SEO Trends to Watch in 2020
The end of 2019 is the right moment to plan for 2020. Some trends are extensions of what worked this year. Others reflect changes Google has signaled but not yet rolled out. Here are the SEO trends every small business owner should plan for — and the practical moves to make in each one.
What are the biggest SEO trends to watch in 2020?
Seven trends that will shape small business search in 2020:
- Page Experience update (announced for 2020)
- Deeper natural language understanding post-BERT
- Voice search continuing to expand
- Featured snippet and PAA dominance
- Local search getting more competitive
- Video content rising as a search asset
- E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) becoming non-negotiable
A direct answer: The biggest SEO trends for 2020 are the upcoming Page Experience update, deeper natural language understanding, continued voice search expansion, featured snippet and PAA dominance, intensifying local competition, video search rising in importance, and E-A-T becoming a non-negotiable foundation. Small businesses that prepare for these in 2020 will compound the gains for years.
What is the Page Experience update?
Google announced in 2020 planning that page experience signals — site speed, mobile-friendliness, safe browsing, HTTPS, intrusive interstitials — will become explicit ranking factors. The change has been signaled but not yet rolled out as of late 2019.
The signals expected to be unified under page experience:
- Mobile-friendliness
- Site speed
- Safe browsing
- HTTPS
- Lack of intrusive interstitials
A direct answer: The upcoming Page Experience update will unify mobile-friendliness, site speed, safe browsing, HTTPS, and intrusive interstitial signals into an explicit ranking factor. Sites with strong page experience will gain ground. Sites with poor experience will lose ground. The update has been signaled by Google but not yet rolled out as of late 2019 — preparation now pays in 2020.
For small business owners, this means 2020 is the year to make sure your site is technically sound: fast, mobile-friendly, secure, and free of intrusive pop-ups.
How will natural language search continue to evolve?
BERT was a major step in 2019. Expect Google to continue rolling out natural language understanding improvements quietly throughout 2020. The implication for small business content is consistent: write conversationally, cover topics comprehensively, structure content around questions.
A direct answer: Natural language search in 2020 will continue evolving quietly as Google integrates BERT-style improvements throughout its core algorithm. The right preparation is the same: write for humans, structure content around real questions, cover topics comprehensively. Sites still optimizing for exact-match keywords will fall further behind.
What about voice search in 2020?
Voice search adoption will continue rising. Smart speaker installs reach over half of US households by mid-2020 (industry projections), and voice-driven local queries will become an even bigger channel for service businesses.
The strategic move: keep doing the work that supports voice — clean local SEO, strong featured snippet structure, FAQPage schema, fast mobile site. There is no separate “voice optimization tactic” beyond these.
How will featured snippets and PAA evolve?
Featured snippets and PAA boxes already appear on a majority of question-based queries. In 2020 expect:
- More queries showing featured snippets
- More PAA expansion (currently shows 3-4 initial questions, can load 15+)
- Possible changes to how snippet-owner sites are credited (Google is testing different attributions)
A direct answer: Featured snippets and PAA will continue expanding their query share in 2020. Sites with question-style H2s and 40 to 60 word direct answers will keep accumulating placements. Pages without that structure will lose ground on the long-tail.
What is happening in local search?
Local search is getting more competitive. More businesses are claiming and optimizing GMB. More are running review-generation engines. More are investing in local content and links. The bar for Map Pack visibility is rising.
A direct answer: Local search in 2020 will be more competitive across every category and metro. Map Pack visibility will increasingly require multi-channel local marketing: complete GMB optimization, consistent review velocity, accurate citations, locally relevant content, and ongoing local link building. Owners running a single-tactic approach (GMB only, or reviews only) will fall behind.
In our 2019 client work, the gap between Map Pack top-three businesses and just-below businesses widened compared to 2018. Expect the gap to widen further in 2020.
What about video?
Video continues to grow as a search asset. YouTube is the second-largest search engine. Google increasingly shows video carousels and individual videos in standard search results. For small businesses, video is no longer optional in 2020.
