Last updated on July 26th, 2022 at 12:18 pm
2021 was a year of high activity for search would be an overstatement. From major updates to minor algorithmic tweaks, Google Search was churning out changes to its system month after month, which threw some marketers off. After major rollouts, some were able to restore their rankings, but other sites saw their pages fall further down the search engine result webpage (SERPs).
But it’s not all over. While we’ve all been struck, 2021 was one huge learning moment for SEOs from all over. There’s definitely time to develop and improve.
In light of the year, We can focus on the future and what’s crucial SEO strategies in 2022 and beyond. Get a Quote for SEO Services:Â
Focusing on Page Speed To Enhance User Experience
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When Google began rolling out the Page Experience algorithm in June the year before, it was the beginning of a long and tedious process that would not be completed in September. However, in conjunction with the three Web Vitals, this algorithm change has been the basis of a great user experience.
We know that the Page Experience Algorithm will be accessible for desktop users in February 2022. Additionally, Google is working on a new metric for responsiveness that could be able to replace the First Input Delay (FID). It’s safe to say that the giant of search engines continues to prioritize user satisfaction (UX) and reward sites with fast-loading web pages that don’t force users to abandon the website.
Naturally, this would mean adhering to the best methods to ensure you’re within Google’s load time requirements (under 2.5 minutes and your users’.
Focusing on Search Intent When Doing Keyword Research
Search intent has always been a factor in keyword research, but it’s not as crucial as today. If you didn’t know, Google launched Multitask Unified Model(MUM) in May 2021 to meet searchers’ needs and address complicated queries.
This change isn’t just innovative and groundbreaking, but it also highlights that it is essential to focus on intent rather than the search volume when choosing the most appropriate keywords.
Search intent into four categories: commercial, informational, navigational, transactional and informational. We can identify a person’s intention to search by the terms they include in their queries. For instance, words such as “buy” and “discount” could be considered transactional, while phrases such as could be regarded as informational. It also is the reverse the other way around: we can create intent-specific keywords that will increase the chances of being found by searchers with the same intention.
One method SEOs can adapt to Google’s changing priorities is to shift away from the volume of searches and adjust landing pages accordingly, which aligns with the user’s intent. Therefore, if your users seek information, you shouldn’t have to present them with your website’s product page. Similar to that, you shouldn’t send an informative piece to those who are looking to purchase.
Focusing on In-Depth Content for Product Reviews
This article is ideal for you if you’re offering product reviews as content. We have seen two product review updates in 2021. One in April and one in December. Both updates focus on thoughts about the products and ensure that Google promotes only the most informative, helpful reviews of products in search results.
This means you can no longer use thin, generic material “that simply summarizes a bunch of products.” Here’s the content Google suggests you do instead:
- Include audio and visuals within your reviews of products to increase your credibility, as well as the reviews being authentic.
- Include links to multiple sellers instead of one, giving readers the option of purchasing through their preferred seller
Ultimately, both updates are designed to recognize in-depth product reviews and provide readers with the most helpful product reviews available on the internet.
The updates we’ve discussed up to now share one common thread. The primary reason for this is Google’s constant push to provide superior, better-quality, and more effective results in a search for its users. We, as marketers, have to be proactive and adapt our strategies to changing expectations and the best practices to see the results of our campaigns. Not just today, not only in 2022 but also in the future.
We hope the year ahead is successful and that it brings the best results to your SEO initiatives. Keep optimizing!
Get a Quote for SEO Services: https://imaliraza.com/seo/brisbane/
More SEO News You Can Use
December 2021 is likely to be the most volatile month on Google History: Remember when we mentioned that 2021 was a hectic year for SEO? It turns out that it was the most chaotic, too. Based on Semrush research, December was the month with the highest volatility in rankings variations and changes due to the many significant updates to the core and product reviews that occurred throughout 2021. Semrush also said that December 2021 might become the most turbulent month to use Google. It’s a great month to close an already exciting year!
Survey shows SEOs Aren’t prioritizing link building: A study conducted on Twitter conducted by SEO specialist Barry Schwartz shows that most SEOs invest less time into link-building efforts. His poll on Twitter, which garnered more than 1,800 votes, showed that 58.1 percent of those surveyed spent less than 25% of their work time performing link-building activities. Just 9.2 percent of respondents said more than 75 percent was spent on linking. It’s a fascinating turnout given the fact that link building remains thought to be a crucial aspect of the white-hat SEO method. Thoughts? Join this discussion on this page.
Survey reveals that SEOs had time off during the holidays. Although December was an unrest-like period, Google recommended not working during the holiday break. It appears that a lot of SEOs heeded. According to another poll on Twitter conducted by Schwartz, who asked questions like: “Did you work over the Christmas holiday?” 47 percent of 513 respondents said “No – not at all,” 20 percent responded, “Yes – a lot”, and 33 percent responded, “Yes – a little.” Although Schwartz mentioned that the survey is “unscientific” and “not statistically sound” because many SEOs were on vacation during the holiday season and weren’t present to participate in the question.
Google Now lets you exclude unwanted ads. The new feature is the ” Exclude Placements” feature within Google Ads. It allows you to exclude specific ad placements from the Google Ads interface, blocking undesirable ad places to your Smart Shopping campaigns. This feature can be highly beneficial for companies that want to control what their ads are displayed to keep any negative brand associations out of the way. There’s been no announcement from Google regarding the change. We’re hoping it’ll be available when Smart Shopping and Local campaigns are rolled in Campaigns with Performance Max at some point in the year.
Google is testing an Announcement tab on Google’s Search Console: Last week, Schwartz spotted a new announcement tab at the top of the Google Search Console user interface. However, it didn’t appear to be working at the moment (nothing was happening when he clicked it). The announcement bar offers three kinds of announcements according to the degree of nature of the statement: informational announcement or announcement of minor issues, as well as a significant announcement about issues. Google’s John Mueller has since clarified that the announcement bar was “a test on our side… that shouldn’t have been visible externally.” In any event, Schwartz believes Google will use this announcement bar to convey Google Search issues directly to the site’s owners. We’ll likely be waiting until the feature becomes live.
