But how can you get sitelinks? You simply can’t go to Google Search Console and fill in forms or you can’t even request for issuing a site link. On the other hand, Google’s algorithm automatically awards your websites with site links that too based on the great site structure you have. If your site has a poor site structure then it is less likely that your site will ever receive a site link.

Great Site structure leads to better crawling

There are web crawlers such as Googlebot which crawl your entire website’s structure as their main motive is to index the content such that it returns to the search results. What works well for you is having a better site structure that enables easy crawling for crawlers and indexing your content.

Mentioned below are a few steps towards creating a site structure:

• Have a well-planned hierarchy before developing a website.
• Creating an efficient URL structure that helps following your navigation hierarchy.
• Creation of site navigation in HTML or CSS
• Make sure to have a shallow depth navigation structure.
• Creation of header lists especially for your main navigation pages.
• Create a comprehensive internal linking structure.

Site structure needs careful thinking, design, and accurate organization. One can create a strong structure even before you create your site in order to avoid future hassles. It’s never late than ever to even redesign your site. If you are looking for one then it’s high time you rework on design and reorganize your navigational elements which would help your structural SEO.

Marketing begins with one small thing and that is nothing but figuring out where your target audience lies but also getting to know where their interest is along with where they focus their attention, post which you can create content in that place. Following SEO best practices of 2021 will also help you in reaching the right target audience.

The situation in the past was like people had their attention glued to radio, newspapers along with other official media outlets. So it was okay by then to only focus on ads on those platforms where right people would notice them. But the situation now is even more complex because these days it’s not just one platform on which people have their attention on. Their attention is split across various platforms. 

How to solve the challenge?

Say if you have a target audience as business executives, then you will try to target them on LinkedIn. Wherein you are trying to target the younger generation then the right platform that you want to target is Instagram and snapchat where these people are easily available. These days Facebook has the largest (1.65 billion) monthly active users who easily spend around 50 minutes a day on the site. This lets you fetch a better ROI through Facebook Ads. With technological advancements happening every now and then, it’s important for businessmen to stay on par with latest trends and find different ways to use different platforms. If done so one can make a master of digital marketing overnight.

Here’s where digital marketing agencies come into picture. Having the right set of digital experts helps you in managing your marketing strategies thus letting you also focus on other businesses that you love working. 

It’s always seen that business owners always have a habit of everything on their own because they have a difficulty in handing over their baby to someone else believing in the fact they will look after it and work towards its betterment as they themselves would do. 

When you think that there’s no other way when you can effectively organise and execute tasks or strategize for your digital marketing and online presence then you can easily think of hiring a digital marketing agency. 

Why Hire An Digital Agency?

If you are going to hire an inhouse digital marketing team and train the new staff for the necessary marketing skill especially when its digital marketing can be a stressful task along with being expensive. This is not all, you might also lack in security of the results for your strategy implemented. Most businesses don’t think it’s practical to hire someone on a full-time basis that too for a small-medium sized team.  

Having a Digital Marketing Agency hired  will let you have service from experts and that too with a specific skill set in the digital field which would be far better from training new employees and the services they will provide. How about hiring a CMO for doing the same amount of work that is too fast, more efficiently and cost-effectively? Isn’t that a great deal? Your best employee can’t compete with the team of experts who have been in this industry for many years. Since digital marketing is a form of investment for you and your company, it’s for sure that you are looking for the best of results. Make sure to follow the SEO strategy in 2021.

Doing Homework Is Important

The first thing you must notice is that there are many false experts who claim that they can sell the miraculous digital solution to their customers and once they are avail it, they deliver mediocre solutions/results but keep on asking for more and more money. So it’s always important that you do your bit of homework on which agency you are going to trust. This will help you in saving a lot of time as well as money. That’s not it, all this will help improve your online presence as well. 

Multidisciplinary Team

If you hire for a digital marketing agency, they not only promise growth but also assure you that you have a well trained team on your side and think about your company. Isn’t this better than having just a few of the internal team members think about one or two strategies. No matter if you have an internal digital marketing team or an agency the most important thing is to plan the best implementation strategy. Are you planning to take advantage of the benefits offered by digital marketing then you should definitely hire a digital marketing agency.

Return on Investment

The other important reason one must hire a digital marketing agency is return of investment. Try to invest your time and money in an agency that is effective in the way it works. Because in turn you will be at profit of having the return of investment. 

So, choose for an agency that has an experience of both the worlds and especially when they understand how they complement each other so well. That’s where lies the key to success and your that’s where choice depends.