Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
(The more things change, the more they stay the same.)
SEO is alive and thriving in 2022! And… all SEO trends I see show this continuing into the foreseeable future. As long people search for things using the Internet, SEO will play a key role. So yes, for you, the small business owner, you must pay attention to it.
Now I don’t mean that ‘you’ need to become some SEO guru… although there likely will be some things pointed out here that you may be able to tackle yourself. But, you need to know enough about it to orchestrate it for your business. Don’t just blindly hand the keys over on this one folks.
So, in the blog post that follows, we’ll explore current SEO trends and suggest action items to consider.
Remember, this advice is aimed at small business owners, not SEO gurus!
Let’s dig in.
❶ Refine Your Keyword Strategy: Think Concepts
Keywords have always been part of SEO and likely always will. However, with the massive proliferation of content on the Internet, keyword SEO has evolved. It had to.
The days of keyword stuffing on your web pages are long gone. As are the days of using the same keyword repeatedly around your website.
Ranking your website for specific keywords has become much more difficult… again, primarily because of the sheer amount of content on the Internet in your subject matter. Therefore, it would be best if you had a proper SEO strategy.
So, how do you approach this without climbing into too much techie stuff here? Aim to ‘own’ concepts… own a specific topic… a specific problem you solve for a specific audience. Sounds daunting… I know… I get it. However, let me emphasize our recommended approach with a funny joke.
Two guys are hiking in the woods when all of a sudden they run into a bear. They both start running for their lives as the bear gives chase. But then, one of them stops to put on his running shoes.
His friend in complete bewilderment screams, "Come on man... let's go! What are you doing? You can't outrun a bear!"
In which his friend calmly replies, "I don't have to outrun the bear; I only have to outrun you!"
Funny hah?!
See the connection here?
You don’t need to outrun the bear (in this case, the Google’s of the world). You need to do better than your competition.
So your keyword strategy needs to be about creating and refining content that positions you as the authority on a specific concept.
Yes, it would help if you did some research on what search phrases people are using these days. Pretty easy to do. Just go to Google and start typing in one of your keywords. Google will immediately begin showing you samples of what others are searching for.
Pretty cool, hah?!
So what’s your keyword strategy? What concept(s) do you want to own?
This leads us squarely into the next continuing trend.
❷ Content Is Still King... With A Caveat
In the early days of the Internet, the search engines seemed to clamor for more and more content… many times regardless of the quality. So what did we do? We continuously fed ‘the beast.’ And it worked!
Fast forward to today… not happening. Instead, inadequate and/or thin content is seen for what it is and not rewarded by showing up high in the search results.
When it comes to content on your website, the SEO trend is to focus on the ‘fewer, better’ content.
So yes… create more comprehensive, highly SEO optimized content that positions you as an authority in your subject matter. Provide how-to’s… checklists… answer FAQs… etc. Showcase your expertise and solutions. Strut your stuff!
Yes… clear the marketing clutter. Put a plan to rid your site of dated, thin, off-topic, or flat-out lousy content. Leaving this stuff hanging around likely weakens your ability to rank.
And yes, spread the high-octane content across multiple mediums, your website, social media, and the preferred format of your target market: video, audio… or the written word.
❸ Strong Brands Bubble Up To The Top
We are talking about brand authority here folks. Yes, strong online brands do tend to bubble up to the top of the search results. And why not… they likely are putting in the work to outrun their competition. Remember the bear joke?
The great part here is the previously identified SEO trends really play into strengthening your brand. The formula here (while maintaining the philosophy of ‘fewer, better’ content:
Consistently placing the right content in the right format on the right mediums. Then, make that content highly consumable, and it will be consumed… linked to… and shared. This is good!
This generates the social signals and social proof that the search engines (and your audience) use to determine your prowess. Remember it’s one thing if you tell me you are the best at what you do, it’s quite another if someone I respect and trust tells me such.
So you can spend all this time creating epic, targeted content, search engine optimizing the ‘you-know-what’ out of it and still not get the respect and love you feel you deserve.
Hmmm… what’s going on here?
Just walk around any public place. People’s eyeballs are glued to their phones. To the search engines, this equates to cash!
Please keep a close pulse on this one as it will continue to evolve in the years ahead.
For now, though, there are a few actions you can take to get in the game here.
Make sure your website is 100% mobile-friendly… it should be designed with a mobile-first approach and tested on a multitude of the most common devices (phones, tablets, and desktops).
Make sure your website is fast! Website speed can really put a damper on the user experience. The search engines know this and act based on it.. so speed it up!
Final Thoughts on What SEO Trends To Expect In 2022
So in closing, remember the quote by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr cited above, “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” Which in English translates to “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” This has been the case with SEO for small businesses for the most part. Many of the white-hat ranking factors that worked years ago still matter today, such as:
- Backlinks from other relevant and reputable websites,
- A proper Internal Linking Strategy throughout your website,
- An excellent website User Experience,
- Low Bounce Rates,
- Online Reviews
- etc.
As SEO continues to evolve, how we go about accomplishing those things has to evolve as well. We, as small businesses, need to keep pace with the SEO trends of today.
Doing nothing, although a choice, is not a viable option… that is, of course, assuming you would like to stay in business.
Don’t worry, though… nothing to fear here. SEO won’t bite. Remember that excellently executing a simple SEO strategy can bear huge fruit!
You got this!
Want More On SEO Trends?
Want to have some fun? Check out the original SEO trends video I recorded back in 2014 on the subject. For the most part, it’s just as relevant today as it was back then… except for maybe references to some online services that may no longer exist.
