SEO in 2022 is totally worth it as long as you keep these tips in mind
There are going to be disruptive trends in SEO in 2022. From changing Google algorithm to new ranking factors, you need to stay ahead of the competition. How do you do so? Well, this article provides you with the latest tips and tactics you can employ for a successful SEO campaign. Let’s have a look.
How the search landscape is shifting and why
More emphasis on user experience
A few years ago, the focus of most SEO experts was ranking on Google’s first page. Their focus was to impress Google’s algorithm with little to no regard for user experience and content quality. While this worked then, it is a red flag now.
SEO in 2022 demands user experience over ranking. The better the user experience, the higher the ranking. As such, you should focus on content quality and relevance to suit the search intent of visitors. Also, ensure seamless navigation through your website.
SEO in 2022 demands user experience over ranking.
Rise of smarter search engines
It’s Google’s objective to ensure visitors get close results of what they are searching for. This means the algorithm has gotten smarter as more and more people use search engines. Currently, a simple high-volume keyword can display relevant results.
Ranking seesawing
This is yet another shift of SEO in 2022. Admittedly, applying the right SEO tactics and focusing on user experience would see your ranking go up throughout 2022. However, the new normal is ranking seesawing regardless of your SEO tactics.
Niching down is the new normal
Running a blog or website that focuses on a single niche will see your traffic and revenue increase. Gone are the days where you’d write just about anything on a website or blog. Don’t be the Wikipedia type, rather, single out a topic and create quality content.
Death of “many” backlinks
Another shift is you don’t need many backlinks to rank higher. In fact, many backlinks would potentially harm your SERP result ranking. You should let your content bring organic backlinks in the first few months. Later, you can approach authority sites for quality backlinks.
Why is the search landscape changing?
Google updates: There are different updates facilitating changes in the search landscape. They include small, regular, and big updates. Small updates happen several times a year, regular updates happen every couple of months, while big updates happen annually or so.
Google algorithm: The Hummingbird algorithm is ever-changing. Announced in 2013, it comes with sub-algorithms such as Panda, PageRank, and Penguin. Combined, they look at the quality of your content and the user-friendliness of your site.
Google metrics: Google uses different metrics to curve out necessary SEO changes. These signals include bounce rate, dwell time, and click-through rate.
How competitors are using it to their advantage
Constant content updates
Your competition is updating its content often. Not only creating new content but also refining old content. For example, you’ll find them changing headlines to suit the user search intent. Also, replacing old statistics with newer and more relevant ones is a winning SEO strategy. Adding new visual content is yet another tactic your competitors are using.
Also, replacing old statistics with newer and more relevant ones is a winning SEO strategy.
Following niche news
Another way your competitors will outsmart your SEO in 2022 is by following relevant news. This allows them to identify customers’ pain points and create content or products to solve their problems. As such, traffic to their site increase and hence their ranking. For example, if you are in the IT industry, you can follow IT news sites to keep abreast of emerging technologies in your niche market. Then, create content around these advances.
Using question and answer content
Let’s face it: most of your search queries are in form of questions. It is this knowledge that has enabled your competition to create content around popular questions. Having content answering questions can significantly increase your chances of appearing in the featured snippets section. With that, you get more traffic to your website.
Offering content that causes visitors to leave their contact details
Your competitors know email outreach is an SEO game-changer. By offering downloadable content or webinars, they can leave their email through which you can send them links to new content.
What you need to do to stay ahead of the game
Get outside help
Before embarking on any search campaign, auditing your site will be crucial for SEO in 2022. It allows you to identify areas that need improving. You can either use an SEO agency such as Rank Guarantee SEO or third-party software. Some of the most popular SEO auditing tools include Moz pro, Website Grader, Ahrefs, and our own free SEO audit tool.
Before embarking on any search campaign, auditing your site will be crucial for SEO in 2022.
Once you identify your areas of weakness, you need to use a plugin for additional help. This is where a tool like Yoast comes into play. The Yoast plugin allows you to optimize your content bolstering your SERP ranking. With it, you can optimize your Meta description, titles, sitemap, and more.
Use HTTPS encryption
Security is a crucial aspect of any website. Not only for users’ privacy but also as a ranking factor for SEO in 2022. A while back, Google announced it would use security as a ranking factor. One way to go around this is to use HTTPS encryption. You obtain this encryption through an SSL certificate.
This ensures no hacker can eavesdrop on the communication between your site and the server. Having a “secure badge” on your site can bolster trustworthiness. You can use a free SSL certificate or buy one. There’s an SSL certificate plugin for WordPress sites. If you have an HTML site, you can consult your hosting company.
Have a firm foundation
Admittedly, using SEO tools and ensuring your site is secure will be a boon to your campaign, and SEO in 2022 is no different. However, your basics need to be in check for such tactics to bear fruits. As such, you need to work on the content, site design, and more.
