SEO trends in 2022

Only a few weeks to go and we will be in the next year, 2022. Naturally that requires a new look at the SEO trends for 2022. In this blog we’ll explain the most important SEO trends for the upcoming year.

of the users clicks on an organic search result.

of the users clicks on one of the top three organic search results.

The image below shows an example of Nike Air Max, and where you’ll be shown in the organic search results in Google.

What are the important SEO trends for 2022?

Last year we noticed the Voice Search trend was a big trend. It was important that you write your website content in such a way that it is easy for Google to use by answering a question. This will become even more important in the coming year. Not only for Voice Search but also for Google. Google attaches great importance to texts that are written for the user instead of for the search engine.

These are the most important trends for 2022:

• Always relevant content
• Write for the user
• Positive user experience
• Mobile First
• Google Discovery

Always relevant content

Content might be outdated. A news article has a posting date and after a few days the news will no longer be relevant. Even though it will continue to exist online and be searchable, it won’t attract hordes of new visitors.

Content that is relevant for a longer period of time is also called evergreen content. An example of evergreen content is this blog post ( 😉 ), if you forward it to a just starting marketer in a month, it will be just as relevant as it is now. Over time, this post will also become less relevant. It is therefore all the more important that you know what to post when, and when it is time to write new, fresh and relevant content.

Write for the user

An important SEO trend in 2022 is ‘semantic search’. Semantics means; the relationship between words in the specific context. As for the search engines, the context and intent of the search is considered. In addition, the specific content contributes to the user experience of the website. When creating the content, it is therefore important that you answer questions from the user.

Write for the user, not for the Search Engine. Nowadays, many companies when writing SEO content are still focused on writing for the search engine to score better. Instead, it’s important that you write for the user. Search engines are smart enough to understand what the user is looking for and will target the content according to the results. In addition, it is also important to process the right search terms in the content so that your relevance increases.

Positive user experience

As you can see, everything revolves around the user and how they behave. The first step a website takes when someone visits the website is to load the page. If this takes too long, a user will quickly drop out. Research from Google shows that your bounce rate increases by 32% when your loading time goes from 1 to 3 seconds.

A positive user experience also includes a good navigation structure of your website. For Google you need a sitemap and for the user it is important that there is a clear navigation structure. Your visitor will quickly drop out if there isn’t even a button that leads to the main page.

Mobile First

More and more users are using a mobile device. According to Statista, there are over 6.37 billion smartphone users. This means that 80.69 % of the world population owns a smartphone.

In Europe, 45.47% of user visits in the last year came from a smartphone. In the Netherlands in October this year, 49.1% came from a smartphone. This number is still increasing.

These numbers continue to rise every day. For this reason, Google uses a mobile-first index. This means that Google takes the mobile version of the website into account when determining your position in the search results. That’s why it’s important to have a mobile-friendly website. Getting a mobile friendly website is possible with a responsive web design. This ensures that the website adapts to the device that the visitor uses to visit the website. In other words; the page is adjusted to get the best user experience on desktop, tablet and smartphone.

Google Discovery

And last but not least, the Google feed that smartphone users see on the main Google page. This feed is tailor-made for the user. How do you ensure that you stand between them?

• Use visuals: the users will see visuals, so make sure you have a cover photo to show in the feed.
• Understand your audience: Write compelling content for your target audience that actually finds them interesting. This way Google understands better what the context is and Google will offer it to the right people.

The best SEO approach

Do you also want a SEO-proof website? Or are you already well on your way, but do you want to know where the optimization opportunities lie? Please contact us and we can discuss how we can be of service to you.