How to improve SEO in 2020

The fundamentals that mattered in 2019 still matter in 2020, but Google's focus has sharpened around three areas where most agencies need to improve: Core Web Vitals, E-E-A-T signals, and topical authority. If you're not already measuring and optimizing page speed, visual stability, and interactivity through Google's Core Web Vitals metrics (LCP, FID, and CLS), you're leaving rankings on the table. These metrics influence ranking directly and will become even more important. Start by running your clients' sites through PageSpeed Insights and Chrome's Core Web Vitals report, then prioritize fixes that address the worst offenders—usually unoptimized images, render-blocking JavaScript, or cumulative layout shift from ads and embedded content.

The second shift is harder to quantify but increasingly visible in results: Google rewards sites that demonstrate Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. For E-E-A-T to help your clients, you need to build author credibility (actual author bios tied to real people), show content creation process and date updates, include citations from authoritative sources, and create genuinely expert content rather than thin rewrites of competitors. This matters especially for YMYL (Your Money Your Life) niches, but Google applies these signals across most industries now. If your clients are publishing without author attribution or never updating old content, that's a quick win to address.

Third, shift from keyword-level optimization to topical authority. Instead of chasing individual search terms, help clients establish comprehensive topical depth around clusters of related keywords. This means mapping out all the queries users ask about a topic, then creating content that interconnects—a pillar page with detailed cluster content linking back to it. Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush now have cluster features to help you identify these opportunities. A site that ranks for twenty related variations of "HVAC maintenance" will outperform one that ranks for three unrelated keywords. Build content strategy around topics your clients actually own expertise in, not just the keywords with the highest search volume.

The practical play for agencies in 2020 is auditing existing client sites for Core Web Vitals problems immediately, then shifting content strategy conversations toward topical depth and author credibility rather than keyword density.