8 SEO Trends That You Should Know About

Intro

Although the core principles of Search Engine Optimization remain the same, algorithm updates and search trends evolve. As a result, keeping up with the latest SEO trends is critical for maintaining an upward trajectory in your traffic and search engine rankings.

So, let's quickly go through some 2022 SEO trends you should be aware of.

1. Tapping into Keyword Clusters

Keyword clustering is a more detailed keyword research approach that improves keyword rankings. It involves grouping keywords with similar search intent. Once these "clusters" have been identified, you can create content to target them. This is an excellent way of establishing authority for your website on key topic areas within your market.

For instance, if you're an email finder software provider, you may notice some keyword phrases like "what is an email finder tool," "what does an email finder do," or "best email finder tools." These phrases suggest a need for a "Simple Guide to Email Finder Tools" article. The content you create around this cluster should answer the questions above to attract your target customers organically.

The image below is an excellent example of how keyword clustering works. All the keywords highlighted in green are related to the "starting an eCommerce business" topic. You also have other crucial details, like the search intent and volume, to inform you of the best keywords.

_(Image source: practicalecommerce.com)

Before using keyword clusters, you will have to find relevant keywords for your content. While you can do this on Google, specialized keyword finder tools provide more in-depth keyword research. You can see from the screenshot below that you input a keyword and generate a list of relevant phrases.

You can do your keyword clustering on spreadsheets, as shown above. But if you're looking to save time, you can use a keyword cluster tool to pick out clusters for you. See below for an example of how this type of tool works. You input your keywords, and the tool analyzes them. Popular topics for you to write about are identified, and your keywords are grouped based on these topics.

(Image source: frase.io)

Most keyword research software solutions now include a clustering tool. Identifying keyword clusters could be tedious and time-consuming without such devices. Now you've got no excuse!

2. Structured Snippets That Are Optimized

Creating content for structured snippets is a great way of appearing in more search results. Google's search engine loves this type of content as it enhances user experience by helping people quickly find the exact information they want. One way to optimize your content for structured snippets is to use schema markup.

Schema markup is a type of microdata that helps Google understand and extract content from your pages. This enables them to appear as snippets, which are more attractive and clickable for users. Without schema markup, your structured snippets may go unnoticed by the search engine.

For instance, the structured snippet tags circled red in the example below on the left will get some results. But if you want total value, follow the model on the right. Including rich snippets and schema markup showing ratings, reviews and prices is hugely beneficial.

These tags make your content easier to understand for search engines and more helpful for consumers. This gives you a better chance of appearing in search results and driving more traffic to your website.

3. Creating Videos for Marketing Purposes

Online video platforms have exploded in the last few years. As a result, many businesses have begun to use platforms like YouTube and TikTok to engage with customers. Creating videos to promote your business on these platforms has become one of the most important SEO trends in recent times.

Use your keyword clusters to get ideas for video content. You want to identify central questions or problems and provide answers and solutions with your video content.

This content also increases your chances of appearing as a featured snippet in search results. A featured snippet is a piece of content that Google puts at the top of search results to answer specific questions. So, informative content that answers common consumer questions will likely be used as a featured snippet.

As you can see in the example above, the exact time in the video when the query's answer starts and ends is displayed for the user. Providing content like this helps to improve your search engine rankings. It also boosts your brand awareness.

4. Greater Focus on Search Intent

It is also vital to focus on search intent. Search intent, also known as user intent, refers to the purpose of an internet search. When searching on the internet, people usually look for a specific answer to a particular issue, question, or problem.

You must identify several things to make the most of search intent information. First, you must know common questions, issues, and problems within your industry. You also need to understand how your target audience prefers to have their questions answered. Is it through written content, video, or infographics?

It would help if you also considered the different types of search intent:

• Information Intent - It’s when a person has a specific question or topic they want to know more about. They don't intend to buy at that moment; they want to learn more about the subject. Look out for phrases like "what is" or "how to
• Navigation Intent - A person with navigation intent wants to visit a specific website, e.g., "Instagram login" or “HubSpot CRM.”
• Transactional Intent - This is when a person searches with the intent of buying something at that moment. To identify transactional intent, look for searches that include the name of a specific product, e,g "iPhone 13 coupon" or “buy iPhone 13.”
• Commercial Intent- These people are interested in buying soon but are still exploring different options. Examples of queries with this intent include "best new phones 2022" or “best CRM software solutions 2022.”

Targeting these types of search intent helps you build a sales funnel. That’s because each intent represents buyers at different stages of the buyer journey. Therefore, creating content for all types of search intent will help you drive more traffic to your site. Also, you may see better rankings when your content satisfies specific search intents fully.

