Mastering Online Marketing in 2021
Digital marketing strategies are constantly evolving, and investing the time into learning about them can be incredibly beneficial for your website. These are the most successful tactics for 2021:
Get a Handle on Core Web Vitals
As of June 2021, Google has made page experience an important factor in search rankings. Page experience is based on the following factors known as core web vitals:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
- First Input Delay (FID)
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
The LCP deals with the loading speed of the pages of your website. The faster the page loads, the higher your website will score. You can use Google Page Insights to determine where your site ranks now. If you want to speed things up, you can use a Content Delivery Network to boost it.
FID is related to page interactivity. This ensures that the page is loaded in a timely manner, and that the user can interact with the content without any lags or delays. For this purpose, you will need to consider the total blocking time (TBT) and time to interact (TTI).
Finally, there is the CLS, which focuses on the visual stability of the page as new content loads are added. In this case, you need to minimize how much the layout of the site will shift or move with the addition of new content. This is particularly important for buttons or links leading to other pages.
Focus On Practical Changes
You will see a new article almost daily regarding the various changes you should be making to your online marketing strategy. However, it is important to consider the relevance of these guidelines. You need to focus on changes that will help your business rather than merely invest in tactics that “experts” claim will help.
Take voice search, for instance. Based on a false statistic, companies assumed that half of all internet searches would be conducted by voice. While this feature has become popular, it is nowhere close to being at the level professionals predicted. What’s more, this feature also appears to be most popular among the 65+ crowd.
If your business doesn’t cater to this demographic, it makes little sense to invest time and money in optimizing your website for voice search. You’re better off ensuring that your site is optimized for mobile instead.
Create Content for Every Step of the Consumer Journey
One of the main myths of online marketing is that increased traffic signals that your marketing strategies are a success. This isn’t the case at all; traffic means nothing if you don’t have conversion rates to back it up.
The best way to improve your conversion rate is to think of every page on your website as a step in a user’s journey. Your goal is to ensure that the layout of your site is such that the visitor ends up on the checkout page – or a similar result – once they are done.
This can be managed by creating appropriate content for each page. As any good digital marketing agency will tell you, this makes it easier for the user to understand your brand, the products or services you are offering, and convince them to select you as an option.
The homepage of the site should contain content that showcases your brand personality, core values, and more. Each individual product page should have extensive details on whatever you are selling. Don’t forget about blogs and FAQ pages either – utilize these to expand your user’s understanding of your industry and products as a whole.
These are the main guidelines for 2021. Follow these and you are sure to make your site a must-visit domain for customers. Furthermore, you will be able to do so in the most effective way possible.