Biggest SEO Trends in 2022 & How it will Affect your Website

Worried about the top SEO trends in 2022 and how you can optimize your website to meet up for better search visibility?

You’re not alone! Many other content creators and bloggers have had to face the same worries especially when it comes to improving SEO to get better visibility and meet business goals.

But here’s what it is…

There are important SEO trends that’s set to define the face of Search Engine Optimization in 2022 and getting to understand these trends and how they work is your first step towards getting your website optimized for search visibility, better traffic and higher returns ROI.

So are you ready to learn about the latest SEO trends?

If so, you’re in luck because in the following paragraphs, i am not just going to share with you the top SEO trends in 2022, you’re also going to learn about how to use these SEO strategies to optimize your website for better visibility.

Ready? Lets dive in…

Optimize for Local Search

Are you optimized for local search intent?

In November 2021, Google rolled out one of its most recent search and map algorithm update for local search.

The implication of this update is that unlike before, more businesses or searches close to a user’s location will continue to get more prominence in search results, compared to those based in faraway locations.

You may be asking, what does this have to do with me Victor?

Well, here’s it… What this implies for you as a small business or content creator is that one of the most important SEO trend in 2022 which you also need to add as part of your search optimization strategy is to optimize your website and content for local search.

So, with this, you want to work on targeting local searches just as much as you target the international searches especially, considering that 46 percent of all search results have local intent.

That being said, right now you can start with using the proper keyword, geo targeting and getting a business page featured on Google my business page and Google maps.

Done correctly, you can be rest assured to get better features on Local search and subsequently an improved local traffic back to your website.

PS: You don’t have to be a brick and mortar business to get featured on Local Search.

Beyond Keywords, Pay Attention to Semantics

Another important SEO trends in 2022 is the use of semantics, LSI and a good understanding of the Multitask Unified Model Update, to better serve pictures and videos in Google search results.

Starting with the launching of BERT update, AKA, Bid Directional Encoders Representations, Google took a milestone at using Natural Language Processing to deliver better results for Google users based on their search intent.

With BERT, Google was moving away from reliance on keywords to displaying search results for users based on their specific search intent.

The significance of this change was that beyond keywords, context, semantics and user intent started playing a key role in determining what content will show up in search results pages…

And as such, instead of focusing on SEO Keywords alone, it became important to use contextually related words in your posts, understand LSI Keywords and make a good use of Synonyms in your content.

Also, with the launch of MUM update, Google’s AI makes it easier for the search engine to handle complex searches.

So going forward, content like pictures, videos, Infographics, will be more visible in search results and even content with different language other than a searcher’s preferred language will be visible in search result.

With MUM update things like client reviews etc. will get more visibility on search engine for businesses and you can also leverage on this to improve your views.

Create Long form & Better Content

Despite recent algorithm changes, like many years before, content marketing is still one of the top SEO trends in 2022 and it still plays a very important role in SEO and search visibility.

But here’s the catch…

Unlike what we had before where you could slap up anyhow content and upload on your blog just to get things posted, today; for your content to get better rankings and visibility on the search engine, you’ll have to focus on writing not just fresh content but the best content in your niche.

A well researched and high quality content created and shared with the right audience can attract backlinks to your website and in turn when more people link to your content, you will get a boost in visibility and improved ranking on Google.

Another thing you need to consider as far as content marketing is concerned is the creation of long form content.

Long form content has usually been one of the best ways to get better and widespread long tail keywords across your content.

With the recent changes in Google algorithm, investing in long form content will be very useful in giving you the opportunity to use as much semantically related phrases and key words in your content as possible. In the long run, this will help in your Latent Semantic Indexing and improved rankings for your blog.

When done right, you’ll be able to generate a decent amount of traffic to your website.

Create Video & other Content forms

As usual, video content is still going to be on the rise especially in some target geopolitical regions. So, it’s automatically one of the top SEO trends in 2022 and beyond.

Also, with recent algorithm updates like the Multitask Uniform Model AKA MUM update, which have basically improved the prominence of Video, Audio and other types of content in search results, you need to look beyond updating only written content.

Instead of focusing on text content alone, consider expanding your content formats to include Video, Audio and other content forms.

No, you don’t have to create a new content for the other formats, Instead; you can use one content and transform them into different forms including written content, audio and videos.

While at it, be sure to update, optimize and use all the right keywords and taglines for these other version of your contents so you can benefit from the improved search visibility.

Evolve a Great User Experience for Website Users

Recently, Google has continued to place emphasis on user experience. With recent updates, and the introduction of Core Web Vitals to page ranking, factors like Page Loading Speed, Mobile Friendliness and overall User Experience has once again become an important ranking factor for website pages.

And this is not going to change anytime soon as user experience is already a part of the top SEO trends in 2022.

So, going forward, you don’t only need a very good looking website, you need a website that delivers a great user experience that’ll make your users stay longer on the page, loads fast and is responsive whether a user is accessing it from a smartphone, tablet or laptop.

As you work on getting your website optimized for this year, pay attention to the three pillars of the Core Web Vitals which are Speed, Responsiveness, and Visual Stability. You can check out for your Core Web Vitals Score via your Google Search Console.

Also, you want to structure the design of your website in such a way that users will be able to navigate through very easily.

Finally, there’s the aspect of updating your title tags to use compelling words that will improve your click through rates as well as reduce bounce rates.

These are all aimed at enhancing a user’s experience while using your website. And when done right, it can have a huge impact on your ranking and search visibility.

Improve on your Expertise, Authoritativeness & Trustworthiness

Google’s recent AI improvement code named; EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) has redefined SEO in the past few years. It will still continue to play an important role as part of the SEO trends in 2022.

Some niches like Medicals and Finance among others, you will still need to be deemed to have a lot of Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness before your post can get a well deserved exposure and visibility.

For this reason, if you’re creating content on any of these niches, instead of focusing on ranking, focus on building expertise and trustworthiness for your brand.

This you can start by improving your back link profile, featuring on and getting natural back links from high authority websites in your niche and other high authority and relevant websites.

Furthermore, you can also invest in Personal Branding, Thought Leadership development for your brand and cutting off content that don’t add up to your EAT value.

Optimize for Search Intent

Like i already mentioned above, I need to reiterate this to drive home the emphasis.

Search is now about the user. Yes! user intent became an important SEO ranking factor, since the on boarding of the recent Google Algorithm updates, including BERT and MUM updates.

With this development, it’s definitely a part of the top SEO trends in 2022. And there’s no way you can ignore your user’s search intent if you really want to improve your SEO outcomes.

So, while updating your content, you want to effectively take care of the following:

1. Understand a potential user’s search intent before optimizing your content.
2. When discovering new terms, use specific phrases and modifiers in your keyword research.
3. Use the SERPs to determine optimal formatting and content options.

Using the above steps will guide you as you create even better content focused on meeting specific user intent.

Conclusion

As you can see, search engine optimization AKA SEO still plays a very critical role when it comes to deciding who gets the better exposure and search engine visibility.

So, to be at the forefront, you need to be on top of your SEO game. And the first step to do this is to understand the trends and optimize your website to meet up accordingly.

Now, as i already mentioned earlier, using the listed SEO trends in this post you will definitely drive improved results for your blog and websites.

But, if you’re finding it difficult to update your SEO to meet up with the latest trends, you can always get to learn the ropes by reading other SEO related posts on this blog or hiring our experts to help with your SEO optimizations.

So, there you have it!

Now, it’s over to you. Which of these SEO trends are you getting to notice with your blog? Let’s hear you.