The start of a new year is always an exciting time. Who knows what the following 12 months will hold? Will Kim get back with Kanye? What’s the next TikTok trend going to be? Who’s going to be the first celebrity to get cancelled? And, the question on everyone’s mind at the beginning of the year, what SEO trends should I be on the lookout for this year? Well, fortunately for you, the team of legends at Search Marketing Experts are up to date on all the latest SEO trends for 2022, and we’re here to help you implement them and make your business stand out online.
Hi There, MUM
In 2019, Google launched BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers). It was capable of understanding the relationship between words and the intent behind a search query, enhancing Google’s ability to serve voice assistant users. Now, BERT has been retired, and in 2022 we’re saying hello to MUM (Multitask United Model). MUM is changing the way we look at SEO trends in 2022 because this new model can answer complex queries. MUM can analyse video, images, and text from 75 languages to answer complex questions. It uses AI to understand the user’s feelings, context, abstractions and intent, and it provides entirely unique answers for that specific user. Pandu Nayak, Google’s VP of Search, said;
“Eventually, you might be able to take a photo of your hiking boots and ask, ‘Can I use these to hike Mt Fuji’. MUM would understand the image and connect it with your question to let you know your boots would work just fine. It could then point you to a blog with a list of recommended gear.”
Google Shopping Is Only Getting Better And Better
Google’s online shopping capabilities hadn’t been too strong until the pandemic, but their shopping search engine had existed for many years. However, in recent years, the need to adapt to online shopping demand has been a priority for Google, hence the expansion of Google’s ecosystem.
- Shopping Graph. Google has launched a dynamic AI-enhanced model, Shopping Graph, that understands a constantly changing set of products, sellers, brands, reviews, and the product information and inventory data received from brands and retailers directly. Throughout 2022, we can only expect to see Google Shopping continue to grow and improve. Businesses will need to make sure their Google Shopping feeds are optimised and ready to go.
- Open carts tab. Mobile users with the Chrome browser can see their open carts whenever they open a new tab, so factor that into your 2022 remarketing strategy.
- Linked loyalty programs. Google is set to link loyalty programs to users’ accounts, allowing customers to see discounts in real-time across a range of retailers.
- Deals are easier to find. As there has been a significant increase in searches for the keyword ‘discount code’ worldwide, Google has launched a new feature for its shopping tab that showcases the latest deals across retailers for shopping-related keywords. Google is also in the process of testing an ‘affordable picks’ carousel on mobile searches that feature the query ‘cheap’, so we can probably expect to see this integration in 2022.
New Search Methods
The way we’re using the internet and searching for information is changing more rapidly every year.
- Voice recognition. Since the implementation of voice recognition innovations such as Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa on mobile devices, internet software, and smart speakers, casual conversation-type questions are becoming more prevalent in Google searches. For example, rather than typing ‘Pete Davidson age’ in the search bar, people are asking their phones, ‘Hey Siri, how old is Pete Davidson?’. While you might not think it’s too big of a deal, it’s changing the way we use and think about keywords. You’ll need to be way more strategic in the way you write and create your content. You may even want to consider going back over old content and doing a bit of on-page SEO.
- Mobiles will become more dominant. It’s estimated that by 2025, 73% of internet users will access the internet exclusively through mobile devices. As features such as voice command, virtual reality, and augmented reality become more prevalent, the use of a keyboard input becomes less important. Why do something on a desktop when you can do it far more easily on your phone? Businesses need to make sure their websites are mobile responsive to keep up with SEO trends in 2022.
Google Will Be Looking For Better Quality Content
Every day, Google is getting better and better at recognising high-quality content with relevant, reliable information. We can only expect this to improve throughout 2022, making rankings even more competitive.
- Create evergreen content. The best kind of SEO content is evergreen, the stuff that never goes out of style or out of date (unlike our Kim/Kanye and Pete Davidson references… oops). Evergreen content remains relevant for long periods and can be easily touched up and republished semi-regularly. One of the simplest WordPress SEO strategies you can implement is updating evergreen content pieces and republishing them.
- Passage indexing. In 2021, we saw the introduction of ‘passage indexing’, which allows a page to rank for a specific passage rather than the whole page. In 2022, we can expect to learn more about what makes a passage rank effectively.
- Titles need to be relevant. Misleading titles will see themselves lose their spot on the page results, so it’s more important than ever that the title of an article matches the content of the article.
- Links will need to be reliable. If the links within your articles aren’t reliable and relevant, Google will penalise you for it. That includes dead links, so if you have old content linking to external sites, make sure they’re all working.
- No more keyword stuffing. You no longer need to use a particular word or phrase a dozen times within an article to rank well. In fact, overuse does far more harm than good. As Google continues to evolve, it’s beginning to recognise related keywords and phrases, so it will pick up on synonyms and related words.
- Video is king. With over a billion users on YouTube, video is one of the most effective SEO strategies you can use. However, like written content, there are a few things you should do to ensure your videos are optimised. Make sure to include optimised names and descriptions, information, and relevant keywords.
More Personalised Results Based On Recent Searches
Presently, Google shows search topics based on all internet users’ accumulated information and activities. However, this algorithm is constantly evolving and improving, with the intent to have the user’s search experience match the information that appears according to the history of their visited pages and frequent queries. In 2022, we expect search engines to implement more AI technology to change how we interact with online content. This will deliver far more targeted and personalised search results.
Local SEO Is On The Rise
Although the world is slowly adjusting to the new normal, experts predict that people will continue to stay close to home throughout 2022. That means local SEO is definitely going to be an effective marketing strategy. To improve your local SEO, make sure your Google My Business is optimised, your address and contact information is current, and your internal linking structure is on point.
To Stay On Top Of SEO Trends In 2022, Get Onboard With The Pros At Search Marketing Experts
2022 is going to be a jam-packed year for digital marketing. So, if you want your business to stand out, you’ll need to keep up to date on all the latest trends. If you’re ready to catapult your business into the stratosphere and nail your SEO in time for the holiday season, don’t hesitate to contact the friendly team at Search Marketing Experts.