If you are looking at getting more traffic to your website, then you must constantly need to pay close attention to search engine optimization updates. Search engine optimization is not a marketing strategy you execute once and go chill, it is a strategy that must be visited regularly to stay on top of your competitors in the digital space.
Google usually updates its search algorithm every year. While most of the changes might be little, they could affect your search ranking. So, without wasting much time, here are the latest SEO trends for 2022 you will need to pay attention to and take action immediately.
These SEO guides will help you increase organic traffic to your site and boost your ranking on search engines like Google and Bing.
Top 7 SEO Guide for 2022
Backlink Building
This is a very strong SEO signal for search engines. It is one important SEO strategy that you should focus on in 2022. Backlinks are very important regardless of their sizes. Backlinks help boost your page and domain authority, which is a big ranking factor on search engines.
You should focus on building both internal and external links for your site.
An Internal link is where you link to another post on your site. It doesn’t only help Google understand your site, it gives visitors to your site more reading options, which increases dwell time.
You can build external links by guest posting on high-authority sites in your niche. Search engines see external links from authority sites as a vote of confidence, which is a big advantage to your site.
Guest posting is not the only way to build external links, you can also do it by commenting on top sites related to your niche with high page and domain authority. Just that backlinks from guest posting have more effect than links from comments.
Quality Fresh Content
Content remains king in SEO. You must keep updating your site with quality fresh content as it is also a ranking factor. Search engines only accept contents that are unique and free from plagiarism.
In case you have heard that your content must be above 800 words to be search engine friendly, that is now a lie. Your blog content doesn’t need to be lengthy. It just has to be relevant to your target audience. That is what search engines go for.
As far as your content answers the question users asked or related to the keyword query, your site will certainly pop up on the first page if all ranking factors are correctly in place.
When you post content relevant to visitors, they get excited, stay longer on your site (a ranking factor too), and keep coming back. As this continues, the search engine starts seeing your site to be relevant, and this in return, increases your rank. High-quality content can take your site to the first page.
Page Loading Speed
If your site takes too long to open, then users will get annoyed and leave. This in return increases your bounce rate and reduces your dwell time (the time visitors spend on your page before returning to the search engine). It is not good for Search engine optimization at all.
There are many tools you can use to check your page loading speed. PageSpeed Insights Tool by Google is a good one. But have it in mind that a good page loading time should be below 5 seconds. If it is above, it may be too risky.
One way to boost your loading speed is by using caching plugins like W3 Total Cache. This will help reduce the loading time so your visitors don’t get to wait longer than expected.
Mobile Optimization
The number of people accessing the internet using mobile is on the increase. Almost 50% of online transactions take place on mobile. This makes it very important that your site is mobile-friendly to welcome more visitors to the site.
Keyword Research
As a business owner who wants to market online, you need to be able to know how to conduct keyword research for every of your blog posts. You should be able to always ask yourself, “what are the keywords users are likely to use to search for my products or services?” After you must have figured out the answer to the question, your job is to use such keywords moderately on the body of your content and page titles.
Tools like SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner, and KwFinder can help you find the right keywords for your business.
Secured Sites
If you want a great user experience, you will need to secure your site. When users see, “Not Secure” on their browser, they don’t feel safe spending time on your site. This could end up increasing your bounce rate too.
It is very important you switch to HTTPS protocol. HTTPS gives users peace of mind that your site is authentic and encrypted. This makes them feel safe dropping their personal data on your site.
HTTPS protocol may not be a big factor for SEO, but it can give a minor boost. You should switch to HTTPS protocol mostly if you collect data from visitors. This assures users that their data is safe and your site is legit.
Video Content
In 2022, video content will be the new king. The love for video content is increasing exponentially. It has been confirmed that users prefer to get information through video, mostly when it is instructional.
So, what can you do?
You will need to start producing video content. Create YouTube videos and embed them on your site as an alternative version of your written post. This way, users who don’t like written words will click to watch the video.
When Google index your videos, you will certainly enjoy higher traffic to your site.
In Conclusion
SEO is a powerful marketing strategy. If you invest in SEO for your business, you will certainly get to benefit from it in the long term. It is not voodoo. It will work for you when you put in the work.
About the Author
Okon Joseph is one of Nigeria’s finest and successful freelance writer with a broad experience in SEO. He writes majorly on SEO and Instagram marketing.
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