If there is anything that keeps the world moving nowadays, yes, none other than trends. There exists a serious affinity among the youngsters to follow the trend, remain on top of the game, and lay their fingers on the table’s freshly laid line of trends. This doesn’t change a tad bit for SEO either. Just as we find new variants of viruses taking over the world, we have frequent upgrades and revisions made to the guidelines of SEO, making it difficult to be on toes with the latest trend in SEO. Taking this pain point into consideration, Webrickshaw, an SEO company in Dubai, has compiled a list of seven SEO trends for 2022 along with actionable tips to keep up with them.
- Put the user’s experience first.
User experience (UX) continues to be a priority for Google, and you’ll note that most of the top-ranking websites on Google provide a compelling user experience, especially with the upcoming page experience upgrade in 2021, which might affect all top-ranking results.
- Make sure it’s mobile-friendly.
Around the world, mobile phones account for more than half of all website traffic. According to Statista, in the second quarter of 2020, mobile devices (excluding tablets) accounted for 51.53 percent of global website traffic.
Furthermore, because of Google’s mobile-first indexing, the mobile (not the desktop!) version of your company’s website serves as the baseline for how Google indexes and ranks your site. This makes sense, given that by 2025, nearly three-quarters of the world’s population will be using only their smartphones to access the internet.
- Semantic Search Is Recognized
There was a time when SEO experts focused solely on keywords, as if keywords were the only thing that mattered. They weren’t wholly wrong a decade ago, but keywords are now just one component of the picture.
“Semantic search” refers to how search engines like Google comb through their index of billions of web pages and data to determine the context, intent, and meaning of a search query using artificial intelligence. It’s how they deliver the most relevant results to their customers.
- Focus on Featured Snippets
With each passing year, Google attempts to establish itself as a one-stop shop for quick and accurate information, consuming an increasing amount of your organic traffic by providing thorough answers to consumers’ concerns directly in the SERPs.
That is, algorithm updates are leading to more zero-click searches, in which the user’s query is answered directly on the SERP. There’s no need to waste time going to a website and then waiting for it to load.
- Content is King
The user experience on your website is highly influenced by the quality of your content. So, whether it’s 2020, 2021, or beyond, the saying “content is king” will remain true.
But, exactly, what does “excellent content” imply? Expertise, authority, and trustworthiness are the three E-A-T principles to remember. These are the three elements that determine whether or not a web page has high-quality content. If your website provides “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) advice, such as financial or medical advice, this principle is very significant.
- Concentrate on local SEO (Google My Business).
Local SEO is exploding, with location-based searches accounting for 30% of all smartphone searches. Between 2017 and 2019, mobile searches for “near me” (for example, “bookstore open near me”) increased by almost 250 percent.
Google Local search experiences rely heavily on “My Business” optimization. Because Google considers engagement and activity on a GMB listing to be important ranking indicators, the more thorough and optimized your local listing is, the more likely your business will appear in local searches.
- Obtain Listing for Your Videos in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)
If you search Google for practically anything these days, you’ll almost certainly encounter a video carousel at the top of the results page. Since Google introduced video carousels to SERPs in 2018, video as a content marketing medium has exploded in popularity.
And that makes perfect sense when you consider that YouTube (a Google subsidiary) is the world’s second-largest search engine and second-most-visited website after Google.
In a nutshell
In 2022, your best option is to accept this reality and improve your sites and content to create more intriguing and engaging experiences. So, learn about your audience’s search intent, demonstrate your E-A-T, prioritize mobile, and offer genuinely valuable content in formats that your audience prefers with Webrickshaw, SEO agency in Dubai.
So if you want to get to the top of the SERPs (and stay there) in 2022 and beyond, transition from a rankings-first approach to a user-first mindset.
