In the span of a few years, SEO trends have changed dramatically. The algorithms are constantly evolving due to innovation in emerging technologies.
Search engines, like Google, require your curiosity and undivided attention all year round. Needy, eh? Make no mistake, however, with the rise in popularity of AI-powered voice ecosystems, voice search is changing the landscape of SEO.
With 2022 just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about what SEO trends you want to be ahead of. Digital marketing professionals, marketing agencies, and businesses alike will need to be prepared for 2022, arguably more so than ever before.
Lucky for you, we have compiled some of the most important SEO techniques and strategies to help you prepare for what is coming!
The popularity of voice search is continuing to rise. In fact, it’s reported that around 58% of consumers use voice search to find local business information.
We already have Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant that play a crucial role in people’s daily lives. Many people now use a smart speaker in their homes and with the introduction of voice activation in everything from televisions to medical devices, it’s only a matter of time before voice search is the primary form of search.
What this will mean for SEO trends is that there’ll be an increased need for businesses and marketers alike to focus on their “conversation marketing” skills – translating written content into natural language. This change in vocabulary could also be an opportunity for brands to connect with their customers on a more personal level.
Voice search encourages you to create content that is more conversational in nature, with no formal structure and less emphasis on keywords.
In order to stay ahead of this trend, it’s important that you know what conversational content is out there on the internet so you can easily come up with new ideas for your own website.
One place to start would be Q&A websites like Quora and Reddit – both platforms have a lot of resources to get you started. Also, things like FAQs or how-to articles are going to be more important than ever since people will be asking questions and expecting Google to provide answers through it’s voice assistant
Adjust your target keywords to cater more to specific conversational-based searches, you can and should even spin long-tail keywords into queries. You’ll then be able to shape content around answering such queries, which could be in the form of a blog article or even an FAQ page. Remember to include the search query as you normally would as an H1, H2, or H3.
This is something that 10to8 has focused heavily on this year, with the launch of our new Accessibility Suite and WCAG Compliant booking pages. The number of people who have internet access is increasing. So, being able to be seen and found by everyone – including those with visual impairments or other disabilities – is going to be key.
Ensuring your website content, services, products, and more are accessible for people with disabilities will not only help you in the rankings but also provide a better customer experience.
The bottom line is that if you want to rank higher on Google search, this is one of the SEO trends you need to pay close attention to. You need to provide an amazing customer experience for everyone – which means improving your website’s accessibility now more than ever.
When it comes to accessibility, there are a lot of things you can do – and maybe some that your company has already done. You should be focusing on the following:
In featured snippets, the search results that typically feature at the top of Google’s organic search results come in many forms such as answer boxes, along with ‘People also ask’ which Google deems to be relevant based on the original search query.
The purpose of such boxes is part of an ongoing effort by Google to answer questions as quickly as possible and further enhance the user experience. In many cases, it removes the need for the user conducting the search to click-through. Regardless, this is a great opportunity to increase organic impression share, and be seen as an authoritative and helpful source.
The techniques previously suggested for optimizing for voice search can also be applied to featured snippets, as of course, you are also answering a query.
While there is no hard and fast way to appear in featured snippets, we do know that Google favors numbers, steps, and lists alike. For instance, have you ever searched for a recipe on Google? If yes, then you would have likely noticed that ingredients are presented to you in a clear and concise list form.
If you have figures and intriguing stats, then be sure to include them when creating content designed to be featured in rich snippets.
Improve your mobile and desktop page load times, or get left behind. While it’s no secret that page speed is one of the most important SEO trends, lately page speed has become more important than ever before.
In fact, Google’s recent algorithm update has made page load speed a much bigger factor in the ranking than it once was. To be successful in optimizing for featured snippets, voice search, or even just to appear on page one, a fast-loading website will help your chances.
Google wants to return answers as quickly as possible, and studies have shown that 1 in 4 users will bounce from a page that loads slower than 4 seconds. High bounce rates will seriously damage your reputation with Google and lose customers.
Plus, back in July 2018, Google announced to the world that they will be using page speed in mobile search rankings too. So, it’s not just for desktop searches.
The bottom line is this: if your website takes longer to load than others on the same network connection you are likely going to rank lower and have fewer visitors.
