2021 is coming to a close and it has been another year of change. Google (as always) updated many algorithms. Twitter started Fleets and killed it again. LinkedIn started stories and killed it again. Third-party cookies being blocked by Chrome has been delayed until 2023. And who can forget Facebook’s announcement of the Metaverse and name change to Meta?
With the digital landscape constantly changing and so quickly, you would be a fool to make any predictions for 2022, wouldn’t you? Well… We are going to do it anyway, as we want to help you stay ahead of the curve.
(Mark Zuckerberg showing his ‘metaverse’ avatar during Connect 2021 Facebook)
SEO trends 2022
Core Web Vitals
Google’s user experience update around Core Web Vitals started to roll out in June 2021, showing us that Google not only wants to deliver the most relevant result based on the user’s search, but also wants to make sure that websites provide a great user experience. There will be updates to this algorithm and Google will develop new ways to measure user experience.
High-Quality Content
A key part of user experience will be the quality of content that the audience can consume, site-wide. Increasingly, we are seeing pages in Google Search Console that are discoverable but not indexed. This means making every page (including campaign landing pages) valuable.
GLO’s 2022 SEO Tip
If you want to win at SEO in 2022, make sure every page on your website gives a great user experience and provides genuine value to the people visiting those pages.
Rich Media Trends 2022
Google Lens
Websites that have unique images will be rewarded in search results. Google Lens is tech that Google has on all of its Pixel phones and is connected to image search, discover, and shopping results. More and more, we are seeing images pulled into the main search results, not just the images or shopping results. Google understands what users want when they search and can offer richer content as a result.
Google Ads Image Extensions
Likewise, Google Ads is encouraging image extensions to help text ads look more appealing, pointing to the importance of images in 2022.
Metaverse
Similarly, Facebook’s announcement of the Metaverse (which will be highly reliant on rich media), means that now is the time to make sure you are also producing regular video content for your business.
Youtube
Make sure that you are using unique images and video on your website, that you have a YouTube channel, and that content is tagged correctly to help the search engine understand what the content is about.
Email Marketing
Email marketing has had its ups and downs over the years. At first, response rates were high, but over time this declined as the medium was abused and our inboxes became saturated with messages trying to sell us products and services.
End of third party cookies
With the end of third party cookies (in 2023), and search engines and social media platforms constantly changing their algorithms, one of the few constants you can control in your marketing armoury is your first-party data (email addresses, telephone number etc).
Audience Segmentation
There will be more companies turning to email marketing in 2022, so you need to make sure that your content stands out and is better than your competitors. One way to do this is to understand your audience and segment it. Deliver personalised content about what is important to them; make sure your emails bring your audience value and are not just constant sales messages.
Google Shopping
Free listings
When Google Shopping started back in 2002, it was free; it was a way to get more products on Google and take market share back from Amazon. As it became more popular, it then turned into a pay per click only option. In 2020, Google decided to change this back to free (for some placements) in the UK.
Surfaces Across Google
With Surfaces across Google, it’s possible for Shopping results to appear in search, Shopping, Maps, Images, and Lens. We have already mentioned the importance of images and Google Lens in 2022, so if you sell products online, make sure you set up your Google Merchant Centre now.
Social Media
TikTok
Before the 2020 lockdown, most people hadn’t even heard of TikTok, but the perfect storm of isolation and fun, low-quality, vertically-shot video to popular music caused it to become one of the most downloaded apps of all time.
Now, we all know what TikTok is and despite Facebook/Instagram’s attempts to take audience share back with the release of Reels, it continues to be one of the biggest and fastest-growing social platforms, with 1 billion monthly active users.
We remember having conversations with businesses about Facebook and being told, I don’t need to be on Facebook, we are having the same conversations about TikTok today…
It’s a place to grow an audience and share your brand, values and business journey. You don’t need to be funny, able to dance, or to know about popular music – it’s a place to be real and raw.
GLO’s Social Media Tip for 2022
In 2022, more businesses will be adding TikTok to their social media marketing. We advise you to get there before it’s too noisy. And remember, if you are advertising on the platform, make TikToks, NOT ads.
Request a Callback
Are you already applying all of these trends to your digital marketing strategy for 2022? Request a callback or schedule a free digital marketing consultation to get free advice about how you can make the most out of your digital marketing budget for 2022.