Would you like your website to rank organically on the search engine results page?
Of course, you do. SEO or search engine optimization is a crucial strategy for reaching new consumers online as it helps you achieve a high ranking without employing any advertising. That is if SEO metrics are handled correctly.
SEO metrics to keep in mind are keywords ranking, click-through rate, traffic, social shares, backlinks, etc. These metrics allow you to track everything related to your online presence and see if your website performs as well as you hope.
Since most users prefer organic results and overlook the ads at the top of the results page, your website should aim to be top-ranked thanks to the three ultimate pillars of SEO: quality content, a proven authority on the topic a website deals with, and relevance.
Whether it is a bank website design or any other website, SEO is important to rank it on Google.
If you want to gain more engagement from your website visitors and increase sales, employ some of the 7 most effective SEO trends of 2022.
1. The rise of AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has recently become increasingly used in improving websites’ SEO. One of how it is found helpful is that it provides AI-generated content helping you develop headline ideas, outlines, introductions, etc., based on the keywords you choose. Moreover, AI can now write introductory paragraphs and let you focus on a more creative approach to content. This poses a bit of a challenge for search engines in sorting out spam content, but with clever AI as your assistant, you can create unique and quality content helping your rank better.
Another significant role of AI today is in facilitating the interaction between users and online content. Chatboxes and chatbots are increasingly being introduced to demonstrate 24/7 availability and helpfulness to website users.
On top of that, Google’s AI algorithm is gaining more momentum each day as an important ranking factor for SERPs and will only improve in the future. Therefore, AI is an SEO trend to look out for. Although not yet explored in detail, AI algorithm is believed to value user experience above all. It can learn about it through CTR, time spent on a page, etc. Google cares about users and wants them to find what they are looking for. Therefore, if a user clicks on your website from Google and then goes back to search results, it sends a message to Google your content doesn’t have what it takes to be ranked high.
To optimize for it, ensure your content is captivating, engaging, well-organized, and helpful to your users. Additional factors include readability, length, backlinks, etc. If you’re unsure how to approach this, check out digital marketing Cincinnati companies for advice.
2. Mobile SEO is a Must
It is becoming evident that Google is shifting its focus from desktop to mobile sites when determining rankings. Google’s mobile-first indexing introduced in 2019 let everyone know that the website’s mobile version is to be viewed as the primary version instead of the desktop version.
This has resulted in more and more users opting to visit websites on their mobile devices as a more convenient way of searching for content on the go. Therefore, your business should follow this trend to stay relevant in terms of SEO.
How to be mobile-friendly?
- Migrate to a mobile responsive website if needed
- Simplify the design of your mobile website version
- Personalize your website content based on your users’ needs
- Focus on enhancing the user experience on mobile devices
- Ensure Google can crawl your URLs
- On both desktop and mobile sites, use the same meta robots tags
3. Voice Search Innovations
“Siri, what is the best sushi restaurant in New York?”
Google assistants Siri and Alexa have leveled up the game of Internet search. Due to constant innovations by these pioneers of voice search technology, they are becoming more and more popular and effective.
The first step in optimizing voice search marketing for your business is studying your keywords. Think about both words and longer phrases people use daily when talking. As opposed to typing and most often abbreviating words, in the case of voice searches, the longer and the more natural the phrases are, the more helpful voice searches tend to be.
For example, a previously mentioned voice search, “Siri, what is the best sushi restaurant in New York?” would probably translate into a written search as “best sushi in New York.”
Lastly, consider including snippets of content (up to 40 words, approximately) to answer voice search questions.
4. Video Content is King
By this point, the future of SEO lies in tending to as many human senses as possible. The visual sense is the leading one, as proven by the popularity of social media apps and websites such as Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, etc.
This should easily convince you to start creating your videos to support your website content as soon as possible. Video content is easily consumed, highly engaging, and informative.
Now, once you create it — it’s time to optimize it.
First, optimize your video channel name and description if you post on YouTube. The description should inform the users of what your channel is about. You can achieve this by including your content-based keywords.
If you’re unsure which keywords to use, type the topic of your video in YouTube’s search field, and it will provide you with some suggestions that might inspire you and let you know what YouTube users are searching for.
Uploading videos on YouTube will allow you to apply the Key Moments feature, showing your video content in search results with the help of Clip Markup and Seek Markup, that with help increase your CTR.
5. User Search Intent Counts
To prepare for what 2023 brings about SEO-wise, pay special attention to the search intent of the user’s query and behavior.
These are the factors that are constantly changing, and when businesses’ content aligns with users’ interests and answers their queries — they both benefit.
Instead of adhering to traditional SEO practices, focus on search intent. If you are familiar with search queries, you can create content that the online audience wishes to consume. This way, you can stand out and distinguish yourself from the competition.
The top positions of Google are reserved for quality and helpful content websites, while those providing surface-level content will be taken down. If your content lacks reliability, Google will indeed note that. To avoid this, make sure your content is written by humans instead of AI offering helpful advice and information.
To summarize the effect of user search intent on SEO, brands will have to start with what their users need and like, and cater to their requirements instead of simply promoting their services and products.
So, do your research, familiarize yourself with your audience, explore their content journey, and adjust the content type (articles, photos, videos, podcasts…) to their need.
6. There’s no SEO Without a Local SEO
Although the Internet helps you reach users from all around the world, you should pay special attention to local customers who are more likely to use search engines to visit a local place and make a purchase.
Local SEO helps your potential local customers discover you by ranking higher in searches based on location and reviews.
Google is willing to please its users by offering them content they can benefit from. Therefore, if a person in New York is looking for a spa center, the results they receive based on that search will be spa centers based in New York, ranked according to the reviews their customers have left.
Make sure your business comes out in the results, including the city, state, or country your business is located in so that Google recognizes you as a result worth recommending to online users.
7. Customers Data Analytics
Behavioral analytics is coming to the front as Google continues to evolve. Your business can stay up-to-date with this change by looking at what your customers do on your website and how. Then you can focus on what you can do to make their experience more enjoyable.
You want to work on customer retention and increasing customer lifetime value. The better you understand your customer, the more you will be able to meet their needs and successfully compete with other businesses looking to gain the loyalty of the same audience.
What can additionally help you achieve this is quality customer service online. Your sales team and support staff should be able to handle incoming questions from customers and resolve them to your satisfaction. You can include a FAQ section covering the most common queries.
Offering value to your customers through valuable videos, informative articles, explanatory pictures, and other types of content will help achieve customer retention.
Conclusion
These SEO trends of 2022 will continue to grow and dictate the approach to SEO in 2023. Therefore, make sure you find a way to incorporate these SEO strategies to stay relevant and offer your audience a quality experience in interacting with your website.
