Search Engine Optimization is constantly changing, and it’s set to continue down that path even more. SEO changes are mostly based on the whims of Google, which leads to people asking every year if SEO is still relevant. The answer is yes, and it’s likely to become even more necessary as these changes go live.
Here are 3 changes (probably) coming to SEO in 2022
Google wants to understand you better and talk back to you
One major shift from Google going into 2022 is its next major algorithm. BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) was launched in 2019 to understand the context behind searches and the intent of the person performing the search. It featured Google’s use of voice assistant. But now it’s time for BERT to upgrade and emerge as MUM (Multitask United Model). MUM is estimated to be 1000x more powerful than BERT, able to analyze images, video, and text in 75 languages.
The idea is that users can find what they’re looking for in fewer total searches. MUM’s AI model aims to understand the user’s feelings, intent, and context to provide relevant answers. MUM allows users to search with multiple media inputs (for example, text and image) simultaneously.
Another change set to hit the SEO industry in 2022 is Google’s trying to talk to you, via LaMDA. We talked about how BERT and MUM added and will enhance how search is done by voice, but LaMDA wants to talk back to you. This machine-learning program is built for dialogue. It’s almost like a super-powered version of Siri and Google Assistant.
SEO and Core Web Vitals
A third change that’s looming over SEO services is a renewed focus regarding the on-page experience. Is your website missing an SSL certificate? Then you’ll probably see some major slides on keywords in your tracking software. Google wants to make sure as many of the websites its results show are as fast and secure as possible. Core Web Vitals make up the most prominent part of the page experience, so optimizing for speed is going to be huge.
The three main metrics that makeup CWV are: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) which measures how fast your site loads, First Input Delay (FID) which measures interactivity (delay between button press and action executed), and Cumulative Layout Shift, which measures visual stability. Core Web Vitals, mobile-friendliness, and use of HTTPS will blend together to impact rankings and ensure content is optimized. If you delayed going mobile-friendly or getting that SSL certificate, get it done as soon as possible. Google doesn’t want to wait for you and your SERPs will fall.
Connect with the world
SEO is changing. It always has, and always will. These things are not the only changes that we plan to see in 2022, but these are likely to have the biggest impact. Stay tuned for more!
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