New Update Blogging Strategy 2021
Just take a little time to update your approach to blogging for 2021 which will keep your strategy fresh and effective! After all, every new year brings with it new blogging trends as digital media and consumer preferences evolve. Updates to search engines like Google and Bing also affect how search terms, or keywords are used in blog posts.
Changing the way you write blog posts based on changing expectations and emerging technological advances can seem stressful. However, each new parameter provides many opportunities for bloggers, including the opportunity to master new skills as a writer.
In the coming year, quality, relevance and consistency are set to be more important to a successful strategy than ever before, meaning that this is a great time to improve your writing and editing skills, while re-evaluating your audience's preferences. By embracing a return to fundamentals, from search engine optimization to consumer trends, you can continue to push the success of your blogging strategy forward as we enter 2021.
Why Change Your Blogging Strategy for 2021?
It is important to review your blog strategy annually.
Blogging for business is a well-studied art form in terms of content and strategy. Through trial and error, content creators have discovered that the formula for a successful blog combines strong content, consistent posting and search engine optimization (SEO). But the specifics of what attracts audiences to certain content continue to evolve as society and technology become more related.
Between changing content trends and search engine algorithms, 2021 could mark the start of a new era in digital publishing. High-quality long-form content designed with playable layouts and interactive media components is expected to outperform the formats that dominated the 2010s, such as short descriptions and photo-based listings.
According to content marketer experts, 2020 will put long-form blog posts in the spotlight. Bloggers who pay particular attention to formal elements like editing, fact checking, composition and eye movement should see an increase in website traffic and audience retention. There are two main reasons for this prediction:
1. The latest update to Google's algorithm, called BERT, which prioritizes originality and accuracy.
2. Continuous shift of consumer preferences towards immersive and immersive content.
As a result, the best practice for a successful blogging strategy is to go back to the basics of media design, with a new emphasis on rigor, accessibility, and professionalism. There are six biggest content trends predicted for 2021, namely:
- Long form posts.
- Reliable facts and references.
- Discreet and developed content.
- Post frequently and consistently.
- High quality snippets to attract traffic (from social media).
- Video and interactive media.
- Professional level copywriting
Design your new blogging strategy around user experience and collaboration for best results.
In the New Year, SEO practice and user experience (UI) in blogging will require one versatile set of considerations rather than two overlapping skill sets. To prepare for 2021, take advantage of the opportunity to streamline your blogging strategy, and adopt changes that make your posts more attractive to search engines and readers.
SEO Considerations for Your 2021 Blogging Strategy
Two of the hottest topics in SEO for blogs that are anticipated next year are the integration of BERT into Google's search algorithm and the ongoing optimization of web pages for mobile users.
According to the Search Engines Roundtable, BERT will impact about 10% of search queries, although the amount of its global effect on search results and rankings may be greater than that. BERT launched on December 9, 2019, while Google introduced Mobile-first Indexing, which prioritizes mobile-friendly pages, in 2016. More than half of website traffic came from mobile device users in the third quarter of 2019.
Understanding How Google's BERT Update Affects Blogging in 2020"
Work originality and creativity into your blogging strategy this year to improve SEO.
According to the Journal of Search Engines, “BERT algorithm (Two-Way Encoder Representation of Transformers) is a deep learning algorithm related to natural language processing. This helps the engine to understand what the words in a sentence mean, but with all the nuances of context. The "two-way part of the name" means that BERT looks at each word in the sentence for parts of the search query, rather than strings of words in perfect order. This frees up authors to use the long-tail keyword phrase component throughout the title or sentence.
By 2021, bloggers will be able to focus on naturalistic word flow rather than exact repetition of high ranking phrases without losing SEO value. BERT is moving SEO for Google into a more user-experience-focused area, where audience-based considerations also improve search engine rankings. By understanding language more like a human, BERT transforms Google results to enhance written resources with logical language flow, strong supporting context, and thorough editing.
Make Mobile Optimization Part of Your Strategy
In addition to designing your website for mobile display and navigation, as Leaving Work Behind recommends, it's important to take mobile visitors into account when formatting blog posts. Thumbnails wrapped in text rather than large images that distract from text can make long posts more comfortable to scroll through on mobile. Using bulleted lists and other formatting decisions that accommodate skimming can also make blog posts more mobile-friendly.
Increasing visitor access to your blog posts, through improved SEO and mobile-friendly formatting, will increase the potential for traffic to your entire website. This makes it more likely for your website and associated brands to get backlinks and mention links on other sites, which in turn improves its SEO even more!
Reframing Your Blogging Strategy for the New Year
Make reworking your blog strategy a top priority. New Year is near!
Even though blogging is in a state of flux, some best practices never change. Reviewing and improving marketing strategies at the end of each fiscal year is a long-standing tradition in the business and advertising world. Many periodicals, such as newspapers and magazines, also review past progress and future goals once a year.
Looking at the current blogging trends only tells us what works on a large scale. However, examining responses to your posts published throughout 2020 can give you specific instructions on how to proceed into 2021.
1. Responsive in blogging strategy
Responsive strategies incorporate specific insights from how your audience interacts with published content. By late 2020, you likely have year-round engagement data at your fingertips. Consult Google Analytics of your website as well as social media insights from updates with links to your blog. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What posts receive the most visits?
- What receives the least traffic?
- What internal links embedded in posts do the best?
- Which posts have been shared the most?
- Overall, what subject, keywords, length and media accompany your audience seem to get the most out of it
- How can you replicate the success of your most popular posts with fresh, original content?
2. Plan to spend more time on the writing process
According to ContentFly, more businesses will outsource blogs to ensure professional quality. Additionally, BERT was created to rank carefully edited original content with well-supported information on the topic of the query. Combined with the movement towards long-form content, these factors mean that bloggers who dedicate time and attention to brainstorming, researching, composing, and editing in-depth blog posts are more likely to increase their audience size in 2021.
As well as adapting to changes in best practices, keep in mind that it may take time to incorporate specific insights gleaned from reviewing your blog's 2020 analytics. To meet the new demands of blogging, consider your own writing speed and technical flexibility when writing a blog calendar and setting internal deadlines.
3. Identify trends that work best for your audience
Not all blogging trends are worth chasing, just as not all social media platforms are right for every business. Review goals for your blog strategy with new analytical information and general trends in mind.
What trends are most likely to benefit your relationship with your audience?
For blogs that receive most of their traffic from social media, creating shareable short-form posts ("snippets") with interactive content and well-labeled links to long-form content may be the smartest approach.
However, for blogs that receive high volume organic traffic from search engines, carefully crafted long-form content should be prioritized.
4. Promote audience interaction in posts
When digital media becomes an accepted part of our lives, consumers are more eager to participate than just observe. Quizzes, maps, games/activities, and clickable infographics all invite readers to dig deeper into the subject matter of the blog post while internalizing the information.
Embedding or hyperlinking interactive resources in a post encourages readers to explore your website more thoroughly, with the added bonus of making your site a richer resource for future visitors.
