SEO Trends 2022

The last weeks of the year are not only an occasion to sum up, conduct a merciless self audit and give yourself medals (and this is also necessary! Preferably, deservedly... ), but it is also a great time to think a couple of steps ahead, set priorities and decide on the direction of moving forward!

Let's just talk about the directions and about what SEO will be like, what to look for and what to arm yourself with. TOP of trends from the head of Sprava SEO department!

Head of SEO at SPRAVA - Tatiana ZHEVEGA:

SEO optimization trends and project management in 2022:

• Page Experience
• Content
• Video
• Speed
• Website for people
• Omnichannel

SEO Trends: From the Past to the Future

Let the world be unpredictable, and Google is going to make a record of the number of updates in 2021, but there is something stable in this world. For example, one of the trends that we talked about exactly a year ago is boldly marching with us into 2022 Content and User Experience (Page Experience). I want to note that the other factors remain necessary, important and working tools in optimizing projects! But today we will talk about those that I recommend looking at from a different angle.

Page Experience

I'm sure you've heard the term Page Experience before. But I want to emphasize the importance of this ranking factor in 2022, since from February next year it will officially receive this status..

Google official help

• And what's new? - you will ask.
• Yes, actually, nothing, - we will answer. - Unless, of course, you are a perfectionist and have already brought your project to 100% according to Google Search Console...

If so, then we congratulate you on this! But even in this case, vigilance should not be lost. After all, at any moment one of the competitors can become a little better and you are no longer a leader.

By the way, did you know that...

Google Search Console allows you to track dynamics and changes based on the experience of real users of your own project, as well as see statistics for the last quarter.

Dynamics of the number of successful website pages by the Page Experience factor over the last quarter

What is important though:

• All data is real statistics on real user visits to the site. You can use different services for testing, but you should always check the data of the services with the Google Search Console. This way you can be ahead of the curve with your site.
• The data is collected only on pages with which real users of the site interact. That is, if you have 5000 pages on your site, and users actually visit only 200 of them, then the data will be quite low in general.

So, we are smoothly approaching the next factor, which I would boldly call ETERNAL. As long as SEO lives, in one form or another, it will live - Content.

Content

• Is it needed?
• Certainly.
• Is the content text?
• Not only.
• Would cheap copywrite help?

We are talking about high results here, so let's use the services of experts and those who can not only make beautiful and useful content, but also help make it interesting and exciting.

If we talk about 2022 trends in SEO texts, then here are the principles you should rely on in your work:

1. Generation of new contentу when there is something really valuable and useful;
2. Expertise. But it is important to understand that this is not about the scientific language (unless the article is in a scientific journal), but about the presentation format that will be understandable and accessible to your target audience;
3. Content visualization:infographics, videos, graphs, drawings and other formats that suit your topic. Experiment if you haven't found what works best for your users! And remember: even in the most boring scientific article, they want to see drawings, graphs and / or formulas ... so the content is better absorbed and remembered;
4. Updating old content. Writing new articles is good, but there are topics that are always in demand. At the same time, there are changes in approaches, presentation, methods, number of options, etc. That is, you should not write off “to the dump” what lives on the site for 2-3-5 years. Review and update. I’m sure there are definitely pages there that can be given a “second life”. And, as our experience shows, it is easier to raise such pages to the TOPs, because no one has yet canceled the age of the page as a ranking factor.

Be critical of your site, but listen to users who have been with you for a long time or who have trusted you. This is your “focus group” to help you get better.

Video content

Separately, I want to dwell on such a content format as video. As already stated in the article “About Trends in SEO” from the WebPromoExperts academy, the user is changing. The younger generation from Tik-Tok is growing up, and therefore it is easier for them to buy and choose not according to the text. The video format is closer and more understandable to them.

In addition, the video allows you not only to watch, but also to listen, in parallel with other things. In a period of such rapid development of the world, every minute counts. And it’s much more convenient to turn on and listen to the material of interest while preparing dinner for the family or on the way to work, especially if you can't avoid traffic jams.

A lot of content has already been created in this format, so just shooting regular videos, if you don’t have a narrow niche, is unlikely to give a quick and desired result. Look for your format, your “highlight” that will catch on. And give the level of usefulness that will make you choose it.

