With the pandemic significantly altering the online marketplace, search engine optimization (SEO) is more important than ever. The most obvious of these changes is consumers’ increase in internet usage together with the burgeoning of online businesses and the growing saturation of the online marketplace.
It’s up to business owners to leverage this digital surge to accelerate revenue and scale their companies. Now is the best time to bolster your digital marketing campaigns and strengthen your search engine optimization efforts. As you prepare for the new year, consider options outside of the standard free SEO tools or consider investing in the best SEO tools available instead.
A survey conducted by UNCTAD and Netcomm Suisse e-Commerce Association, in collaboration with the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br) and Inveon, indicates an increase in online purchases by six to 10 percentage points across most product categories.
It makes sense, then, that nowadays it’s a lot more difficult to ensure your prospects and customers find your business online. However, you won’t achieve any online visibility or ranking on search engines without the proper implementation of technical SEO strategies. Successfully ranking in searches and maintaining a stellar online representation of your company or your brand are key to better conversion rates in this “new normal.” The right online SEO tools can help get you ahead of the competition.
The Google Page Experience Update
In May 2021, Google will be undergoing a major algorithm update called Page Experience. The search engine will start incorporating Google Page Experience ranking signals, which include Google Core Web Vitals and former user experience (UX) metrics, as direct search ranking factors. It is crucial to understand what Google Page Experience signals are and understand which Google developer tools and online SEO tools can help optimize your site for Core Web Vitals and organic search rankings. In this article, we’re going to explore:
• What are Google Core Web Vitals?
• How will the new ranking signals affect your website?
• What tools can help assess Core Web Vital metrics?
• What are the best SEO tools that can optimize your website in 2021?
• How can you strengthen your digital marketing campaigns next year?
Google Core Web Vitals: What They Are and Why They Matter
Earlier this year, Google announced it will be adding Google Core Web Vitals metrics as new ranking factors. The goal of this initiative is to create a positive online experience for users on desktop and mobile devices.
Core Web Vitals measure your website’s performance in terms of speed and functionality. With Google Page Experience signals becoming direct search ranking factors, the more enjoyable the website is for the users, the higher it ranks in organic searches.
If you’re like most business owners, digital marketing professionals or bloggers, you’re probably apprehensive about this algorithm update. Is your website prepared for these changes? How will your current digital marketing efforts fare next year once the new criteria are in place? Are your current developer and SEO tools capable of measuring your Core Web Vitals, improving your Google Page Experience score and achieving high rankings in 2021?
Currently, Google Core Web Vitals cover three user experience aspects. Let’s go over each of them:
• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Focuses on web page loading performance.
The main content should load within 2.5 seconds.
• First Input Display (FID): Measures page usability and interactivity.
Your page should respond quickly when the user hits a button or clicks a link.
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Quantifies visual stability.
Unexpected layout shifts should be minimized.
Google Tools That Support Google Core Web Vitals Measurement
Several free Google SEO tools and developer tools are available online that can help you assess if your website is optimized for Core Web Vitals:
• Search Console
Search Console can generate a Core Web Vitals report that exposes groups of pages that have Core Web Vitals issues. This tool assesses the pages based on LCP, FID, and CLS. This is also among the free Google SEO tools offered by the search engine giant.
• Lighthouse
Lighthouse 6.0 is able to measure LCP and CLS and gauge the site’s performance score based on those metrics. Total Blocking Time (TBT) lab metric is also included, and this measures load responsiveness, correlating to the FID metric of the Core Web Vitals.
• PageSpeed Insights
You can use this free tool from Google to compare your field and lab Core Web Vitals page performance on both desktop and mobile devices. Aside from exposing how real users experience the page, it can also run page audits using Lighthouse to provide actionable guidance on how to improve page performance.
• Chrome DevTools
The new Page Experience section of Chrome DevTools detects and fixes unexpected layout shifts and visual instability. It can also gauge the Total Blocking Time metric.
• Web.dev’s Measure Tool
This tool measures page performance based on the Core Web Vitals metrics. PageSpeed Insights powers its measurements.
• Web Vitals Extension
This Chrome extension allows you to view your page performance based on all three Core Web Vitals metrics in real-time. Because it can assess in real-time, it helps expose issues at the earlier stages of the development workflow and can also gauge page performance while you’re web browsing.
• Chrome UX Report API
Whereas Lighthouse measures lab metrics of the Google Core Web Vitals, Chrome UX Report measures field versions using real user experience data. The tool allows you to measure your website’s Core Web Vitals even if your site does not have Real User Monitoring (RUM).
5 Search Engine Optimization Tools for 2021
With such stiff SEO competition these days, investing in search engine optimization tools is a good business move. There are several free SEO tools available for those who are starting out or for digital marketers who are on a tight budget. SEO tools vary in terms of coverage and functionalities, so select only the best SEO ranking tools relevant to your business goals.
