What is Search Engine Optimization? SEO is a great way to get consumers to your websites if it’s done correctly. SEO is always changing, so it can be difficult to keep up with the latest developments. It’s worthwhile. Some 70% to 88% users only focus on organic results. They ignore paid listings. Some 28% of these searches result in a purchase.
To achieve top-ranking SEO performance, you need to pay attention to many metrics such as traffic, backlinks and social shares, to name a few. This guide will give you insight into the most important and timely search engine optimization trends for 2022. It will allow you to plan your SEO strategy accordingly. Let’s take a look at the 12 SEO trends you should be watching in 2022.
1. Artificial Intelligence will Play a Greater Role in SEO
Artificial Intelligence (AI), is changing the way people interact with online content. It is worth mentioning Google’s AI algorithm. The algorithm, known as RankBrain, plays an important part in Google’s ranking factors on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Greg Corrado is a senior Google scientist and helped to develop RankBrain. He previously stated that the tool’s unique ability learn: “The signals are all based upon discoveries and insights that information retrieval professionals have had but there’s no learning.” This presumably indicates that RankBrain’s future will be better, making AI a top-of-the-line SEO trend.
The big question is: How do you optimize SEO for RankBrain. Experts believe that the most important determinant of SEO success is user experience. Although Google won’t reveal details, they do not want to. These could be factors such as click-through rates and time spent on page. Engage readers by providing useful and well-organized content. A on page SEO checker will help you evaluate your pages strength on the basis of readability, backlinks and other factors.
2. Voice Search Will Impact Search Queries
Voice search technology has advanced significantly thanks to innovations such as Google Assistant, Apple Siri, and Amazon Alexa. It’s become more popular as technology improves. In fact, the percentage of households predicted to own a smart speaker by 2022 is 55%.
To optimize for voice search, consider your keywords. You should identify longer phrases people use every day. Voice searches are more successful when the phrasing is longer and more natural. People tend to abbreviate when they type. A person could voice search “What are the latest SEO trends for 2022?” and then type “new SEO trends 2022.”
3. Search Rankings will be affected by mobile-friendliness
Google introduced mobile first indexing in 2019. This means that the search engine focuses primarily on the mobile version of a website and considers it the “primary” version. This is a smart move considering that 73% of internet users will only access the internet via mobile devices by 2025. Google offers a free mobile-friendly testing to help you assess how efficient your mobile site is. Next, take a look at the “mobile usability report” in Google Search console.
You must ensure that Google can crawl your URLs to make your page user-friendly. This is done by making sure there’s no “disallow directive”. Googlebot will not load content that requires user interaction, such as clicking or swiping. This lazy-loaded content must be visible by Google. Make sure you use the same meta tags for mobile and desktop sites.
4. Google EAT Principle-Fulfilling Content will rank higher
Google reiterates that content quality is crucial for ranking success. What does Google mean by “quality”? Refer to the EAT principle. It stands for expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. These factors determine whether a website has quality content. This principle is particularly relevant for business niches that fall under “Your money, Your Life” (YMYL), such as finance and health care.
You can make sure your content is high quality in a few different ways. Create buyer personas to help you determine what content is most important to your clients. The second step is to conduct search intent research. This will help you map the consumer journey. The third step is to use the information to create content that suits your users’ preferences. Video is preferred if you cater to teenagers. Video may not be as appealing if you cater to an older audience.
Remember EAT when writing content. facts and statistics can back up claims. Links to trusted sites such as URLs at “.edu” or “.gov”. Another way to show that you meet the EAT criteria is to have authoritative sites link back.
5. SEO will be improved by long-form content
Our State of Content Marketing Report shows that long reads of over 3,000 words receive three times as much traffic and four times the shares. They also get 3.5 times more backlinks that articles with an average length of 901-1,200 words. To achieve higher search rankings, you should focus on long-form content. Your content must be of high quality. Your goal is to keep users engaged by providing them with useful information they can share.
How can you do this? To make your content more readable, you should first break it up into sections using H2 and H3 subtitles. Mobile sites require subheadings to be effective. Second, make sure you link to authoritative, relevant sources that have a high authority score. Make sure your content is easy-to-share. Make sure to include sharing links in the headline and at the end so readers can easily share your content.
The SEO Template Tool will help you optimize your content for search. Enter the query to rank for and you will get suggestions on the content length and semantically related keywords you should include. You can also see the top-ranking pages.
