Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is undoubtedly essential to the success of businesses since a whopping 93% of online experiences start with the use of a search engine. SEO's goal has always remained the same: to boost your presence and ranking in relevant search results. However, the tactics for achieving this aim are in constant flux due to the dynamic nature of SEO. Consequently, it is prudent for marketers to keep up with these ever-changing processes to make their digital marketing efforts more relevant and effective. Below are some top SEO trends to know about in 2022.
- Emotionally-charged headlines are less effective
Every internet user is guilty of clicking on a headline that was too captivating to resist. However, these headlines are gradually losing efficacy, so it is best to use them wisely for effective online marketing. A recent Backlinko study analysed 5 million headlines and discovered that emotional titles, whether positive or negative, did indeed have higher click-through rates (CTR) than neutral titles. However, there's only so much success you can enjoy with emotionally-charged titles. These titles will drive clicks to a degree, but more users will begin associating your site with clickbait in 2022. Indeed, the same study discovered that words used to grab attention like “unbelievable” and “crazy” could negatively affect your CTR. Therefore, using these terms sparingly in your headlines is best to prevent them from negatively affecting your organic CTR.
- More videos in search results
You have likely seen YouTube videos in featured snippets for “how-to” searches when seeking step-by-step instructions. Many experts agree that these snippets are just the tip of the iceberg and predict Google will keep incorporating video into search results. Consequently, now may be a good time to seek advice from a digital marketing coach on optimising your videos for search. You can include more videos in your blog posts to help them rank higher in search results. In addition, optimise your videos' titles, meta descriptions, and tags for more favourable rankings.
- The continuous rise of “people also ask” feature
Google's “People also ask” feature reportedly now appears in about 48.6% of all searches. This feature enjoys prominent placement in search engine results pages, so more website owners will pay attention to it in 2022. Everyone will want their content to rank in the “People also ask” section, so the competition will naturally be fierce. Still, you can boost your chances of getting there by offering answers to popular queries in your content. You can use a keyword research tool to discover the most popular long-tail question keywords your audience is asking. Then, include these questions in your header tasks and offer comprehensive and helpful answers to gain more visibility in search results.
- The proliferation of AI-generated content
Jarvis, CopyAi, and many other AI-assisted SEO content tools are on the rise. Therefore, it is expected that more content teams will rely on them to quickly generate SEO-optimised content in 2022. These AI tools can generate titles, topics, paragraphs, and entire articles with few inputs. Consequently, it would help to incorporate these tools into your workflows to aid your SEO copywriting team.