You should also consider keyword research for each page. However, do not keyword stuff your pages as this can see Google penalize your site. Provide relevant content that answers your visitors’ questions. For design, ensure it is easy to navigate through the website.
Make your site mobile friendly
Statistics show more and more people are using smartphones to access the internet. At least 61% of all Google searches were via a smartphone in 2021. And with the growing global adoption of smartphone use by Gen Z, it’ll be paramount for websites to be mobile-friendly. It is one of the top Google ranking factors.
At least 61% of all Google searches were via a smartphone in 2021.
To stay ahead of the game, you’ll need to consider Accelerated Mobile Pages and mobile-friendliness in 2022. Fortunately, several plugins are allowing you to make AMP-compatible sites such as Genesis 3.0. For HTML sites, you can use CSS frameworks such as Bootstrap to enable you to create mobile-friendly websites with ease.
Make it voice search compatible
Well, voice search technology is here to stay and it’s going to be a factor in SEO in 2022. With the advent of assistants such as Alexa and Siri, people are more comfortable using voice search. In fact, a report shows one-third of U.S. citizens use the voice search functionality. In addition, up to 71% of consumers use this technology to search for products.
In addition, up to 71% of consumers use this technology to search for products.
What does this mean for your SEO in 2022?
Simple, you need to create content with a conversational tone. Not only with your articles, but also other pages such as FAQ, Services, and more. Make sure to optimize your content for different search engines such as Bing and Google. As you know, Bing powers Alexa while Google powers Google Assistant.
Tried and true methods that will work
So, you want to take your SEO game a notch higher? Here are tried and true methods that work.
Understanding the user
Interestingly, contrary to most beliefs, Google is a big data company rather than an advertising company. They aggregate users’ data to create a smart and robust search engine. You should think of yourself as Google. That is, focusing on what your users want.
To make your SEO in 2022 successful, you need to listen to your customers and create content around solutions. This way, you attract more traffic to your website. Besides, it’s through the public that articles, videos, and other content goes viral.
Optimize your landing pages
You need to create optimized and well-designed landing pages to increase traffic and lead generation. Note: a landing page is not a homepage. As such, you have the liberty to create numerous landing pages for different services or products you offer.
A converting landing page has the following characteristics:
- A clear call to action
- No navigation to enable visitors to stay on the page
- Informative content
Create roundup posts
A roundup post is a roundup of essential content around a certain topic. For example, “10-Best Free SEO Tools” is a roundup. Such posts not only offer informative content to your visitors but also bring valuable traffic to your site.
A more relevant post is which you include views from different experts in a given field. And with experts expressing their views through your site, you are more likely to build authority in your niche market. All you need is to send a clear question to the experts. Then, write the answers and publish them.
Use social media to your advantage
A new website cannot rank high on Google because of low Page and Domain Authority. However, you can leverage social media to gain traffic and credibility for SEO in 2022. Side note: we are not talking of Facebook or LinkedIn, rather, platforms such as Quora.
People expect quality content from such platforms compared to Facebook. Just find a trending topic in your niche, write compelling content, and share it on social platforms.
The latest SEO tactics in 2022
Make your site Google RankBrain friendly
While backlinks, keywords, and user experience influence the ranking of your website, you should not overlook optimizing your site for Google RankBrain. RankBrain, announced a while back, is a machine learning algorithm receiving zero input from Google engineers.
Instead, it learns from a user’s search behavior making it crucial for SEO in 2022. For example, if query results from your website did not satisfy the user, RankBrain will downrank your website. To optimize your site for RankBrain improve on dwell time and bounce rate. Also, work on organic CTR.
Instead, it learns from a user’s search behavior making it crucial for SEO in 2022.
Create shareable content
The internet is awash with content not worth sharing. Lack of shares can mitigate your SERP ranking success. So how can you create content worth sharing on social media sites, forums, and other sites? Here are a few ways to go around it:
- Use numbers in your headlines.
- Use short URLs. They are more appealing to the eye and hence attract shares.
- You should use descriptive URLs. These URLs briefly explain what the content is about.
- Include a colorful image before the textual content.
- Include a share button below the image and above the content.
- Your introduction should not be lengthy. Rather, use short sentences.
- Populate the body with relevant images.
- Use emotional words within your content.
- Do not forget to use infographics where applicable.
You can use these tactics to make your content shareable.
Create unique keywords for your content
If you want to rank high, then you can create your own keywords. For example, if you create a unique service, product, or content, you can use personal keywords. And since nobody is competing with you, you will rank #1 on Google.
And if these keywords become popular, you’ll easily build authority around them. Let’s say you are writing about a step-by-step article. Instead of ranking for a “how to…” keyword, you can give a unique name to this process. Then use the name as a ranking keyword.
A/B testing
SEO is not an overnight activity. It involves implementing, evaluating, making, and changing decisions. Luckily, many SEO testing tools are popping up lately. They allow you to see how your SEO campaigns are performing and what needs to change. If you are starting SEO in 2022, have the testing mentality rather than the one-fix-all dogma.
