Future of SEO in 2022: SEO Trends to Know
SEO is constantly evolving, and to be successful with your SEO strategies, you need to stay on top of the latest trends in order to ensure your content strategies are effective. Search Engine Optimization is extremely critical to attract consumers to your online platform. If you are still relying on SEO strategies and tactics that you’ve used for years, it’s probably time to evolve to better understand the environment today.
Many of the older strategies aren’t as effective in the landscape of SEO today, and some of these strategies can even negatively impact SEO. This is why it is imperative that you continue to adapt to the future SEO trends. To ensure that you will be able to make the most significant impact in 2022, here are the future SEO trends.
Shift to Long-Form Content
In order to create relevant content and a strong digital content strategy that captivates website visitors, you will need to shift to a long-form content strategy. Long-form content has proven to be the most popular, drawing in the most traffic and shares compared to short-term content. Long-form content is about 3000 words or even more. By moving your focus to developing quality, long-form content can greatly improve your search rankings. Long-form content does, however, need to keep the reader engaged to be successful, which is a lot more challenging with more words.
So how are you supposed to keep readers engaged? To accomplish this, it is very important to break your content up into sub-sections, utilizing H2 and H3 subheadings that make your content easily skimmable and scannable. You want to eliminate big chunks of text that is usually pretty intimidating for readers to look at, especially if readers are viewing your blogs on a small screen. The goal is to basically make your readers browse through the article. It should also be very easy to share with a clear call-to-action which will improve your SEO even further. To do this, include sharing links that are easy to follow with a click of a button.
Accomplishing this task isn’t easy, and many companies tend to hire a high-quality content writing service to develop this long-form style content.
Refining page speed
Page speed is one of the biggest factors in successful SEO and determines core web vitals. More and more users are using the Internet on their smartphones or laptops. Therefore, it has become very important that businesses provide a fast and seamless website experience. Google recently launched its Core Web Vitals as its newest ranking factors. This new technology analyzes how long it takes for the largest element to load, how long it takes for elements on the page to respond to clicks, and how many elements move on the page while it loads.
Google is basically looking at how long it takes for users to start interacting with your business’s content once they land on the site. Since page speed will be a prominent factor in site rankings, it is essential to audit your page speed often. By consistently checking your page speed, you will be able to implement any needed updates and avoid feeling overwhelmed if your page speed is dragging your content down.
Artificial Intelligence Will Play a Bigger Role in SEO
Artificial intelligence, otherwise known as AI, is continuing to change how users interact with content online. Because of this, artificial intelligence will play a large role in how to create relevant content strategies and future SEO trends. AI will begin to dictate how content is ranked in the future. A prime example of this is Google’s AI algorithm that is called RankBrain, which is set to become the most important ranking factor in Google’s search engine results pages in 2022. This new release from Google left many wondering how their SEO would be affected. What is the best way to cater your SEO strategy to work with this new artificial intelligence algorithm?
Google hasn’t shared a lot of details yet on how RankBrain exactly works, but it seems that user experience is one of the most defining factors in ranking content. The amount of time visitors spend on your website and the click-through rate will be telltale signs of how RankBrain will prioritize your content. This means that it is critical that you develop extremely well organized and helpful content for your users so that they are left captivated and engaged, and therefore the click-through rate and time spent on your website will increase.
Mobile-Friendliness is Critical
Now more than ever, it is very important to make sure your content is mobile-friendly. According to Google, it is a large ranking factor and has been since 2015. Today, it is best to optimize your content for mobile devices as it is the most prominent way of looking at content online for users. Google even rolled out mobile-first indexing back in 2019, which basically means that the search engine prioritizes the mobile version of a website when it ranks the content in order. The primary version is the mobile version over the desktop version, as it is estimated that 75% of internet users access the internet solely through mobile devices.
Google makes it very easy to figure out if your mobile site is effective with its free mobile friendly test. This test will help you figure out what issues you should fix with your mobile site, which will help you rank higher. Tools like these are extremely helpful in fixing mobile user issues that could be negatively impacting your SEO. You need to ensure that your mobile content is optimized to be successful in creating a mobile friendly site.
Future SEO Trends Should Include Video
Video is so prominent in effective SEO. Online video platforms have become increasingly popular over the last couple of years and will continue to become more and more popular. If you haven’t already, you should develop an SEO strategy that incorporates some kind of video aspect. Many businesses have already begun using platforms like TikTok and YouTube to involve consumers and users. Voice search has even become a popular way of searching for content online, and appealing to these future SEO trends will give you success in your SEO strategy.
By developing optimized video content, you can have a successful and effective SEO strategy moving forward. To optimize your content, you can focus on the video channel description by adding an overview that is user-friendly to your video content. Don’t necessarily cram your video descriptions with a bunch of words, but a few user specific keywords or even hashtags can help push your content to its intended audience.
First-party data hub with SEO traffic
Companies like Google are beginning to retire the third-party cookies, which means that it is crucial for businesses to build out their first-party data hubs. By building out first-party data hubs, your company will be able to obtain and create tailored marketing initiatives to drive company revenue without relying on cookies. Search will play a significant role in building the data hubs as your business can create its online presence through search engine optimization. Then, you can utilize those attracted users and turn them into leads using email newsletters, remarketing techniques, and other digital marketing initiatives.
With cookies coming to an end, it is essential not to wait to develop your first-party data hub, as it will play a massive role in the success of your SEO strategy.
Fulfilling Google’s EAT Principle
Google continuously emphasizes that content quality is crucial for successful ranking, and this won’t change for future SEO trends. Many are still left wondering what exactly quality content means and how to achieve it. The easiest way to improve the quality of your content to match SEO strategy is to follow the EAT principle, which stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. According to Google, these factors determine a web page’s quality, and businesses need to be aware of how to utilize these effectively while developing their content.
