(Washington Insider Magazine) – Fact Check: Does SEO Help Businesses in 2022?
SEO is a popular digital marketing technique that businesses use to increase their visibility online, especially ahead of the upcoming economic downturn. However, with the new technical advancements in 2022, many marketers question whether it’s still a relevant practice and marketing investment.
Looking to grow your business? Read on to see if SEO tools and strategies are necessary in 2022.
What is SEO?
SEO (search engine optimization) is the practice of increasing a website’s visibility so that it appears more in search.
Search engines like Google use algorithms to ensure users get more relevant results.
Over the years, marketing experts have identified methods to ensure that their content appears in searches, which can increase brand visibility, engagement, and conversion rates.
Why do people think that optimization isn’t relevant in 2022?
There are several reasons why people think that this style of marketing is no longer needed in 2022.
The main reason is that they aren’t seeing immediate success. If you have struggled with this, the likely reason why you aren’t seeing success is because of changes to Google’s SEO preferences.
Here’s a run down of SEO changes to be aware of so that you can get the most out of your small business’ strategy? :
Algorithm changes and updates
Search engine algorithms are consistently changing to improve user experience. Because of this, understanding algorithm updates is critical to success as updates impact rankings.
Google regularly shares some information about updates and ranking factors, requiring marketers to stay up to date with the latest SEO trends for maximum business benefit.
The most recent Google Algorithm change was in May of 2022.
Before, Google used the BERT model (Bi-directional Encoder Representations from Transformers). BERT is a machine learning technique that helps computers decode vague language. Now, Google uses MUM – otherwise known as a Multitask United Model. The MUM model utilizes powerful AI tools to provide a more targeted user experience based on intent, connecting you with your next helpful search in seconds.
MUM is so powerful that it can analyze content in over 75 languages in mere seconds. It also is trained to understand more nuanced search intent, as well as user feelings and behavior.
Not understanding their target audience
The introduction of the MUM model means that it’s important that your content addresses search intent. Your content also needs to empathize with where your searcher will be in their “journey” to conversion. However, you can’t do this without understanding your target audience.
How does this impact SEO success? It’s simple: You won’t be able to identify the right keywords by not knowing who your target audience is.
Keywords are phrases that your audience is searching for in search engines. They can be long (i.e. a full question) or short fragments of a sentence. If you are targeting the wrong keywords you’ll attract the wrong type of people. This will result in a high bounce rate and a lack of conversions. You may also be de-ranked in Google’s algorithm.
So, is SEO still relevant in 2022?
To answer this question, we need to look at the trends and data.
Here are some examples of emerging SEO trends and how they are impacting SEO strategies:
- Optimize videos by creating key moments – Google’s answer to TikTok and Reels
- Voice search – according to HubSpot, 44% of all users in the US use voice search
- UX – UX is now a ranking signal Google uses. Ensure that you have quick loading speed, strong visual stability, and interactivity (response time). View all UX ranking factors here
Final thoughts
SEO is as relevant as ever in 2022. But emerging trends such as voice take will overtake classic SEO tactics. Remember to update your strategy to ensure that your SEO strategy succeeds.
