In today’s tech-driven world, it’s already considered a disservice if your business doesn’t have an online presence. But having an ‘online presence’ doesn’t only mean building a website or creating a social media page.
For your company to harness the power of the Internet, you must apply the latest SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and digital marketing trends.
Take note that even if the Internet can pull in many potential clients, the competition is continuously rising. Thankfully, this is where digital marketing and SEO come into the picture.
With the proper digital marketing and SEO techniques, you can rest assured that you’ll have a competitive edge against your competitors.
Additionally, the strategies contained in both of these factors enable your business to communicate with search engines, like Google, allowing you to prove that your digital footprint and its content are worthy of being on the first pages of their results.
Keep in mind that it’s rare for a customer to go to a search engine’s second result to find some solutions to their questions. Hence, by applying SEO and digital marketing strategies, you get to rank your website higher, which translates to a higher chance of being discovered by potential customers.
SEO and digital marketing trends of 2022
Search engines, particularly Google, constantly change their metrics and standards to determine which site should be placed on their first pages. This means that SEO trends are also regularly changing; what may have been an effective strategy last year may already be obsolete this year.
Moreover, suppose you constantly rely on old trends, especially since sometimes keeping up with new ones can be overwhelming.
In that case, your business’s ranking may suffer, which could also be the demise of your company. Thus, regardless of its challenges, ensure that your online marketing strategies are always up-to-date.
To help you out, check these SEO and digital marketing trends this 2022:
1. Guest posting
Guest posting is still a strong and efficient SEO strategy to employ this 2022. In fact, 64.6 per cent of companies reported that guest posting was more successful in 2021 than in previous years.
And they believe that guest posting SEO will still play a huge role in their digital marketing success this 2022. (1)
Guest posting remains a popular marketing strategy mainly because it’s a highly effective and cheap way of boosting brand visibility and building your site’s authority.
Moreover, most digital marketers agree that the success behind guest posting lies in its ability to bolster your brand’s position in any search engine, thanks to its ability to incorporate backlinks back to your site.
Reputable Guest Post services create guest post content with the following points in mind:
Having a clear strategy: Like all marketing strategies, you must have a detailed plan, whether offline or online. Without one, you may waste your time posting blogs that won’t affect your ranking. Thus, before starting your guest post-campaign, identify any critical areas of growth you want to focus on, search for relevant landing pages, and, most importantly, know the right keywords to use.
Reaching out to high-authority blogs: If you’re planning to have a large guest posting campaign, it’ll be effective to place a single post on each high-authority site you can find. High-authority websites are those that receive the most traffic. If you want to spread your campaign further, you may place one posting on lower authority sites. But make sure to post two or three guest posts on high-quality sites.
Creating high-quality guest posts: Both search engines and audiences know if your guest posts contain ‘spammy links.’ These are the ones connected to low quality links or from low authority sites. In fact, Google has been keeping an eye on these types of links ever since 2012, as the content no longer has the user in mind. That’s why most readers are already wise when spotting spammy or clickbait content.
With that said, it’s vital that your guest post offers something valuable to the reader. This means that the information of your content should be presented clearly – arguments are logically explained, and any concepts should be clarified. Consequently, a high-quality guest post also reflects your brand’s professionalism.
2. EAT matters
As hinted above, your content should be of ‘high quality.’ This doesn’t only refer to guest posting. All of your content including everything on your website should follow the EAT principle – which stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.
Again, a piece of high-quality content or has the concept of EAT will improve your relationship with your readers. Here’s a quick breakdown of what each acronym represents:
Expertise: This refers to your content’s capacity to explain and simplify any relevant topic that’ll engage the readers. To achieve this, figure out what your audience wants, which can be done through research. Then, deliver content through guest posting or a blog on your website that answers the targeted user’s queries in a non-condescending manner.
Authority: This now comes when people or satisfied customers associate a topic, product or service with your brand. If your site is mentioned or linked in other blogs, Google will consider your company as an authority in the subject. This will translate you to higher rankings.
Trustworthiness: Trustworthiness is essentially the overall product of EAT, as it means that your company is indeed what you advertised. Your brand’s trustworthiness can be seen through positive online reviews, the presence of terms and conditions pages, a secure web domain and a clear refund and return policy.
3. Featured snippets
Even if you can easily find an answer on the Internet nowadays, most, if not all, consumers want to know the answers to their queries quickly.
Featured snippets are pieces of information that Google provides in their search result. In addition, Google will choose the most relevant content based on a user’s query, and the search engine will feature it on their top page. Hence, you’ll be on their first page, as your content is more relevant.
Thus, the featured snippet’s major benefit is increased traffic. Additionally, having a featured snippet will also bring more prestige to your brand. This is because Google considers your content a credible source.