To improve your page speed across desktop and mobile you will first need to have a good understanding of how your website is performing. By using Google’s PageSpeed Insights not only will you get a score out of 100, but you will also get some top recommendations that you can follow to speed up.
First, ensure you are following Google’s guidelines for faster web pages. This includes reducing the size of images and adding content to your HTML using CSS or Javascript instead of server-side languages such as PHP or Python.
Secondly, use a Content Delivery Network in order to serve your website content from the closest server to where a user is located.
Third, use caching for static resources like images and CSS files so that they are only downloaded once – this will save bandwidth for both you and your users. Lastly, ensure all of the scripts on your site are GZIP compressed as it can make up to 70% of the difference in page speed.
When it comes to SEO trends in 2022, it may seem that mobile optimization is old news. Many SEO professionals will know that, as of March 2018, after the rollout of the mobile-first index, it’s been an increasingly important ranking factor. Having your site optimized for mobile will also increase the likelihood that you will rank higher on search results.
However, what you may not know is that, if you have both a desktop and mobile version of your website, then the Google bot will first crawl the mobile version when deciding how to rank your website. Pair this with the fact that 90% of internet users access the internet on mobile phones, then it’s no surprise that mobile optimization is an important SEO strategy.
If you don’t have a responsive website or a dedicated mobile site, then, getting one is a must, without one you’ll be missing out on reaching prospects and customers alike who are browsing using multiple devices.
It’s good practice to ensure that both your mobile and desktop sites have the same primary content. This should include metadata such as page titles and descriptions too. However, remember as per the last recommendation to also ensure that you reduce the mobile page load time, as this is a key ranking factor.
As well as mobile and voice content, people are becoming much more visual when they access the internet. With the rise of apps like Snapchat, TikTok, and many other social platforms adopting stories, it’s no surprise that we are seeing a rise in video content too.
The use of videos is hugely beneficial, not just as one of the best new SEO trends, but video content also helps you to be seen as an authoritative and helpful source. They do well on social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook which have adopted the latest updates from Google algorithm changes.
If you are ready to take the plunge, then start by making a list of your video content ideas. This can include tutorials, informative videos such as how-tos, and product demos too. Once you have this list, it will be easier for you to create small pieces of content designed with short but enticing snippets. This will encourage viewers to watch your content, click through to your articles, and will also help you appear in the video section of Google search.
One trend that’s been growing among online businesses for a while now is customer experience. This goes hand in hand with the page experience requirements that Google mentioned in their latest update.
The update means that Google will take into consideration the user experience of a website in order to rank them appropriately. This includes factors that can affect your page’s load time, such as how many redirects you have, how many images, and the length of pages too. The core web vitals will be checked by Google as well as website usability and navigation both on desktop and mobile, the placement of buttons, how dynamic content, such as pop-ups appear, and more. The new update also means that using the AMP format for content is no longer a necessity.
The best way to make sure you are providing a great user experience is by making your website as simple and easy to use as possible. You should also be mindful about how many ads or unnecessary content you have on each page too. Make sure your site has a valid HTTPS certificate, isn’t full of clutter, and is generally easy for your users to navigate.
Link schemes are also now seriously penalized by Google. This is why you must be wary of any strategies that include reciprocal link exchanges, paid links, or other non-organic link-building techniques.
With the latest update, exchanging money for links, excessive link swaps, or even large-scale guest posting campaigns are all considered black hat SEO techniques.
If your business wants to rank higher on Google’s search results page then it’s time to focus on more ethical means of getting quality backlinks. The best way to do this is by producing useful content which will attract links organically.
Once you’ve got your high-quality content, make sure to distribute it on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. But remember, when sharing the link, don’t spam! Make sure that any posts are relevant to what it is you’re trying to promote in order to get the best results possible.
Overall, the future of SEO is changing and evolving. We must embrace these changes now in order to stay on top and be ready for what comes next year. So, it’s time for your business to start thinking about how they can implement some (or all) of these principles into their current marketing strategy.
Whether you want help building an ethical link-building campaign or improving your mobile usability, don’t get left behind. Start adapting now with the best SEO strategies for 2022 and beyond.