SEO is not an overnight activity. It involves implementing, evaluating, making, and changing decisions.
Google rewriting titles
SEO in 2022 will see Google rewrite more and more website titles. In fact, research shows, Google is rewriting most of its site’s titles. And your site is not spared. Unfortunately, few site owners are evaluating the changes imposed. We advise auditing your site titles to see if there are terrible changes.
Latest software for SEO in 2022
Ahrefs
Initially, Ahrefs was launched as a link-building tool; however, the company has since added new features making it one of the most popular SEO tools. If you want your SEO in 2022 to be a game-changer, consider using Ahrefs. Not only can you spy on your competitor, but also analyze the health of your site.
With the Site Explorer feature, you can view the overall SEO performance of a site. You get metrics such as ranking, backlinks, referring domains, and others. The backlink profile is the most robust compared to other software such as SEMrush. With it, you can filter and sort a website’s profile using different parameters.
Another beneficial feature is Organic Search, which allows you to spy on your competitors’ SEO keywords. It goes ahead to estimate the amount of traffic these keywords bring to the site. As such, you can use the most profitable on your site too.
You’ll also find the Keywords Explorer tool a handy feature. Unlike most SEO software, it does not limit you to one search engine. Rather, you can use Amazon, Bing, YouTube, and others to analyze keywords. You get metrics such as search volume, keyword difficulty, clicks, and global volume, among others.
SEMrush
Like Ahrefs, SEMrush is a popular SEO tool and essential for SEO in 2022. With it, you can gauge the search behavior of people, get content ideas, identify link-building opportunities, and others. The domain analysis feature is SEMrush’s bread and butter. It allows you to identify areas you can improve your SEO and gauge how difficult or easy it is to outrank your competition.
You get metrics such as backlink data, organic search, web traffic, top-performing keywords, and more. There’s also the keyword research tool that allows you to assess how profitable a keyword is. For example, it estimates how many people are searching for the keyword and gives you other relevant alternatives.
The rank tracking feature shows how your website or competition is fairing in search engines. All you need is to enter the domain name and keywords you want to track in the rank tracking section. What’s more, you can filter so it displays per country. SEMrush has two backlink analysis features: backlink audit and backlink analysis.
The backlink analysis enables you to view backlinks to a particular domain. You get metrics such as anchor text for each backlink, IP address, and others. The backlink audit feature shows the health of your backlinks. They range from toxic, potentially toxic, to non-toxic domains.
Moz Pro
Moz Pro was formerly known as SEOmoz. And since its inception in 2004, it has enabled hundreds of thousands of companies to improve on their digital marketing and SEO campaigns. The software offers different packages suited for individuals and large corporations. Some of its features include keyword explorer, SEO crawling, link explorer, Moz Local, and others.
The keyword explorer allows you to know what people are searching for. Besides, you get metrics such as organic CTR, keyword difficulty, mentions, and more. With the SEO crawling feature, you can identify minor and major issues with your site. The best part, it automatically crawls your site weekly.
If you want to engage in top-notch local SEO marketing, Moz Local is your perfect bet. It provides relevant local data you can take advantage of local search. You’ll also love the intuitive user interface. It is professional and beginner-friendly so novice SEO practitioners can use it with ease. There are several custom features such as page overlays enabling more precise results generation.
Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is different from others on the list since it offers premium SEO services for free. Initially a laughing stock to many, the software has gone on to be a go-to for most novice and seasoned SEO practitioners. And if you want to improve SEO in 2022, this is a tool you should consider.
The platform is also easy to use, coming in a stylish and well-designed user interface. Unlike most SEO software, its dashboard is minimalistic. Besides, the learning curve is not as steep as SEMrush or Ahrefs. Ubersuggerst has a keyword research tool that gives you more than metrics.
With it, you get related keyword suggestions allowing you to rank for those with less competition. The questions keyword suggestion section provides questions users are using to get answers. As such, you can get ideas for “how-to” articles. As expected, you get an SEO difficulty metric showing how difficult or easy it is to rank for a particular keyword.
As a service, Ubersuggest is cost-effective making it ideal for most start-ups and small businesses. Besides, you can improve your SEO campaign using the free version. And for the advanced features, you don’t need to pay a premium.
Google Trends
Finally, you can use the free Google Trends software. It has been in use for decades, and it is this longevity that makes it a favorite for most people. It primarily shows keyword traffic over a specific period and in a specific area. While not as robust as others on the list, you can use it to get the general search trend of a keyword.
Its features include Region, TimeSpan, Categories, Web Search, Comparing, and others. All this free data gives you an idea of how a keyword will perform. The software is the easiest to use in the list. Just input the topic or term you want to analyze. Besides, you can compare between terms.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are different tactics and software you can use to make your SEO in 2022 successful. Most importantly, keep the intent of your users first.
Most importantly, keep the intent of your users first.
So, what tactics do you intend to use in 2022? Drop us a line and let us know!
