The most challenging aspect of SEO is its adaptability. Every year, Google’s algorithm is tweaked 500-600 times. This assures that at least one update is made every day of the year. Even SEO professionals who have dedicated their entire careers to determining rank criteria are left scratching their heads at the end of the day.

It’s impossible to keep up with everything that’s going on. Don’t waste your time with it. However, if you stay current on some of the top trends and SEO methods for 2022, you’ll be one step ahead of the competition. We know that 75% of searchers never get beyond the first page of results. To stay on, it’s vital to figure out how to prevent these algorithm changes.

To keep you on the first page of Google’s SERP, Here are 10 smart Google SEO Tips for 2022.

Understanding a site’s web core vitals

Google defines core web vitals as a set of metrics that assess speed, responsiveness, and visual stability.

How do you measure it now that you know what you’re looking for? Many of Google’s existing tools have been upgraded to include core web vitals measurement functionality. Each of these tools generates reports that provide information and insights about the health of your critical web metrics. Consider investing some time on each of these platforms familiarising yourself with these reports and considering how you might be able to improve your scores before the new page experience update goes live.

Google Passage Ranking

In October 2020, Google introduced what they call Passage ranking, in which discrete passages on web pages can be ranked alongside the complete page itself. What does this have to do with your ranking? This means that Google can extract parts of a page even if the page is about a different topic from the one presented in the SERP.

It’s as simple as crafting an easy-to-read blog piece and offering a user-friendly experience to optimize for Google Passage. Your major goal should be to create different divisions within postings. Use keywords as section headings as much as possible. In these sections, your content should be succinct and focused on the subtopic at hand. Think of it as a blog post within a blog post. These sections should always be relevant to your main topic, but they should also make contextual sense if they stand alone.

Featured Snippets

In 2022, featured snippets should be a part of your strategy. Featured snippets, also known as the holy grail of search, appear in a rectangular box at the very top of the SERP page in position zero.

You cannot determine which content appears in a featured snippet, but you can optimise your content to increase its chances of appearing in a highlighted snippet. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Long-Term Search Terms –

According to SEMrush, the longer the phrases in a search query, the more probable it will create a highlighted snippet. Only 4.3 percent of single-word keywords were highlighted, compared to 17 percent of 5-word phrases and 55.5 percent of 10-word keywords.

Use Questionnaires –

Any content you create should be built with the user’s goal in mind. Users typically employ enquiries in the form of questions when searching Google. As a result, creating material with these questions and answers in mind will place you in a better position to earn more featured snippets.

When formatting, use caution –

There are four types of highlighted snippet formats: text, list, table, and video. Keep these several formats in mind while you create your content. Remember the goal of a featured snippet as well. Google attempts to give information in a clear and simple manner to searchers looking for a quick solution. As a result, format for the skimming reader.

That is not to say that longer pieces of text cannot be included in your postings; just make sure they come after your featured snippet definition. This should be succinct, to the point, and to the point only.

EAT principle

EAT is an acronym that stands for experience, authority, and reliability. It is simply a barometer of your company’s online reputation. Google prefers well-known, credible, and trustworthy sites over new ones.

If your industry is more saturated than others, you may be wondering how you will compete against major corporations or well-known brand names.

Don’t be afraid to begin slowly. Certain efforts can be taken to establish your brand’s authority, integrity, and reputation. Here are a couple such examples:

• Customers should be asked to leave favourable reviews on reputable websites such as Yelp, the Better Business Bureau, Amazon, or Google.

• Obtain high-quality links from relevant industry websites.

• Participate in public forums and encourage people to mention you.

• To demonstrate EAT on your website, use testimonials, case studies, reviews, and other forms of social proof.

Use of Long tail keywords

With each algorithm improvement, Google’s search engine becomes more complex. Google now claims that it can understand relevant subtopics of a given search. For example, if you search “home workout equipment,” Google now recognizes that “affordable equipment,” “quality options,” and “tight space ideas” are relevant subtopics, and SERPs will provide a more diverse set of results.

What does this mean in terms of SEO? Shorter tail keywords will have a lot more competition. When you examine website rankings for the relevant term and maybe related terms, you’ll have a better chance of finding your domain on the first page if you employ long-tail keywords or more specific keywords with three words or more.

Create New Content

When you publish new material, you have the opportunity to immediately optimize for today’s SEO best practices. Take note of page names, content headers, subheads, image alt text, and the new keywords you want to target.

Users consider new content to be more valuable than older stuff. When people are seeking a solution to a question, they typically look at the date to determine if it is current. People will quickly go on to the next search results if your posts all contain out-of-date dates and material.

Finally, freshness is a separate ranking factor. The more you publish, the more frequently Google indexes your pages and the better your content ranks.

Update Your Old Content

As you create new content, don’t forget to go back into relevant old content and add links to these new postings. This tells Google that there is a link between the two pages, which allows Google to index your new pages faster while also helping your posts rank higher in related search results.

Use images for SEO

To begin, make sure that any images you include are of high quality and relevant to your phrase. Users should be able to tell what your material is about just by looking at it.

Image alt tags are also very important. This is a text-based alternative to images that search engines utilize to help connect keywords with your image. In addition, if your image does not load, this is what the user sees in the top left corner. Include crucial information and keywords as needed while writing your alt text. However, avoid keyword cramming. If it doesn’t make sense to add a keyword, don’t include it. As a result, Google may consider this spam and penalise your site.

Backlinking

Backlinks are a critical component of establishing brand authority. And we’ve already determined that in 2022, competence, authority, and integrity will be more valued than ever. When a well-known authority site links back to your site, your EAT factor rises, and Google sees your site as a viable solution for searchers.

It’s impossible to stay on top of every Google algorithm upgrade. Therefore, The Social Lions can help you out with SEO services to make sure that your site stays on the first page of Search Engine Result Page.