Looking Back to 2021: SEO Lessons to Learn
SEO is not a static tool; it constantly changes from time to time. The strategies that might work last year may not be relevant today, although there are still things that stay the same after years. Reflecting on the past makes you more aware of which SEO strategy runs well and which one runs, such that you won’t make the same mistake twice. To make the best of your company’s digital marketing initiatives this year, here are some SEO lessons to learn from 2021.
Improvement on Spam Handling
In 2021, Google introduced a number of key spam upgrades. The first set was released on June 23 and June 28, with no influence on rankings. The deployment of a Search Spam Algorithm Update has been verified by Google. On the 23rd, part one of the Search Spam Update was issued and completely rolled out, with part two coming on the 28th. This change has a huge influence on online and picture searches all across the world. Some users reported seeing spammy websites being indexed and appearing higher in search results, which might have been a bug caused by the adjustments.
Passage Ranking
Google’s ability to narrow down on a single passage inside a page to assist results pages giving nuanced responses to narrow inquiries is known as passage ranking. According to Cathy Edwards, Google’s VP of Engineering, this change impacts 7% of all search inquiries. First announced in 2020, Passage Ranking made its debut in February 2021. Instead of rating lengthy information, Google delivers a passage from it that contains all of the information searchers need. Remember that Google does not rate passages; instead, it ranks web pages. The search bots, on the other hand, got more sophisticated and were able to interpret the information completely.
This Google update is an indexing adjustment, not a ranking algorithm change. Simply put, it has nothing to do with the quality of your website and everything to do with how Google shows the search results. Lengthy content and sites that were not completely optimized will benefit from this upgrade. According to Google’s Martin Splitt, many websites have good content but may not be effectively optimized, and Passage Ranking tries to solve that. It extracts relevant bits of text from these websites.
What to Anticipate in 2022
Here are some things to anticipate if you want to maximize your website’s SEO this year.
1 . SERP Improvement by Google
People will see an increase in SERP elements, including advertising. More SERP elements will be added to the results to make them more dynamic and engaging. This does, however, indicate that Google will use a lot more of this area for advertising. In many situations nowadays, you probably cannot find an organic listing above the break. Instead, you will have to scroll down through all of the advertisements at the top, any of the information panels on the side, the highlighted snippet, and the ‘People Also Ask’ to see the organic listings. To increase exposure in the SERPs, both SEO specialists and marketers will need to collaborate.
2 . Emphasis on EAT
In 2022, the threshold for websites to verify their E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) will continue to rise as a method of ensuring transparency among searchers. Google will place a greater emphasis on this element. You have fewer opportunities than ever before to trick Google. Instead of using SEO ‘cheats’, you should focus on building a trustworthy brand. It really is a long process that takes a lot of time and effort, but it pays off in the long run.
3 . AI Optimization
It is not new that AI is extensively utilized for routine tasks online nowadays. This year, more and more businesses are upgrading their SEO efforts by adding AI into their search strategy by using predictive analytics data. Based on recent purchases, browsing history, and other criteria, predictive analytics data examines what individuals are most likely to be interested in looking at and buying in the future. Historical data may help you in optimizing your website for SEO ahead of time, providing you an edge when search engines completely crawl and record this information on your site. Being able to foresee client purchase behavior and prepare for such trends ahead of your competitors might offer you a significant competitive edge.
Closing
Google is continuously working to better adapt to changing customer requirements, and these modifications are to be embraced. This forces businesses to stay relevant for their content; write the greatest material on the web, pay close attention to long-tail keywords, and focus on writing for humans, not search bots. Provide your target audience with a more natural experience. Keyword stuffing, artificial links, and spamming comments are no longer acceptable, as in 2022, it is time to focus on what your audience needs; good quality content.