If your focus is winning customers in your area, certain local SEO tools can drive the targeted traffic to your website. Franchisees face unique industry challenges that require enterprise SEO and industry experts who can work a large-scale, strategic digital marketing approach to make them stand out locally and internationally.
The best SEO ranking tools have many helpful features. In selecting your online SEO tools, ensure that you’re able to integrate Google Analytics to track your metrics.
1. Page Optimizer Pro
Page Optimizer Pro (POP) is focused on optimizing on-page SEO. Setting up POP as a Chrome extension makes optimization fast and easy, allowing site owners and digital marketers to receive comprehensive actionable recommendations in a jiffy. You just need to log in to your selected Content Management System (CMS), select the page you want to optimize and let POP run your on-page analysis. You have the option to implement the suggestions this plugin generates.
Page Optimizer Pro offers three plans:
• Basic – $20/mo
• Premium – $30/mo
• Unlimited – $39/mo or $390/yr
2. WordPress NitroPack
If you want your website to have lightning-fast loading speeds, WordPress’s all-in-one performance optimization plugin is a great choice. This online SEO tool uses cloud technology for all its optimizations, making it a lightweight option.
It combines cache invalidation, lazy loading, CDN delivery and code minification to boost site speed. It uses Amazon CloudFront and Bunny CDN, high-speed content delivery networks whose infrastructure helps cut down your website’s loading time.
NitroPack offers a free plan that is perfect for testing. They also have three paid plans:
• 50,000 Pageviews – $17.50/mo
• 200,000 Pageviews – $42.50/mo
• 1,000,000 Pageviews – $146.67/mo
3. SEMrush
SEMrush is one of the more comprehensive search engine optimization tools available. It offers a content audit tool that flags pages with low-performing content based on data points like number of backlinks, word count, number of social shares, organic search traffic and content/page age. It has keyword and topic research tools that can help you curate relevant content to give the reported pages a facelift. Its backlinks analytics show total backlinks and referring domains, as well as a comparison of a maximum of four competing URLs to help identify website opportunities.
SEMrush has three standard packages:
• Pro – $99.95.
• Guru – $199.95.
• Business – $399.95
4. Google Search Console
Website owners who are on a budget but want good SEO Google Tools can look to Google Search Console and Pagespeed Insights – both are free services that can help optimize websites. Let’s focus on Google Search Console, one of the available Google SEO tools that can do the following:
• Submit sitemaps directly to Google
• Analyze a website’s ranking keywords
• Identify the queries that are receiving clicks
• See backlinks
• Find out how to improve mobile-friendliness and usability
• Notify owners on site issues identified
• Check whether or not Google can find and crawl your site
5. Moz Pro
Moz Pro has many features and is able to integrate well with other software, such as SEMrush, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Bizible, Ahrefs and WooRank. This company also offers Moz Local, one of the more extensive local SEO tools available. Here are the things Moz Pro can do for you:
• Find new keywords
• Discover page and SEO errors and provide actionable recommendations
• Find new link building opportunities while maximizing existing ones
• Customize reports using drag-and-drop features
• Provide search visibility score
Moz Pro offers four plans:
• Standard – $99/mo or $950/yr
• Medium – $149/mo or $1,428/yr
• Large – $249/mo or $2,390/yr
• Premium – $599/mo or $5,750/yr
Optimize Your Website and Boost Your Conversion Rates
Most businesses strive to be visible at every customer touchpoint, utilizing on-page and off-page SEO, technical SEO, YouTube SEO, local SEO and app store optimization. Appearing in relevant organic searches is just the start; you’ll want to convert those clicks and site visits into sales. The big question is, are you maximizing all digital marketing opportunities and boosting your conversion rates?
As the industry continues to progress, we can expect Google to continue evolving and adapting to the shifting user behaviors. While our free SEO tools and paid apps also adapt to deliver added features, will your website be able to quickly cope with the changes? When the algorithm update is rolled out next year, how will your website hold up?
Having the best SEO ranking tools might not be enough if you have big goals for your company. If you want your business to increase online sales through strategic search engine optimization techniques focused on conversion, consider hiring a professional SEO agency backed by years of experience, a stellar track record and proven processes. They have the required expertise and all the tools needed – local SEO tools, apps that check Core Web Vitals signals, software that can perform regular site audits and a lot more.
These experts are well-versed in the technology needed to help your business cope with the changes, meet your targets and beat your competition.
When Business Factors, one of the leading factoring companies in the United States, worked with Thrive, our SEO experts were able to identify pain points and set up a digital marketing plan for the client. Business Factors saw a year-after-year increase in organic searches, SEO traffic, average time on page and live chats. Their conversion rate also increased by 546.08 percent.
Thrive Internet Marketing Agency offers SEO solutions for businesses looking to increase their online presence and grow their revenue.
Book a call today and see how we can help you meet your business goals.
