5 SEO and Digital Marketing Trends to Master in 2022

There are always new and sometimes unexpected trends in the Search Engine Optimisation and Digital world every year. These changes often have a massive impact on the future of marketing. 2021 was indeed a tumultuous year, yet there’s always something to look forward to in the digital marketing trends in 2022.

So, without further ado, here are the top five trends we can expect in the coming year:

Market to Customers, Not the Search Engine

If you’re still trying to impress Google, you do not need anyone to tell you that you are way, way behind your game. Times have changed significantly, and so did the rules and the users. The key is simple: you only have to focus on your audience.

With more than a year of lockdowns all over the world, people have grown anxious and fatigued with the constant barrage of poor content on their feeds. Yes, you want your website and business to be recognised, but you cannot flood their pages with ads and campaigns that they don’t find interesting.

It’s time to take a leap and change how you interact with consumers. Here are some tips:

• Move to e-commerce. Don’t be afraid to get your business to the online space. Create your website and use it to showcase your products or talk about your services. These days, the first thing people do is pull out their phones and look up a product they want to buy. And when they search for a solution, you should be there in the search results.
• Be mindful of customer behaviours. People are now smarter as they look for quality yet affordable products and services. Promotional goods have become more attractive, as well as ethical practices.
• Remember that consumers have become increasingly selective. With so much media available for them to digest, one thing is for sure: their expectations are high. They will inspect and check what they will use, receive, and consume. Deliver their demands so you don’t get unfollowed.
• Aim to personalise. While it is good to have catch-all content, you want to provide something that appeals to specific people. Trying to come up with content that casts a wide net will not give you your desired results. And this should not be just about your content. You should make sure that your audience gets adverts at the right time and place, which helps improve engagement despite the oversaturated landscape.

These changes don’t just exist amongst businesses and consumers; it’s also happening to B2B transactions. A report showed that 75% of companies would rather interact with other companies online.

Related Article: Is SEO Still Worth It in 2021 and Beyond?

Focus on Social Media Marketing

In 2022 and perhaps in the next five years, social media will remain a dominant force in SEO and digital marketing. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok are just some of the platforms that you can use to reach out to millions of people, not only in Australia but the rest of the world. It may not be your goal to become world-famous, but that surely doesn’t hurt your business. In the meantime, here are some areas that you should pay attention to in social media marketing:

• Live Streaming: In today’s social media-focused world, chances are a considerable portion of your audience is on a specific platform all at the same time. Live streaming, when done at the right time and targeted towards the right people, can bring tons of benefits for your business, such as better brand recognition and boosted SEO rankings. It’s also less expensive than other forms of marketing and easier to capitalise on, especially when there are important events and holidays.
• Customer Interaction: Businesses have communicated with existing and potential customers for years. Conversational marketing is nothing new, but it has recently increased in popularity and usage. It’s not surprising that it will continue to grow on an even bigger scale. With the shift in consumer behaviours, people expect quick answers to their questions. Social media platforms are a great way to create meaningful conversations with consumers, allowing them to reach out to you and vice versa effortlessly.
• Platform Selection: With a dizzying array of platforms and websites, brands are forced to market across various social media channels to reach more users. But many now recognise the need to be a little selective when it comes to the platforms that allow them to connect to their intended audience. Marketers should understand which social media sites provide them with the proper exposure, particularly in messaging and improving consumer connection.

Social media marketing will indeed play a huge role in your 2022 SEO results. Reaching a new audience will be the main goal for most businesses as social advertising becomes more sophisticated than ever.

Take Advantage of the Powers of Content Marketing

Dramatic changes in people’s behaviours, especially in how they consume content, have driven content marketing through the roof. Users want instantaneous content, but at the same time, demand for it to be of quality and relevance. Rapid response is a must to maintain consumer trust. In line with this, here are other aspects of content marketing that you need to focus on:

• Understand consumer intent. There will be a renewed emphasis on what people search for and the whys behind their actions. You need to add this to your content marketing strategy so that you can plan and craft content that touches your intended audience.
• It’s all about directional data. 2022 is the year for smart content planning, where data-driven information is at the centre. Savvy marketers keep track of their performance to create a roadmap as they move forward.
• Content marketing should align with the rules. For your efforts to show results, they should be in line with Google’s guidelines. There is so much more in SEO than just the standard blue link results. By becoming aware of the numerous opportunities to appear on the first few pages of the search engine results, your business has a better chance at survival.

Content proliferation is key. Be warned: the challenge will be great in the coming months. There’s a call to increase content across various platforms, from video to visual to written content in mobile and social media networks. See what works and improve on what does not. At this point, it is clear that monitoring and insights will help reveal the needed changes to provide better content and experience to your customers.

Enhance Your Video Content

If there’s anything that we all witnessed in the past couple of years or so, it’s the increase in video consumption. YouTube has more than a billion users, a number that continues to grow. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram users all demand more video content. Any statistics that you see will show you that it is time to give your video strategy a lift.

Live videos, vlogs, and social media stories are useful in many ways, so take advantage of them whenever possible. They can show your brand personality while creating a connection with your audience. Be sure to incorporate SEO in your videos, which means that any video content should be optimised for search. How? It’s simple. Focus on the relevance of your videos to your audience by answering their questions, educating them on topics of importance that relate to your brand, and other similar tactics.

Next is to ensure consistency, just like with your SEO content. This simply means that you need to put out new videos frequently and publish them on your social media and website to increase traffic. And don’t forget technical optimisation, such as title tags, keywords, and thumbnail images. This is also a great time for you to respond to any comments, which help drive engagement.

Pay Attention to Core Web Vitals

Heavy focus on Core Web Vitals has started in May 2020 and will persist in 2022. Three main metrics have been included in these measurements, namely:

1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which is a metric used to assess user experience based on the loading speed of images, background images, and video poster images
2. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), which measures elements like text, buttons, banners, and other content that should all stay in place as the website loads
3. First Input Delay (FID), a metric for input latency that helps identify pages that may lead to user frustration

Core Web Vitals show the importance of optimising your website to ensure it provides an excellent user experience. Critical factors include quick loading of pages, easy mobile navigation, and enhanced response times. The more focused your site is in targeting the needs of the users, the better your SEO results will turn out to be.

Make 2022 Your Best Year Ever

And that’s your handy guide to the five SEO and digital marketing trends. Is your business ready for 2022? We’re here to help. Origin Digital will help keep on top of these trends to grow your business and stay competitive whilst securing customer loyalty not only in 2022 but in the years to come. Contact us today.