What to expect 2022
If there’s one thing constant about SEO, it’s that SEO is always changing. In order to maintain your digital market share, you need to monitor and adjust your SEO to keep current with digital “best practices.” In 2021, there are had been five trends we have been watching unfold with great interest and we feel they will dominate 2022.
To keep your SRP (search results page) ranking from slipping or to leap ahead of your competitors, you’ll want to take advantage of these trends. Semantic, Voice, Brand, Mobile, and Speed.
1. Determine what your customer wants when they type a keyword:
Knowing who your customer is and why they would want to buy from you is a critical part of any keyword strategy. By understanding what your prospect or customer wants when they type in their query, you can begin to predict the contextual nature of their search. By knowing the keywords they use, you can be one step ahead of them, strategically inserting your company at every step in the buying process. This persistent presence will keep you in the mind of a potential customer.
2. Optimize for Voice Search:
Voice is one of the SEO trends that need to be addressed by your marketing team. With the introduction of Amazon Echo and Google Home devices, voice searches are becoming more and more popular. Your business needs to become familiar and relate easily with the more conversational tone of questions that would be asked of these devices. This includes “Hey, Alexa, where is a ___ near me?” Or “Hey, Google, find a ____ in [city name]”. By optimizing your website to voice searches, you can tap into the new market of people “searching” via these voice-controlled devices.
3. Your Brand Matters:
Your brand’s reputation matters more now than ever. People are looking to see how a company “behaves.” It is necessary to create and maintain a good reputation for your brand in order to be selected ahead of your competition. Bolster your standing by encouraging reviews. Ask your customer to write a review in person after purchase. Then, follow up their purchase with an email – first asking if all went well with their purchase, and, if so, request a review. (If things didn’t go well, find out why and FIX IT!) These reviews can be seen by other potential customers and good reviews will help your brand’s stature. Also, responding to these reviews will show that you care. Not only do reviews boost your reputation but they also increase traffic. Customers see the reviews and trust your business enough to consider it further.
4. Higher Rankings on Mobile Indexes are More Desirable:
87% of smartphone users use as a search engine at least once a day, Take a look at these statistics: 18% of local mobile searches lead to a sale within one day, and 78% of local-based searches from a mobile devices end in a purchase being made offline. This shows how vital mobile optimization is in the world today. But to take advantage of these stats, your business must rank high in the mobile search engine results. Mobile users are not going to scroll through numerous results looking for you. They choose from the top few results. Make the font easy to read on a mobile device. Make sure your website loads quickly. And don’t add filler content that crowds the page. Absolutely, optimize your site for mobile devices. Increasing your mobile traffic will help you to increase conversions.