Three places to focus:
- YouTube channel with a small library of useful videos targeting the questions your customers ask
- Embedded video on key landing pages to support conversion
- Short-form video on the platforms where your customers actually spend time (Instagram, Facebook, increasingly TikTok)
A direct answer: Video in 2020 is no longer optional for small businesses. YouTube content targeting customer questions, embedded video on key landing pages to support conversion, and short-form video on social channels all compound search and discovery visibility. Even modest video investment (10 to 20 useful videos per year) drives measurable lift.
What is E-A-T and why does it matter more in 2020?
E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness — concepts from Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines. While E-A-T is not a direct ranking factor, the signals that build it correlate strongly with rankings, especially for Your Money or Your Life topics (health, finance, legal).
A direct answer: E-A-T means Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness — the qualities Google’s Search Quality Raters use to evaluate content quality. While not a direct ranking factor, E-A-T-aligned signals (author credentials, contact info, citations, secure site, professional design, real-world reputation) correlate strongly with rankings and will become non-negotiable in 2020.
Practical 2020 moves:
- Author bylines on every blog post linking to an author bio page
- A complete About page with team photos and credentials
- Contact information clearly displayed on every page
- Real business address and phone (no virtual offices or P.O. boxes)
- HTTPS site-wide
- Reviews and testimonials displayed credibly
- Citations to authoritative sources in your content
What should small businesses actually do in 2020?
A simple priority list:
- Q1: Audit and fix mobile page experience (speed, parity, schema, interstitials)
- Q1: Build out E-A-T foundations (author pages, About page, contact, HTTPS)
- Q2: Restructure top 30 pages for snippet/PAA capture
- Q2: Launch a sustainable review engine if not already running
- Q3: Produce 10 to 20 useful videos for YouTube
- Q3: Local link building push (sponsorships, news, partnerships)
- Q4: Comprehensive content production on topics that drive your business
A direct answer: The 2020 small business SEO priority list is: fix mobile page experience and E-A-T foundations in Q1, restructure pages for snippet capture and launch a review engine in Q2, invest in video and local link building in Q3, and scale content production in Q4. Each quarter compounds on the previous one.
What should small businesses stop doing in 2020?
Three things to abandon:
- Keyword stuffing — finally fully dead
- Low-quality directory submissions — actively diluting your citation profile
- Thin AI-assisted content without expert review — destroying topical authority
Where SEO services fit in your overall plan for 2020: pair SEO with local SEO for foundation, then layer in content marketing and PPC for compounding growth. Browse Frostbite locations for regional support.
For further reading: the Search Engine Journal annual SEO survey and the Moz state of SEO report are the most comprehensive industry forecasts for 2020.
FAQs
Will the Page Experience update penalize my site?
Probably not penalize — but slow, hard-to-use sites will lose ground to faster competitors. Plan for it now, not after it rolls out.
Should I start a YouTube channel for my business?
For most small businesses, yes. Even 12 to 20 useful videos per year built around the questions your customers actually ask can drive meaningful organic discovery.
What is the biggest SEO mistake to avoid in 2020?
Treating SEO as a project rather than a system. The businesses that win in 2020 are the ones running disciplined ongoing programs across GMB, reviews, content, mobile, and links. Project-based SEO loses ground to system-based competitors.
Will paid ads matter less in 2020?
No — paid will continue to matter and will continue getting more expensive. The right play is to run paid for short-term lead flow and SEO for long-term compounding traffic.
Is voice search worth special investment?
Not a separate investment beyond the SEO fundamentals you should already be doing. Voice rewards the same work as snippets, PAA, and local SEO.
2020 will be the year SEO foundations harden into non-negotiable baseline practices. The businesses that prepare in Q1 will be ahead by Q4. If you want a hand planning your 2020 SEO roadmap, request a Frostbite snapshot report — we will pull a free annual planning audit within three business days.
Why Seo Trends Watch Matters for Your Business
The right approach to seo trends watch is what separates the businesses that grow from those that stall. Frostbite Marketing has built seo trends watch programs for service businesses across all 50 states, combining proven SEO fundamentals with the new realities of AI-driven search.
How Frostbite Marketing Approaches Seo Trends Watch
Our seo trends watch methodology starts with a free strategy call. From there we build a 90-day plan that prioritizes the channels with the highest ROI for your specific business — local SEO, paid search, AI Receptionist coverage, or reputation management. Start a free consultation to see how it works.
