SEO Trends In 2022

Constant change in the area of search engine optimization (SEO) always results in an intriguing trend perspective. Despite the changes, we’re pleased to report that basic SEO principles such as user experience and the value of a Google Business Profile for local businesses have not changed.

Other SEO trends, such as rich results, have continued to gain traction. At the same time, we’re happy to be able to include a few newbies to our list of the top 7 SEO trends for 2022, such as Google Discover and novel search methods like multimodal search, in our list of the top 7 SEO trends for 2022. Let’s get started!

  1. UX/ USER EXPERIENCE
    Page Experience signals, which include Core Web Vitals, were widely discussed as a ranking criteria for websites on Google in 2020. Although the implementation of these signals has been postponed, Google indicated last year that they will begin using page experience signals as a ranking factor for desktop in February 2022.

    Page experience signals are a set of measurements that measure precisely that a user’s experience on a website. This includes things like user security, no distracting pop-ups or layout changes, how quickly a site loads, and other things.

    Last year, Google altered its page experience as well as how it uses links between websites. This was part of a larger effort to continue to crack down on spammy link-building schemes that could artificially enhance page rank for participating websites while also providing the best possible information to its visitors.

    In February of last year, Google added an About This Result feature to the search engine results page, which allows users to learn more about the source of the result and why it appears in the results for that particular query.

  2. RICH RESULTS
    This is yet another SEO strategy that has exploded in popularity over the last year. We couldn’t leave it off our list of top SEO trends 2022.

    Rich results are search results that go beyond the typical website links found on a search engine results page. This includes answers to queries in the People Also Ask section, videos, product results, recipe results, and much more.

    Rich results are clearly becoming the standard, as seen by increasing investments in rich results reporting and an increase in rich results on search engine results pages. If you haven’t already done so, you should make it a priority in 2022 to incorporate structured data into your website.

  3. THE RISE OF VIDEO IN SEARCH
    In addition to the overall increase in rich search results, we are also looking at video results that appear more and more frequently in search results.

    This trend in the importance of video did not develop in the bubble, but due to the growth of importance of video on traditional social media platforms.

    It’s no secret that Google owns YouTube. This makes a lot of sense to reflect much of this video content in the results as this type of content becomes more popular with users.

    If you’ve already invested in video for your business, use the available schema markup tools to ensure that it’s easily found on Google. Video in search isn’t going away anytime soon, so if you haven’t already done so for your company, now is a fantastic opportunity to do so.

  4. ECOMMERCE SEARCH
    Google stated “Google’s mission is to organise the world’s information, and organising product information for shoppers and retailers is an essential part of this mission.”

    This clearly demonstrates how Google, the world’s most popular search engine, views the future of eCommerce in search.

    This dedication isn’t limited to typical search engine results pages; eCommerce has its own search category dedicated to shopping results.

    Since shopping listings became free for retailers in 2020, it appears that search and shopping have become inextricably linked, and we expect this tendency to continue in 2022.

    eCommerce search results are something you can’t overlook in your SEO plan in 2022 if you sell online.

  5. GOOGLE DISCOVER
    For mobile users, Google Discover is an interest-based feed that appears on Google’s home page. All web pages that are indexed and acceptable for standard search results (as long as they don’t violate any policies) are also eligible to appear in Google Discover feeds.

    Despite the fact that Google Discover placements are unrelated to search results, we’ve included it in our list of top SEO trends for 2022 because these results are still surfaced from the Google index, just like regular search results.

    Additionally, Google Discover performance is now reflected in the data in Google Search Console. Over the last year, this data has been enhanced to include not only in-app performance, but also any performance measurements from Chrome users.

    Because the platform is interest-based, Google Discover is simply another way for websites to be found online. It can be a terrific approach to get in front of the correct audience. Despite the fact that it’s been around since 2018, Google’s investments in sharing Google Discover performance analytics with website owners last year indicate it won’t be gone by 2022.

    The Google Discover feed can feature video results in addition to regular webpage links. Users can also choose to have links from specific websites show in their Google Discover feeds by following a website, which is possible because the feed is personalised.

  6. GOOGLE MY BUSINESS
    For many organisations, whether large and small, a local SEO plan remains an important part of their overall SEO strategy. Take a look at the graphic below, which shows Google Trend data for interest in searches containing the phrase “near me” during the last five years.

    The popularity of searches featuring the phrase “near me” has been at an all-time high in the last year. And one of the greatest methods for local businesses to appear in search results for this type of local search is to create a Google Business Profile.

    For years, Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business) has been an indispensable tool for local businesses. And the significance of a Google Business Profile hasn’t waned in 2022.

    The Google Business Profile has aided local businesses in connecting with their customers and providing additional information through added features such as health and safety attributes and business highlights such as Black-owned and women-owned, particularly during the last few years of the pandemic.

    Google revealed the new name for Google My Business in November 2021. Despite the fact that the name has been changed to Google Business Profile, the relevance of the tool for local businesses has not diminished.

    Other enhancements revealed with the November name change announcement included making it easy for businesses to update or claim their business profile straight on search. Businesses will also be able to talk with their consumers via search, as well as check call history — a report containing data of calls received from their business profile on search or in maps – at the same time.

  7. MULTIMODAL SEARCH
    Multimodal search is a method of searching for information that includes text, images, audio, and video in one search.

    In 2022 and beyond, search will be dominated by this form of complicated search involving numerous modalities. The unveiling of MUM, or Multitask Unified Model, a new technology that can interpret and offer results for these types of queries, was one of the most anticipated announcements made at Google I/O in May 2021.

    Although multimodal search technology is not yet fully integrated into how we search, we anticipate to see it reach searchers in the near future. “We’ll introduce MUM-powered features and improvements to our products in the next months and years,” Google’s Pandu Nayak, VP of Search, said in a May release.

    Let’s return to our first trend, user experience, if those words aren’t enough. If multimodal search works as predicted, it should only enhance a user’s search experience. And everything that improves the user experience is the goal for search engines, and it should be the focal point of any successful SEO plan.