SEO is an ever-changing beast. An algorithm upgrade puts a hitch in your plan when you think you know exactly what Google is looking for.
So, what’s one to do?
While algorithm adjustments and enhancements will continue, some tried-and-true SEO strategies will remain in use. By implementing these strategies on your site, you can improve your odds of rankings while also future-proofing your website against Google’s inevitable changes.
Read on to find out the tips to achieve SEO success with Google in 2022.
On-Page SEO Tips:
If you’re new to SEO, focusing your efforts on on-page SEO tactics is a great place to start.
Longtail keywords should be targeted:
Long-tail keywords are longer and more specific than the usual target keywords. They usually have lower search volume than shorter keywords, but they can be very useful. Long-tail keywords show you why users make a particular search and not just what they are looking for.
A recent study found that 91.8 percent of all searches are for long-tail keywords. This is a big change from the early days of the internet.
An example of a long-tail keyword is “how to rank on Google.” This is opposed to a short-tail keyword such as “Google ranking.”
Add long-tail keywords to your content with these tips:
1. Make a list of the blog subjects you’d like to discuss.
2. Use a keyword research tool to enter the most general phrase/title of each topic
3. Identify long-tail keywords with a high search volume and low competition/CPC that are connected to your chosen themes
4. Reduce the number of terms on your list to those that have a high search intent. If you’re a credit card company, for example, and one of your themes is “how to open a credit card for the first time,” a long-tail keyword you could target is “how to open a credit card for the first time.”
Use Keywords in Alt Text for Images
Alt text, also known as alternative text, is a brief description of the image. It is still a significant Google ranking element, according to MozCast, with more than a 20% impact on results.
As the internet becomes more accessible, so does Google’s algorithm. This means that accessible websites will be prioritized over their non-accessible counterparts. After all, the more accessible a site the more potential for traffic.
Tips for using keywords in alt text:
1. Think about the image first and write a description to match it.
2. Make sure your description gives a natural description of the image. Don’t be too complex.
3. Think of ways to incorporate your target or secondary keywords in the alt image text.
Use Keywords in Headers
Just as a table of contents provides context to users, keywords placed in headers can do the same for search engine bots.
While 36 percent of SEO experts think headlines are important, this doesn’t mean forcing keywords to fit if they don’t make sense.
Tips for using keywords in headers:
1. Select the target keyword of your post to include in the headers.
2. Plug the keyword into a keyword research tool to find other variations of it.
3. Use the keyword and its variations in your headers as often as you can (aim for at least 40 percent of headers).
Focus on Great User Experience
You must consider your users’ experience from beginning to end, in addition to keywords and content. When ranking your website, Google considers a number of variables, one of which is the amount of time spent on the page (or dwell time). If visitors leave your page within seconds of visiting, this tells Google that it isn’t the material they are seeking for.
Tips on how to make an excellent user experience:
1. Make sure the information and visuals you’re using for each term match the search intent.
2. At the top of the page, provide the most important information.
3. Reduce picture sizes to reduce web page loading times.
4. Clean up the clutter like redundant content and don’t use any distracting images or fonts
Include different Media Types
Beyond images, media can also include audio files, videos, ebooks, and GIFs. These media types are meant to be engaged with and, as such, increase dwell time on your website as well as user experience.
According to Hubspot, videos are the #1 form of media used in most content strategies, overtaking blogs. 86 percent of businesses use video marketing as a tool to grow their business and, on the consumer side, 84 percent of people say that watching a brand’s video is what convinced them to buy a product or service.
Finding ways to incorporate videos and audio on your blog can be a great way to improve the user experience and increase dwell times on your site. You can get started by including small audio recordings in blog posts or short video clips that simplify difficult concepts.
Use Internal Links
More than 80 percent of SEOs believe that each blog post should include at least 2-5 internal links with most people spending equal amounts of time on their internal and external linking strategies.
When you link to internal content, you drive your users deeper into the site. This increases the odds of them having meaningful interactions with your content (e.g., leaving a comment on a blog post or sharing on social media), which in itself is beneficial to SERP rankings.
Tips for incorporating and leveraging internal links:
1. Choose pages with additional content that is relevant to the topic the user found you from.
2. Use anchor text that sounds natural and encourages users to click on to the next page.
3. Avoid using generic anchor texts such as “click here” or “read more”. More descriptive anchor text helps Google understand how to index your page.
4. As a rule of thumb, make sure the most important pages on your website are always three clicks or less away from the first page seen.
Whatever else changes about Google’s algorithm and SEO, one thing remains constant: relevant, high-quality material is always a good place to start. However, if you follow the SEO techniques outlined above, you’ll be able to achieve SEO success with Google in 2022. Why? Because these tactics aid in the improvement of your content for both visitors and crawl bots, resulting in a clean, engaging experience.
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