How to do SEO in 2020

SEO in 2020 centers on three core areas that have become non-negotiable: technical foundation, content quality, and user experience signals. The fundamentals haven't shifted dramatically, but what Google rewards has tightened considerably. Your technical SEO needs to be bulletproof—site speed, mobile responsiveness, and clean crawlability are baseline requirements, not competitive advantages. Use tools like Google Search Console and Lighthouse to identify real issues, not theoretical ones. Fix your Core Web Vitals (page speed, visual stability, and interactivity), because Google has made clear these are ranking factors. Ensure your site architecture is logical, URLs are clean, and internal linking helps distribute authority meaningfully. If you haven't migrated to HTTPS or made your site mobile-first, those are table-stakes now.

Content strategy needs to shift from keyword density thinking to topical authority and genuine user value. Rather than chasing individual keywords, map out topic clusters where one pillar page covers a broad subject and supporting content addresses specific questions and variations. This approach signals expertise to Google and actually answers what your audience is searching for. Write for humans first—Google's algorithm rewards content that satisfies search intent better than content optimized purely for rankings. This means understanding whether someone searching a keyword wants a quick answer, a how-to guide, product comparisons, or vendor information. Create content that actually delivers. Backlinks matter, but they're not built through cold outreach and directory submissions. Earn links by creating genuinely useful content—research, tools, case studies—that people naturally want to reference and share.

User experience is now a ranking signal in ways it wasn't before. Google measures how people actually interact with your pages: do they click your result and stay, or do they bounce back to search results? Site usability, readability, and the absence of intrusive ads all impact rankings. Beyond rankings, good UX directly impacts conversion rates, so this aligns agency incentives with Google's preferences. Focus on reducing friction—clear navigation, fast load times, mobile usability, and content that's easy to scan and understand. The agencies that perform well in 2020 are treating SEO as part of a broader user experience and conversion optimization strategy, not as a separate channel that lives in isolation. That integration is where sustainable rankings and real business results come from.