Website speed

Speed and content. Content and speed.

These are two bases that can both help each other and become a “weak link”.

Why speed is important NOW and will be an important SEO trend in 2022:

• not everywhere the speed and quality of the Internet is enough for “heavy” (in terms of load) sites;
• the possibilities of mobile Internet are certainly growing, but they still cannot match the wired format in many cases. And this should be taken into account.

You cannot know where and in what conditions a potential buyer of your products will be at the time of acquaintance with your product or service. Therefore, when we talk about site loading speed, it is important:

• work out and lay down the best conditions for site performance at the stage of designing a web resource;
• working with speed, start from the least favorable conditions in terms of Internet speed and connection level in which your buyer may find himself. And work on improving the problematic indicators or the entire site as a whole.

In fact, now, although this factor needs much more attention and time, it has become easier to work with it.

Firstly, we have at our disposal a lot of resources (by the way, free of charge), on which data search engines are guided.

Resources used by SEO-specialists and programmers of TM "SPRAVA":

1. Data on core web metrics - Google has officially merged them into Core Web Vitals;
2. WebPageTest.

Secondly, each of these services not only measures some (“abstruse” for ordinary people) indicators, but they also shows:

• which pages have the most problems (where the speed is the lowest);
• what indicators are responsible for what, what are their normative values (at least basic), and what data a particular site or page has at the moment;
• which files, data or program code do the most damage in terms of speed. Or, perhaps, the question is not about the site at all, but about hosting.

Websites for people

A website is also a product. And making an expensive website is not a guarantee of success. Packing and filling is important. The business that this website is showing is important.

The topic is hated somewhere, somewhere fed up... But Covid time is our reality. And this introduces its own rules and habits in user experience, and therefore helps to establish optimization trends in 2022:

1. People are buying more online. Someone for the purpose of limiting contacts. And some people just like it better. We have to work with this fact.
2. People are demanding of those whom they trust with their money. There are many unpleasant stories that users or their acquaintances, friends, relatives fall into. And therefore, in addition to the basic pages and data about the company, you need to describe in as much detail and openly as possible, tell how the business works, who is responsible for what, what guarantees... and other trust factors that convince people to stop on your site.
3. The user will choose where he:

• it is more convenient to interact (both in terms of speed and usability);
• the answer will be received faster (use online chats, for example, or social networks in which managers answer not only from 9 to 18 ...);
• more informative, where they will give ALL the information for making a decision: price, terms of payment and delivery, real data about the company itself and the product, and everything that affects the decision in favor of “I take”;
• you can immediately pay for the order. And here not only about online payment, but also about the relevance of the site. After all, only those businesses that are confident that the site has up-to-date information on availability and prices can afford such a luxury as online payment.

Remember and be on the alert:

There is always someone who will make their site better than yours. And the user will select it. No matter how good your product is.

Omnichannel

How does this relate to SEO trends? Now let's explain.

SEO is an extremely valuable and fundamental strategy for your marketing plan. But in the current level of competition, in a more in-depth struggle for each buyer, in terms of which you want to get the result, and also in how picky the user has become. SEO cannot be the only channel for attracting buyers. This applies to both new players who are just entering the market, and those who already have their market share, but want to grow.

Connecting different channels helps and enhances the main one. Well, that is, conditionally: if the main one is SEO, then users at the first touch through PPC (Internet advertising) get acquainted with the brand, and through organic search they become a buyer.

Or vice versa: when you visit the site for the first time through organic search, the result is consolidated through advertising (in the words of the business, this is a “deal for sale”). It’s just that advertising was there “at the right time” and “helped make” the right decision. Of course, you and your business need it.

Brief summary

All of the above are important accents in the trends of 2022, but at the same time, it is worth remembering that there are still invariably important and irreplaceable tools and factors in SEO:

• links;
• local search;
• EAT;
• technical condition of the resource;
• assortment;
• age of the brand and site;
• as well as other ranking factors for sites, which every year (behind the scenes) becomes more. And not because new ones appear massively, but because each old one is broken down into smaller and more detailed factors. Together they form the ranking of your site in the "eyes" of search engines.

The main trend and advice for 2022: do not stop and look for the best option for yourself and your product!