The Google SEO Trends that are leading the way in 2022

2022 began with more confirmation of the importance of SEO to every business and every market, as it was revealed that in 2021, 93% of online experiences began with someone initiating a search engine query. Being positioned correctly within relevant searches is more important now than ever before, and no matter the type of content being promoted, SEO solutions that deliver high placement in the rankings are not only necessary but increasingly competitive. With that in mind, getting ahead of the curve and finding any advantage is crucial, but as trends come and go, seemingly almost on a weekly basis, knowing what actually makes a difference can be a challenge in itself. Google still dominates searches, and as they continually evolve their algorithm, so what worked last year may not be as effective today, but here are the trends for this year that can have an impact on SEO performance.

Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness – EAT

At the heart of Googles algorithm is EAT, the principle it uses to determine whether a web page is providing quality content for a given topic. While algorithms do change, that core principle remains, so it makes sense to ensure that you have the best foundation possible within the context of those three elements, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. You can accomplish this by taking some simple steps with all content being published:

1. References – Use authority web pages as source references for your content and always cite your references.


2. Uniqueness – Create unique content that reflects the things people are searching for.


3. Include Author Bio – Always include an author bio that includes their expertise on the subject under discussion.

Never be tempted to use auto-generated content, Google’s systems are smart and can easily spot it, and avoid anything that overtly marketing in terms of the language used. Avoid paid link campaigns too, they can have a negative impact, and Google frowns upon web pages that overwhelm visitors with advertisements too, so be wary of too much advertising.

Web Site Basics

Google itself often refers to these as the Core Web Vitals, elements that Google looks at to determine the user experience on a web page. There are three elements:

1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – How long it takes for the largest piece of content on a page to load


2. First Input Delay (FID) – How fast the page responds to the user’s initial interaction with it (clicking a link and so on)


3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – How many times the page layout has been changed in its lifetime

Ensuring these metrics are the best they can be, can have a significant impact on how search engines view the overall quality of the user experience, and with it, the site ranking.

People also ask

‘People also Ask’ is one of the most used of Google’s search features, with a study showing that 48% of 2.5 million recorded searches used the tool. To take advantage of this, create an FAQ section, or use questions within your content, and include relevant keywords in the answers. This can be a very effective approach and is relatively easy to do. Keyword research is essential here though, as the success of the strategy depends on getting the right keywords within those answers.

Video

Video use is growing every year, and it is easy to see why. It is engaging for your audience, value added content that they will return to see more of. With video traffic set to reach 82% of all internet traffic by the end of 2022, this is one trend that is never going away.

Long Form Content

Alongside video, longform content is another way to improve audience engagement and benefit from Google’s algorithm in your SEO. Google loves long form content, but it ranks higher on all search engines as it is viewed as valuable content for the visitor. It needs to be quality content though, well researched, well written and providing something worthwhile for the reader.

Content Refresh

One of the traps many fall into is adding new content but never changing what is already there. With most topics, things are always evolving, but so are you. Your writing improves, you have a better understanding of your audience, you know more about the topic. Going back to old content and adding new details, new images, longform content and more can really help in elevating the perceived page value for algorithms. These are just some of the ways in which you can adapt to the changing SEO trends and have a long term, positive impact on your site visibility on search engine results. SEO is not a one and done strategy, but an approach that is in constant flux, even with content you have already created. Don’t neglect any aspect of a site, and you will see improvement from even small changes.