SEO Trends for 2022

As we start 2022, it is time to think about your SEO strategy for the new year. How will you improve or maintain the visibility of your website through all the upcoming changes the next few months have in store?

The best way to prepare for change is to understand it. Read up on the ten most important SEO trends for 2022 and how you can get your company website ready for them in the list below.

10 SEO Trends for 2022

1. Build a First-Party Data Hub

As soon as Google announced their intention to phase out third-party cookies in early 2020, first-party data immediately became a critical marketing resource.

To continue to offer the level of personalization that your leads have come to expect, your company website must now double as a first-party data collection hub. Build your website to attract leads and keep them browsing with valuable content and a good user experience. The more time they spend on your website, the more useful data you will collect from them.

2. Improve Page Load Speeds

Google’s latest updates have made loading speeds even more important for all aspects of search engine marketing. They gauge speed using their new Core Web Vitals metrics, which measure:

• How long it takes the most resource-intensive element of your website to load.
• How much the page layout is disrupted while elements are loading.
• How quickly elements respond to being clicked.

To improve the load speeds on your website:

• Build and update pages using agile programming languages like Javascript or CSS.
• Compress images and video as much as possible without sacrificing quality.
• Use caching for CSS files and images, so they never need to be downloaded twice.

3. Refresh Older Content

Your company probably has an extensive archive of previously published content that is not performing as well as it could. Giving this content an update with new statistics, information, and keywords can help you leverage it to achieve better results this year.

With the right changes, you can turn old material into new assets that will boost your site’s traffic, SEO, and revenue potential. Hiring an SEO agency to help you with this task will get it done more quickly and effectively, putting your company in a better position for 2022.

4. Optimize for Image and Voice Search

More and more people are using alternate form of search like voice and image search. A comprehensive SEO strategy for 2022 must account for this shift.

• Using “near me” as part of your keywords can effectively capture users employing voice search as this phrasing mimics the way people typically pose these queries. Conversational content with less structure and a more personal approach also helps.
• To optimize your site for image search, you will need to populate your site with unique, fast-loading images with keyword-rich alt tags—the more unusual or attention-grabbing the image, the better.

5. Prioritize Evergreen Content

Algorithm changes come and go, but high-value content will always perform well.

In 2022, avoid relying too much on easily dated content like news reports. Instead, focus on creating timeless content that offers real value to your leads. User guides, tip sheets, original research, and more are examples of premium content that will attract plenty of traffic from interested users.

6. Create a Mobile-Friendly Site

For several years, Google has put more focus on mobile-first indexing. This makes having a mobile-friendly site no longer an option, but a necessity. If you do not invest in mobile optimization, achieving high search ranks will be a struggle.

For a future-proof solution that will work for all devices, consider hiring an SEO company for a website redesign using responsive design elements. This will allow you to maintain a single site that accommodates all users and offers them an exceptional experience.

7. Focus on Search Intent and Semantic Keywords

Thanks to Google’s increasingly sophisticated understanding of user intent, primary keywords are not as critical as they once were. Instead, they now share the spotlight with secondary and tertiary keywords. These additional keywords provide extra context that helps search algorithms match them to user intent.

To adapt to this change:

• Focus on keywords with niche- and location-specific phrasing, such as “vegan grocery stores in Vaughan” or “petite women’s clothing in Woodstock.”
• You can also try adding FAQs to some of your content to answer some common user questions more directly, making it more likely that Google will present your content to users in need.
• When possible, add structured data to your web pages (quantifiable information like star ratings, pricing, or recipe cook times). Google considers these snippets of data extremely helpful to users and is more likely to award high ranks to pages that include them.

8. Optimizing for Google Discover

Google Discover is a personalized information feed generated in response to a users’ browsing habits. This feed appears on Google’s home page on mobile browsers. Any content that is distributed here gets incredible exposure. To give your content the best chance of appearing:

• Add visuals. Content with images is more likely to appear.
• Create targeted content that will genuinely interest your users. Google will only show people your content through Discover if their algorithm determines that it is likely to be valuable to them.

9. Creating a Positive User Experience

User experience has always been a vital component of SEO, but it has become even more important since online shopping became more common. This trend is set to continue in 2022, so businesses with online storefronts have a tremendous opportunity in front of them.

• Secure your site with a secure sockets layer (SSL) to keep customer information safe and boost consumer confidence.
• Optimize your site for fast loading speeds. Check your Core Web Vitals report to see how your website measures up to Google’s standards.
• Improve your navigation so users can easily find what they came looking for.

10. Embrace Omni-Channel Marketing

The more time people spend online, the more opportunities you have to connect with them. Layering multiple connections strengthens the impact of your marketing, which is why omni-channel marketing is set to become even more important in 2022.

This year, branch out beyond your core SEO activities and consider building up other marketing channels like:

• Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads
• Email Marketing
• Social Media Marketing

These additional marketing strategies will keep your business in your leads’ minds and draw them closer to your brand.

Partner with a Premier SEO Company

The world of SEO is constantly in flux, and we are excited to see how these early trends will take shape as we continue into 2022.

You can easily keep your website up to date with all of the latest SEO trends by working with WSI Comandix. Our SEO services will help you effortlessly optimize your website and content marketing for maximum impact under current SEO paradigms. Contact us today to learn more about our services and get your website set up for SEO success in the new year.