5. Mobile-Friendliness Approach

Nowadays, people use their phones more than any other device to access the internet. According to a 2020 study by Perficient, around 68% of global website visits came from mobile devices.

(Image source: perficient.com)

Search engines also begun to incorporate this change into their systems. In 2019, Google introduced mobile-first indexing, meaning the search engine looks primarily at the mobile version of a website during indexing and ranking.

Optimizing your website and all content for mobile friendliness is essential with this shift towards favoring mobile-friendly content. All website builders allow you to preview how your pages will look on different devices. So, to ensure your website is mobile-friendly, check the mobile preview of your pages as you create them.

While you should not neglect other devices, being mobile-friendly is the most important. We suggest getting the mobile preview right for indexing and ranking. Then try to find a balance so that your website is also friendly for desktop and tablet users.

Google My Business has analytics tools to help you optimize your content for mobile friendliness. You can use Google's free mobile-friendly test to check how effective your site is on mobile

6. Demand for Long-Form Content

Although content length is not a ranking factor, long-form content is deemed by search engines as higher-quality content. This is because long content is more likely to display what Google calls E-A-T signals. E-A-T stands for; Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

Long-form content is more likely to include original research and analysis and uses expert authorship and sourcing. These are all E-A-T signals that the Google search engine associates with high-quality content. As a result, content like in-depth articles and blog posts achieve a better ranking.

The chart below shows the average content length of a recent study's top 10 search results. The average word count exceeds 2000 from the top search result down to the 10th. This chart highlights the demand for long-form content.

To capitalize on this, go for more in-depth articles on your blog. However, you don't want to make your articles longer for the sake of it and sacrifice content quality. Choose broader topics that allow for a more lengthy discussion. Also, create style guides to keep your long-form content on brand.

This demand for long-form content will continue to increase as search engines become more advanced. Artificial intelligence and neuro-linguistic processing have recently been incorporated into search engines.

Using NLP algorithms will enhance the ability of search engines to recognize quality content. So, it is worth doing in-depth, original research for your content to improve your search rankings and average positions.

7. Voice Search to Influence Search Queries

All the big search engines now use voice search technology, often called voice assistants. There is Google Assistant, Apple's Siri, and Amazon's Alexa, to name a few. As a result of these innovations, voice search technology has developed a lot and gotten more popular.

As shown in the graph below, it is predicted that by 2025, 291 million American households (75%) will have intelligent speakers.

So, with the popularity set to continue to grow, let's look at how you can optimize for voice search.

You should consider how voice search queries influence search phrases. Voice searches tend to be longer, with more natural-sounding phrases. On the other hand, people tend to abbreviate when typing, making for shorter, less natural sounding searches.

For example, a person might voice search, "How do I use keyword clusters for SEO?" but type the words, "SEO keyword cluster tips." So, to optimize voice search, try to identify long-tail keywords and use a conversational tone in your blog posts.

Another good practice is to include FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) in your articles. Use Google Analytics to identify common questions asked in search queries. Ensure the questions in your article match the phrasing used in common search queries. Including common questions in your articles helps to appear in more voice search results.

8. Optimization for Google Discovery

Google Discovery is one of the latest SEO trends, as it was just added to Google this year. It is a feed that analyses users' typical searches. This information is then used to identify the most relevant content for each individual, and this content is placed on their search pages.

As you can see from the example below, Google Discovery places content on the search page, not the search results page. So, optimizing your content for Google Discovery allows you to get your content in front of your target audience before they even search the web.

(Image source: thedrum.com)

This gives you a massive advantage over competitors. If your content is of high quality, you can answer consumer questions before they search for answers elsewhere.

This provides an excellent opportunity to drive traffic to your website. However, you must optimize your content correctly to appear on Google Discovery.

Similar to focusing on search intent, you must keep up with the latest news and hot topics in your industry. If your content isn't relevant to recent trends, it will not appear in the Discovery feed.

It is also essential to include a relevant image to coincide with the topic of your content. Google Discovery always consists of this image as part of the listing. So, it is vital to use an eye-catching image and relevant keywords if you're trying to appear on this page.

In Closing

So, there you have it; you're up to date with the latest SEO trends. Try to tap into keyword clusters to ensure you write relevant blog posts. Regarding relevance, always consider users' search intent and create content to align with their end goal.

On top of that, make sure your content is mobile-friendly; most internet searches take place on smartphones. Also, long-form and video content are in high demand, so try incorporating more videos and longer articles into your SEO content.

Finally, include structured snippets and keep up with new features like voice search and Google Discovery to stay one step ahead of the competition.

If you're unsure where to start, follow the trend that seems the most straightforward and relevant to your specific business. You need to get the ball rolling, keep an eye out for new trends, and update your SEO strategy as you go. Good luck!