New year, new SEO strategy
Competition in the digital marketing world is tough. Newer techniques keep popping up, and older trends fall out of favor all over again — it requires constant learning if you want to stay competitive.
To stay on top of the latest trends in search engine optimization, you may need a team of professionals that spend hours to keep up with all those changes. Without updating your knowledge, SEO strategy will not only be ineffective, but some outdated tactics can also have a negative impact on your website ranking and traffic numbers.
You can’t afford to be passive in this evolving SEO landscape. By identifying the key trends that will affect how people find information online in 2022 and adjusting accordingly you can get maximum results.
We have looked ahead to 2022 and found the top 5 trends that will become popular in search engine optimization:
Rich Search Result Pages
Search Result Page doesn’t look like a list of blue hyperlinks with meta description any more, it contains different forms of information and is interactive. In fact, you can find answers without clicking the website’s link. As an example, look at the result page for the “what is gaslighting” phrase:
Rich content includes Knowledge Graphs, Product Listing Ads, Local pack, image carousels, and other featured snippets. So as to implement them on your website and appear in FAQs and other SERP features, you have to mark up the content of your webpage using special tools or plugins. This process of optimising for SERP instant results is called SERP Marketing.
SEO focus on Semantic Intent
With Google’s superior search engine capabilities, it is no longer sufficient to rely on old-fashioned methods of content creation that focus only on exact keyword strings. It is the searcher intent that Google tries to catch and render its output accordingly. Every year from 16 to 20% of all Google search results are new which means the search engine has to adapt its algorithms to provide satisfactory results for any query. While the exact word collocations may differ, the number of topics is more limited. That’s why to rank high on the SERP website content should cover the overall context of the query and not only be stuffed with the ‘right’ phrases.
As an example, looks how Google interpret the search for ‘covid symptoms’:
As you see from the screenshot, Google Suggest results are not just an extension of what I have typed into the search bar. The algorithm assumes that:
- You may be interested in covid general symptoms, but you may need to compare them to a regular cold.
- You probably want to get tested for the virus at the nearest testing point.
- Omicron is the latest and most widespread type of Covid in January 2022, so you are very likely to develop its symptoms.
Mobile First
The first mobile device appeared a decade before the search engine development, and now more than 80% of the world’s population use cell phones. With the rise of mobile internet and public wi-fi, it is no wonder that people first turn to their phones in moments of need and search the web for help and advice.
Google switched from desktop to mobile-first indexing in 2019, but it takes time to adopt new things. In 2022, mobile-friendliness is crucial as never before. Your website should render well on mobile and tablet screens and be fast enough to download using mobile internet.
Voice search is part of the mobile accessibility trend and one of the fastest-growing search types. As Google Now, Siri, and Cortana programs get more refined, people take to voice search more and more often.
Users turn to the search with full structured natural questions and want to get a concise answer. Therefore to optimise your website for this segment of searchers, you should keep in mind two things: the keywords targeted need to be conversational and the information provided should be brief and up-to-the-point.
E-A-T principle
The road to higher rankings is no longer a simple journey. A lot has changed since the time when getting on top of the results required a keyword-containing domain name with some age. This technique is no longer enough to prove website authority. EAT is an acronym that stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. This means to be competent in the sphere you are talking about and have proof of people’s trust when it comes down to business or personal decisions.
It takes years to build up your website reputation by earning mentions from high-authority online sources, regularly updating and refreshing your content, getting reviews and testimonials, displaying your credentials, and many more.
Video content
Look at the latest statistics on video marketing:
- 92% of marketers confirm video is at the core of their advertising strategies.
- The average person is estimated to watch 100 minutes of online videos per day, which increases by 19% from 84 minutes of daily video consumption in 2019.
- Videos in social networks are shared 1200% more than text and images.
- 72% of online customers prefer learning about services or products via video.
In 2022 it is no longer recommended but is imperative to integrate video into your SEO plan. It is also crucial as Youtube is now widely used as an alternative search engine. To give a chance for your video content to rank on Google, you should abide by the rules provided by Google Search Center. They include video sitemaps and key moments structure.
Conclusion
SEO is going ahead each year and needs tweaking. It takes time and skills to adjust to the algorithm changes and stay on top of the result listings. That is why investing in SEO has never been so important as in 2022. If you need the help of experienced professionals in this full of opportunities journey, contact us to discuss your SEO strategy. We have been providing affordable SEO services since 2013. We will give advice on the best way to improve your website!
Kamil
Kamil Krystman is an SEO expert with 13 years of experience. In 2013, he founded Alfamedio LTD based in London.
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