How 2022’s SEO Strategies Are Going to Affect Your Business

The SEO world is subject to constant evolution. Google and the other search engines are always tweaking their algorithms, and browsing/searching behavior changes fluidly. It is up to you as a digital marketer to stay ahead of the trends and make sure that your site is always fully optimized.

Our expert eCommerce SEO agency has identified the key SEO trends for 2022, presented here alongside their respective impact on your business.

A User-Centric Approach

The user experience (UX) is the single most important factor in your search engine optimization activity. The logic is simple – if your visitors do not enjoy using your website, or they find it difficult to navigate, understand or even load, then you are going to lose any potential sale. Search engine algorithms take this into account, and so if your site is problematic for the user, you will simply not be found through organic search.

Originally announced in 2020, Google has confirmed that page experience signals will be included as a ranking factor from February of this year (2022) on desktop, supplementing the mobile rollout that occurred in 2021. What does this mean for you? Too many pop-ups, delays in loading pages or page elements, and a lack of security are among the areas that you will be penalized on, so make sure that your site is as clean, streamlined, and as smooth as possible.

Deploy Videos

Over the last year or so, you have probably noticed that when you conduct a search you are receiving more video results. This trend is still growing, right alongside the use of videos in social platforms (remember when FaceBook and LinkedIn were just text and images?). As the technology required to make a good quality video becomes more ubiquitous, and broadband speeds become more readily available and reliable, so too have videos become commonplace online.

You can leverage this by creating your own video content; whether it is product footage, unboxings, video blogs, or simply an introduction to your company. Make sure that you use the appropriate schema markup to ensure that the search engine can both find and identify your video. You can use your SEO dashboard (Google Search Console, for example) to monitor and improve your results for videos.

Adopt MUM

MUM is the Multitask Unified Model for search, a Google innovation announced in 2021 and expected for full implementation soon. MUM lets you search in a number of different ways, and in combinations. So for example, if you are on vacation and see a carpet that you particularly like, you might take a photo of it for reference, and then when you get home you would likely search for a similar product by scrolling through tens or hundreds of carpet results. 

With MUM, you can type something along the lines of “carpets near me that look like this” and insert your picture – the results will display exactly what you want (in an ideal world).

So how can you change your SEO strategy to start to take advantage of the search changes when they are implemented? Make sure everything on your site is perfect – the tags on your images, the quality of your pictures, the keywords you use, every single aspect needs to be precise and clear. 

eCommerce SEO

If your site or business is an eCommerce platform (in other words, if you directly sell products or services through your site) then you should adapt your SEO strategies to be eCommerce focused. This will mean that you are listed accurately on standard search results, and also identified correctly when searchers click the ‘shopping’ button at the top of the search page. Missing out on either of these placings can mean lost customers, so be sure to build your SEO from the ground up with eCommerce-related keywords and terms.

Be Local

Google My Business has long been a great way of providing the search engine giant with the relevant information regarding your business address – effectively giving you an easy way of answering ‘near me’ searches. The platform has now changed its name to Google Business Profile, but the benefits are still the same – taking ownership of your Google business page gives you the local search recognition that you need, as well as conveying trust and authority to your main site, improving your overall SEO.

For 2022, the new Google Business Profile should be fully taken advantage of. You can now list your business as women-owned, for example, and give yourself a competitive distinction should that be how you want to brand and promote yourself.

Discover the Home Page

Mobile traffic outnumbers desktop and laptop traffic, and you can leverage that audience to boost your ranking. Google Discover is the home page that loads whenever a mobile user opens the Google or Chrome app (Bing and other search engine apps have similar facilities). The home page shows a number of targeted web pages, based on recent searches or demonstrated interests – so if you can get on to these pages for your ideal audience, then you do not even have to wait for a search.

This kind of content is usually in the form of blogs or articles, so make sure that your content marketing is up to snuff – it needs to be well seeded with appropriate keywords, entertaining/engaging, and relevant to what you do as a business.

The Google Discover page has been around for the last three or four years but has only recently become a detailed part of your performance metrics. Not only is there now more of a focus on the search engine side, but you also have the tools available to monitor and improve your positioning.

Speak to an Expert

If you need more information or advice or would like to speak to an award-winning SEO consultant, then get in touch today. We help businesses of all sizes to reach their digital marketing goals, with SEO techniques and strategies that are proven to increase search engine ranking positions and overall traffic.