As we move into 2022, SEO trends are evolving faster than ever before. What worked a few years ago may not work today, and what works today may not work in the future. That’s why it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest SEO trends. That being said, here are the top 10 SEO trends for 2022 to watch out for.

 

1. Know The User’s Intent

In 2022, understanding search intent will become much more crucial than ever. Google is always updating its algorithms to ensure that the best search results are returned to users. In 2020, they announced that their focus would be on understanding search intent. This means that Google will be looking at the intent behind each search and returning results that match that intent as closely as possible. To be able to match this user intent, we must be able to see beyond keywords in their most basic form and derive useful information from them.

It’s important to understand the relation between the keywords and know how to focus on them to satisfy search intent. But what does that mean exactly? To focus on your keywords, you’ll need to understand the intent behind each search. What are people looking for when they use those keywords? What do they want to accomplish? Plan your content strategy keeping in mind the user intent of the search and the keywords you want to focus on.

 

2. Quality Of The Content

Google gives more priority to content that is not just good but outstanding. If you’re looking to improve your website’s ranking on Google, you know that content is key. And if you want your content to be truly effective, you need to make sure it’s of the highest quality.

Hundreds of content are created every day for SEO purposes to gain backlinks or to spread awareness, this is giving rise to a huge amount of similar content on the web.  Google emphasizes those content that is unique and is not available on the web already.

The best practice to follow to maintain the quality of the content is to:

  • Understand the search intent of the query.
  • Research on the query.
  • Categorize the topic, and pick the topic that matches the best with search intent as well as meets your business goals.

 

3. SERP Localization and Changes

SERPs are constantly changing and their layouts are adjusted to mobile users to give them the best user experience in terms of online shopping, reviews, brand awareness, etc. Over the next year, Google will place a greater emphasis on content localization. Website content that is country-specific is ranking high on Google when compared to those that were ranking globally all these years.  This is because of SERP localization and this trend will increase in the year 2022.  The sites that have a target audience globally should keep in mind to create content that is locally focused to a particular country too.

Select keywords that have local intent in their search queries like those of a particular country, city, or area.  This will help you show local relevance in the content, help you attract more visitors from that area, and help you rank higher in local search results.  If your website has to show up in local results then it is necessary to optimize and update your business details on GMB, site markup, wikis, etc.

 

4. Focus on Visual Content

Google ranks the sites with unique images, the ones that are original and specific to the content.  Visual content is also based on user intent because people are attracted more to visual content and images, especially the younger generations. There are a lot of chances that the content will rank high only because of the images in it.  Google also shows images as the result of a search query.

Google lens was introduced by Google to meet the image and visual needs of audiences who are searching for a particular item in google but cannot enter it in words.

Google can now tell when a video or image will be the right result for a user based on AI. Image and video optimization can help you achieve these results easily.

 

5. Automation

Automation saves a lot of time and effort and most of the SEO practices will be automated in the year 2022, such as search intent analysis, competitor analysis, site audits, technical audits, etc. Marketers can use these automation processes to deliver high-quality content.

Automation also helps SEO professionals to fill the gaps related to skills, resources, technology, and execution of their campaigns. This is especially true for small businesses that may not have the bandwidth to do everything themselves. Automation tools can help to improve website SEO, content marketing, social media campaigns, and more.

 

6. Use of Natural Language

When it comes to content marketing, the use of natural language is key. By using natural language, you can connect with your target audience on a more personal level. This helps to create a connection that can lead to trust and ultimately, conversion. To use natural language in your content marketing, you need to understand your audience.

What are their interests? What are their needs? What are their pain points? Once you understand your audience, you can start speaking to them in a way that is more natural and resonates with them.

Natural language helps in the use of long-tail keywords. There’s no doubt that using natural language when optimizing your website for long-tail keywords can help improve your search engine rankings. Natural language keyword research can help you find keywords that are not only relevant to your business but also have low competition, making it easier to rank higher in search engine results pages.

 

7. Mobile User Experience

Your website mobile experience is just as vital as your desktop experience. In fact, according to recent reports from analytics, it is clear that mobile apps are no longer an optional enhancement; they are a required part of any business strategy.  It starts from the discovery of your business online to the user engagement and interaction with your business using mobile phones.  Mobile user experience will also impact the core web vitals on mobiles. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you can bet your bottom dollar that your customers will take their business elsewhere.

 

8. Sustainability

In 2022, it is advised that SEO professionals focus on long-term SEO strategies that are sustainable. Normally SEO professionals focus a lot on the benefits of their site and brand awareness through their strategies, whereas the main focus should be on the latest industry trends and Google updates.

The key to obtaining long-term sustainable results through SEO is:

  • Continuous optimization.
  • Enhanced user experience.
  • Following the latest trends and industry news.
  • Follow Google updates and make amendments as necessary.

 

9. Indexing

It is always necessary and recommended to update search engines whenever a website is created or content is added, updated, or deleted from a website.  This will help the search engines to crawl and update their index of the changes.  IndexNow is an API, that notifies search engines for the same process.  IndexNow makes it easy for SEO professionals. SEO professionals can submit a list of URLs with updates or changes using IndexNow and this API immediately notifies the search engine crawlers to crawl and index the website. Bing and Yandex search engines are leading in the use of IndexNow API. 

10. Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (E-A-T)

E-A-T is a growing trend that needs to be considered in the year 2022.  E-A-T of your site depends on online PR, link building, technical SEO, and content.  Achieving E-A-T for the most part depends on the content.  Content should always be created by a subject matter expert.  This can be analyzed by comparing your content to the content that is ranking and finding out what you are actually lacking.  This will help you to build the quality of your content and in turn, build the E-A-T of your website.

In conclusion, the top 10 SEO trends in 2022 will see content being given even more importance, along with a major fall in the use of link-building as the main SEO tactic. None of this is a huge surprise. The use of technology such as voice search and AI-based platforms will continue to rise moving forward, and the user experience will become increasingly valued. Careful planning and an understanding of these SEO trends will help any business stay ahead in the game.