5 SEO Predictions for 2022

What a year! Just like a Dickens novel: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. 

Published On: January 3, 20224 min readCategories: Blog, SEO

Throughout all the restrictions and social distancing, Google managed to become even more relevant in our everyday lives this past year.  Just like a little helper that provides us with exactly the kind of information and entertainment we need, Google stepped up to the plate. This kind of user experience is no accident though. Google puts a lot of effort, and thought into continually evolving its algorithm to improve the connection between search intent and the content that’s being delivered to the searcher. To stay competitive with your marketing you must pay close attention to changes Google makes. Your SEO strategy should constantly evolve and stay fresh and competitive in anticipation of these changes. In this article, we will look at 5 predicted changes that Google is likely to make in 2022.

Online Shopping

It is estimated that a little over 2.14 billion people worldwide will buy services or products online by the end of 2021. This is up from 1.66 billion in 2016. 

With this massive online shopping opportunity, Google will aggressively focus on challenging Amazon’s dominance in this space. They already laid the groundwork in 2021 by collaborating with Shopify and other similar shopping carts, pushing advertising around the holiday season about Google shopping, and expanding their voice search offering for shopping services. To make a success of this, however, Google will need to not only focus on an excellent purchase experience but also leverage their Search Engine Results Page (SERP) to allow users to buy directly from the SERP.

With the constant evolution of Google’s algorithm, in the future, you will need more than just the right keyword to rank high on Google’s SERP. Your content will need to take semantic search into consideration. Simply put, semantic search is a data search technique that tries to understand the context and intent behind the keywords of each search. This search technique allows Google to move the focus to the audience and help them find exactly what they are searching for even if they are not using the correct keywords for it. To capitalize on Semantic search, marketing specialists will have to make sure you answer the questions of your target audience as clearly and explicitly as possible. Make sure you implement structured data, like product price, rating, and images. All these elements help users and search engines understand what is on a page. 

A man searching on his laptop.

 As mentioned above; Voice search is a critical part of Google’s push to compete in the online shopping arena in 2022. With the launch of LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) a few years back, Google is continuing to evolve its understanding of dialogue to deliver results more efficiently. The current LaMDA method includes deciphering vernacular speech and how users speak to each other when trying to find what they need. To make the most of voice search, marketers should keep the following tips in mind:

Keep answers short

Keep your answers concise to deliver helpful information fast

Consider Vernacular

Different phrases are used in different regions for the same object.

Targeted phrasing

A verbal search question is sometimes phrased differently from a typed one.

No more Third-Party Cookies

I think it’s safe to say that the writing is on the wall for Third-Party Cookies. Internet browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Safari have already banned them outright, and Google is fast moving in that direction, although they announced a slight delay in plans from 2022 to 2023 recently. 

This coming year might be a good time to be proactive on this by making sure you construct first-party data hubs for your website. This will allow you to continue creating and presenting marketing initiatives that will drive revenue, no matter what browser your target audience is using. 

Verticalized recommendations and requirements

There is a clear indication that Google is ready to implement industry or content-type specific recommendations when publishing. Each category, for example, travel, news, recipes, etc. will have its own set of recommendations and requirements that will have to be adhered to in order to rank on Google’s Search Engine Results Page. In 2022 this is expected to become a big area of focus as Google tries to become more of a powerhouse within some of these categories where they have lost a bit of traction to other websites. An example of this is most notably Amazon in terms of especially product searches. 

 With the constant evolution of Google’s algorithm developing an effective SEO strategy for 2022 might feel like a daunting task. Having a dedicated SEO agency on your side to help you navigate all the pitfalls is always a good idea. NAV43 is a Marketing Agency that specializes in SEO strategy. Give us a call. Together we will ensure 2022 will turn out great in terms of SEO.