6. Featured Snippets will be more prominent
Don’t panic. If you want to rise in the Google rankings, you don’t need to create long-term content. Featured Snippets were introduced in 2017 and are a shortcut to getting noticed in Google. They’re also very short. You may sometimes see a box above the actual results when you type in something into Google. This is a snippet.
A featured snippet can be a great way of getting on the first page of search results. Snippets also steal traffic from your competitors.
Featured snippets are a short summary of information. They can be structured as a quick bullet-point or Q&A. Rich snippets include images, star-based reviews and product prices. Focus on relevant keywords and question-based queries to create snippets. For inspiration, you can use the Google search function people also ask.
7. Predictive search is set to improve
Google Discover was launched in 2017 and introduced a new type of search. It doesn’t even need a query. Another one of Google’s AI-driven Google tools is Discover. This content recommendation tool tracks user behavior patterns and learns them over time. Discover can then identify the most relevant content that is most likely to appeal to the user using this information.
Google Discover has already claimed more than 800 millions active users. You don’t need to do anything extra in order to appear. Your page will be included if it is indexed by Google. Ranking content is determined by algorithms that evaluate its quality and user interest. Google has not disclosed the exact factors but it appears that location history and browsing history, app use, calendars and search history, as well as home and work locations, are all relevant.
8. A Video Strategy is Essential for Effective SEO.
Online video appears to be the future. YouTube is used by more than 1,000,000 people. You don’t have to create video content if you don’t want to. Are you still not convinced? Don’t be discouraged.
What can you do to optimize the video content? Optimize your video channel description and name. Your description should not only be filled with keywords, but also provide a quick overview of the purpose of your channel.
Keywords are also important. If you are optimizing for YouTube, the auto-complete feature on YouTube can help you get ideas. You can start typing your video’s subject and then see what appears in the search field. This is basically a list of suggested keywords that will tell you exactly what YouTube users are looking for.
9. Image Optimization will play a larger role in search
The visual image search process has changed dramatically. Previously, people could only look at images. People will soon be able use images to buy products and get information. Google has always insisted on proper marking and optimization for images. It makes sense that this is part their long-term strategy.
Make sure your website’s images are optimized. High-quality images should be relevant and customized. Also, make sure the file name is unique. Label the file with the relevant information. Alt tags are used by crawlers to classify images. Last, make sure to add images to your sitemap, so they are easier to find. For more information, you can also check out our image SEO posts.
10. Semantically Related Keywords will be more important
As if they were wearing blinders, SEO professionals used focus on primary keywords. We now know that secondary keywords are equally important. Intent optimization and semantic search will continue to gain prominence. Google doesn’t look at just strings of words anymore. Google is now analyzing query context to determine a user’s search intention. Therefore, the more information that can be provided via logically related primary keywords and secondary keywords will be the best.
To help you prioritize the queries that you are most interested in, we offer a comprehensive Keyword Tool.
Create content that answers a question your target audience might ask in order to address semantic search. Instead of just focusing on keywords, optimize content for topic groups. Structured data should be used only when it is logical. Remember, you are not writing for bots. Instead, write for people.
11. Local Search Listings will Play a Greater Role in SEO Strategies
People often think about the internet’s global nature when they think of it. Most people use search engines for localized products and services. For example, they might be looking for a local restaurant. Local SEO is vital — and it’s constantly evolving. This is partly due to the rise in zero-click search results, which some SEO marketers have dubbed the new normal.
A zero-click search answers the user’s query via the SERP. Users don’t click any ranking results. The increase in featured snippets is one reason that zero-click search has been increasing. Local searches that display the SERP results in what’s known as a “local pack” are a common zero-click search.
How can you get your business to the top of the local pack? Create a Google My Business page. It is important to have a strong backlink profile. For inspiration, you can look at the backlinks of your competitors and make a list.
12. If you want to be ahead in rankings, data and analytics should be your priority
Data science allows you to understand your customers, visualize campaigns, create targeted messages, and gain insight into their buying habits. Analytics can be used to verify URL crawling patterns, identify referral sources, analyze page loading times, indexing, redirects and response errors, bounce rates, as well as check page loading speeds, indexing, bounce rates, page loading times, page loading time, bounce rate, page loading speed, and much more. Data science can also be used to identify pages you don’t want crawlers indexing, and pinpoint unusual traffic sources (which could hurt your EAT credibility).
How can you capture all this information? There are many SEO industry analysis tools available. The SEO Toolkit provides all the technology needed to address everything. This includes rank tracking, competitive research, , technical SEO and link building. You can see what is working and what is not. This allows you to address issues and continually improve your web presence.