To increase your chances of having a featured snippet, ensure that your content will immediately answer a search query. For instance, if you want a featured snippet with the key search phrase ‘how do refrigerators work?’, your content may have the title ‘How Do Refrigerators Work?’ or ‘A Guide On How Refrigerators Work.’
Also, make sure that your content will immediately provide a simple summary of the article’s answer in the first sentence, and then the content should expound on the answer.
A study shows that 29 per cent of search queries trigger featured snippets that start with question-based words, like ‘can,’ ‘do,’ and ‘why.’ Out of the three, ‘why’ questions trigger the most snippets.
Furthermore, ‘why’ questions are reported to have a 77.6 per cent chance of returning a featured snippet.
4. Voice searches
Research shows that 71 per cent of users would instead use voice search than type their queries. The high percentage is probably because of the rise of smart assistants, like Siri and Alexa, which provides consumers efficiency and convenience. Due to these smart assistants’ benefits, utilising voice search will significantly increase.
With that said, you should pay attention to how your site performs in voice-driven results. If your website isn’t optimised for voice search, then it’s safe to say that you’re missing out on potential leads and web traffic. Thus, ensure that your SEO strategies maximise the reach of those using both keyword and voice searches.
5. Video clips
The rising popularity of Youtube, Tiktok, and Instagram reels prove how essential video marketing will be this year and in years to come.
Video content isn’t only for younger viewers, either, since everyone will get their dose of socialisation through video clips, especially since watching clips has become more relaxing and convenient than reading content.
As of November 2012, 86 per cent of businesses have adopted video marketing, given that 94 per cent of consumers report that they watch a video first before purchasing or availing of a product or service, respectively.
Furthermore, video marketing also helps maintain clients. In fact, 93 per cent of customers said that videos are more valuable resources when it comes to knowing a product.
So, if you have a ‘how-to’ video, you’ll increase customer satisfaction, inviting them to keep coming back. Bear in mind that increasing short attention spans means that your clips must be quick and straight to the point.
6. Fast loading times
Speaking of short attention spans, a report states that 25 per cent of visitors abandon a website if it takes up to four seconds to fully load.
Additionally, a load time of around one to five seconds will increase your bounce rate to 90 per cent. However, improving your website’s loading time isn’t just for your visitors.
But speed is also a ranking factor. If a search engine’s web crawlers take a long time to reach your web page, they won’t stick too long.
Here are some easy ways to increase your website’s loading time:
Compress images: While images can improve the quality of your website, as much as possible, try to shorten the size of any high-resolution images you’re planning to include.
Note that you still want to make the images as clear as possible in any screen size. The idea is to lessen the storage space the images are taking to lighten the page and boost its the loading speed.
Remove pop-ups and ads: Pop-ups and ads can help monitise your website. However, if your website depends on these, the best thing you can do is to optimise them to have less impact on your site’s loading speed.
7. Local SEO
If your business has a physical or offline location, don’t skimp on optimising local SEO. This is especially important since users are now using ‘near me’ as part of their search phrases.
Hence, having a well-optimised GMB (Google My Business) listing with updated information is essential. Having one will enable customers to check for any updates regarding your site. They’ll also get to know any work hours alterations you may have, browse your products/services, and get your contact information.
Moreover, since Google is now supporting small local businesses to build their own digital presence, they included a ‘nearby’ filter on their shopping tab. So, having a local SEO will also help you target customers within your locality, which is convenient for you and your prospects, especially since they no longer have to worry about long shipping times.
8. Positive reviews
Why are reviews crucial in digital marketing? Why do reviews play an important factor when it comes to your business’s success? For one, nine out of ten consumers admit that they read reviews before purchasing a product.
Additionally, 79 per cent of shoppers trust online reviews more than personal recommendations. Thus, having plenty of positive online reviews will greatly influence customers to make a purchase. Positive reviews will also strengthen your brand’s credibility, helping expand your reach.
Of course, one of the best ways to receive positive reviews is to deliver high-quality products and services. You can also ask any satisfied customers to leave a review on your website. If any negative reviews are coming your way, make sure you immediately contact the unsatisfied customer and work on a deal with them.
Final words
With government regulations in place and the fact that plenty of people are embracing the convenience of online shopping, 2022 will be an important year for digital marketing.
As a business owner, you must stay ahead of the curve. To do so, keep the mentioned trends in mind and make sure you conduct enough research on a particular strategy before implementing it.
As a word of caution, since every business is different, keep in mind that a strategy may work for another company but won’t yield the same results as yours.
Still, don’t be discouraged if you haven’t seen positive results, especially since ranking high on search engine results and gathering plenty of prospects through any digital marketing techniques won’t happen overnight.
As long as you remain consistent with your efforts and continually monitor your metrics, you can rest assured that you won’t waste money on a trend that’s not generating the result you want.
This article was originally found here: Top 8 SEO and digital marketing trends of 2022 | The Canberra Times | Canberra, ACT
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