Another year is here, and Google hasn’t stopped changing. As we enter and complete the first quarter of 2022, there are many different changes that we’re seeing that can contribute to your ability to rank your site effectively. Here’s what you can look out for in SEO in 2022 to take your engagement and organic reach to the next level!
1. Refreshing your pre-existing content
Content is key to a great SEO strategy that continues to keep on offering benefits long past the post date! If you have been running the blog component of your website for a while, you’ve likely had some older content that’s built up from a few years back. If that’s the case, refreshing the content with a present-day take is a great way to make the content more relevant and tailored to current SEO preferences, and can help you to enjoy increased rank and more relevant indexing with every piece of content that you refresh.
2. Creating more evergreen content
Your website’s construction plays a massive role in your success with SEO. Knowing this, there are several steps that you can take to create new opportunities for SEO success in the construction of your website. Intertwining industry-relevant evergreen content throughout your site can help to automatically reinforce your authority, and help you to index higher for a variety of different keywords if it is well-written optimized content.
3. Tailoring your content to MUM preferences to maximize your efforts
MUM is known as the Multitask Uniform Model update that Google implemented in May of 2021. The new update enables the algorithm to quickly crawl queries and content while using subjective, human elements such as intent and emotion behind the search. This is very sophisticated and takes the focus even more off of the keyword-centric SEO model. Instead, digital marketers will want to focus on quality long-form content that is centered around the customer or reader’s “journey” and experience, providing authoritative and unique content that speaks to their needs.
4. Anticipating searcher intent and strategizing around it
Search intent is one of the most impactful components of an SEO strategy. To truly harness the potential of what optimized content in this area can bring to your site organically, work with an anticipatory strategy and curate quality content around what your users and readers will want to know about your industry, product, or topic. As you do this, don’t try to appeal to a variety of demographics or searcher bases. Instead, try focusing on just one or two to create more niched work and increase your potential to rank.
5. Investing in behavioral analysis for your site
This trend isn’t just related to SEO, but to your conversion strategy as a whole. Knowing what your customers are doing and where they are spending time on your site can show you the strengths (and subsequent gaps) that you can address and further optimize. For example, after reviewing your behavioral analysis audit, you may choose to create compelling, comprehensive FAQ sections or customer resources, or further enhance the user experience on your site — helping you to rank and increase your traffic naturally.
6. Optimization for new desktop experience ranking rollout
Google continues to evolve and roll out new information to keep marketers on their toes. Beginning in February of 2022, Google is introducing its new desktop experience ranking rollout on desktop version — similar to what it has already implemented in mobile. Considerations such as HTTPS security certificates (of course, no surprise), as well as the largest plentiful content ratios (LCP), will be paramount. Marketers should shift away from mobile site focus for now and get their current pages ready to rank.
7. Core web vitals rising in focus due to Page Experience Update rollout from Google
Core web vitals have always been important and can be used to determine how rank-friendly your page truly is. In February and beyond, these will continue to rise in importance thanks to Google’s focus on core web vitals via its new Page Experience Update. While changes will begin in February of 2022, we expect to see an even higher focus on customer experience throughout the year. Current metrics are based on core vitals including:
- LCP
- FID
- CLS
We’ll keep you up to date here as changes evolve, but that’s what we’re seeing so far as we wrap Q1.
8. Optimization for Google’s AI tool, “RankBrain”
AI has had rising importance when it comes to SEO and rankability. This is made even more important thanks to Google’s emphasis that it’s placing on their own proprietary AI system, RankBrain. They’ve started using this type of AI support since 2015, but it has grown more sophisticated over the years. Optimizing your pages for intent and medium-length keywords is the way to go, as this is what indexes most rapidly on their tool.
SEO is constantly changing, which is why it can help to work with a team that has its finger on the pulse of cutting-edge technological innovation and strategy. The team at Visible Factors is here to help you make the most out of your SEO strategy and help you get the returns that you need. For more information, give us a call today at (424) 255-8996.