The biggest thing you can think of while creating quality content is thinking about the user. Who is the user, and what are they looking for? What is the user search intent? Who would most likely be your target audience? This will help you better understand what kind of content you should be creating to appeal to your target audience’s values. By fully understanding exactly what your target consumer is looking for, you will develop content that is intriguing to your readers and will encourage more clicks. Don’t forget to also focus on the trustworthiness aspect of your content by backing up your facts with reputable sources.
Successful SEO in 2022
By following these future SEO trends, you will be set up to have a successful search engine optimization strategy. Ensuring that your content is thoughtful and beneficial to the user while creating a seamless and simple user experience will bring you more traffic in 2022.
WiRe Innovation is a Proud Five-Star Agency on Clutch
Now more than ever, client satisfaction plays an integral role in helping businesses and service providers establish credibility. Anyone can market and consistently post what they can offer, but having your clients speak for your work is priceless. That’s why we at WiRe Innovation are extremely proud to be a five-star rated company on one of the go-to review platforms for business services, IT, and marketing.
WiRe Innovation is a Minnesota-based, full-service digital agency that provides a plethora of services that will help you conquer your market. We love to call ourselves jacks-of-all-trades and a one-stop-shop for web development, design, search engine optimization, marketing consultation, and more.
Established in 2016, our company is filled with fresh ideas and new perspectives that help drive profitability and sustainable growth.
We genuinely value our clients’ success because we believe that their satisfaction is the greatest trophy for us. It is with absolute pride that we share one of our most recent reviews on Clutch.
Formidable SEO Players
Located in the heart of Washington DC, Clutch is an independent B2B review and market research platform dedicated to the IT, marketing, and business services sectors. Clutch is home to a huge collection of client reviews, agency rankings, and data-driven content geared towards helping clients learn more about B2B spaces.
Earlier last month, an analyst from Clutch conducted an interview with Doug Thompson, the CEO and President of TEAM IM, an information management company. TEAM IM enlisted our services back in January 2018 and our relationship is ongoing. In his review, Thompson provides an overview of our services and illustrates the magnitude of our impact.
According to our client, the WiRe Innovation team helped improve their SEO performance significantly. Prior to our engagement, they barely had any concrete SEO strategies, and now, they are able to convert their users. When asked about what was the most impressive thing about our engagement, this was what they had to say:
“They’ve dramatically improved our rankings and have increased our brand visibility by enabling our products and company to secure first-page rankings on Google. The number of customers coming to our site and submitting our forms has been substantial as well, leading to an increase in our traffic.” — Doug Thompson, CEO and President, TEAM IM
Another client we have worked with since October 2019 is SunOpta. SunOpta is focused on helping make the planet and its people healthier through plant-based foods & beverages, organic ingredients, and organic foods & beverages. They hired us for website updates and redesign. Rob Duchscher, Chief Information Officer of SunOpta said, “Not only have they’ve recreated our website and made it mobile-friendly, but they’ve also put our site on the map. They have increased our traffic substantially compared to our old site. Korey’s firm is quite knowledgeable from an SEO standpoint and our site’s analytics reflect this in the number of clicks we are receiving. ”
We are so humbled and grateful for these amazing words. Creating positive outcomes for our clients and seeing how happy they are with our services motivates us to work harder and keep improving.
TEAM IM and SunOpta are just two of our many satisfied clients! If you are curious about what our other clients say, visit our profile on Clutch to learn more about our past projects.
The entire WiRe Innovation team sends their utmost appreciation to all our clients. Their support and trust allow us to keep doing what we do best.
Speaking of what we do best, WiRe Innovation also ranked highly on Top Design Firms, a new B2B website that compiles insightful information for browsers. According to their team’s findings, our company is among the top 100 search engine optimization companies for 2021!
This is wonderful news! We are excited to see more opportunities and unlock more milestones moving forward.
Let’s talk about innovation. Bring us your challenges, and let’s collaborate to create amazing solutions! Reach out to our team to get started. Send us a message, and we can discover new pathways to success together!
Top 6 Web Design Trends for 2021
The right web design determines the first impression that your business makes in the digital world. This enhances trust and increases your entire online footprint. Using the right web design trends can make all of this so much easier. Now, these trends constantly evolve to meet the conditions set by the ever-evolving market. As the online community and the web design industry landscape grows, people get saturated by the available offer, making them look for designs that stand out. Here are some trends that are expected to be huge in 2021.
Dark Mode
As most people browse the internet in the darkness, high screen brightness is quite unpleasant. This is why dark mode is one of the most logical trends in website design. This is a low-light user interface that usually comes in either black or a darker shade of grey. It is specifically designed to avoid putting strain on the user’s eyesight. For websites that use long-form content, this difference is even easier to notice.
Another major perk of this concept is that it increases visibility. This way, the designer can get away with smaller front sizes and have a greater selection of font styles. An increased number of black pixels in these web design trends ensures lower battery use. This makes it into both user-friendly and even eco-friendly (indirectly) trends.
Greater Use of Whitespace
The main reason whitespace is so important for all the 2020 website design trends is that it’s both aesthetic and pragmatic. Whitespace is not necessarily white; instead, it’s the term used to signify all the empty space on a page. For this reason, it can be combined with the above-discussed dark mode and any other trend on this list. Since every new element adds a HTTP request to your page, using more whitespace can make your page load time quicker. This is just one of many ways to make your page more responsive.
By closely following practices of some of the top digital agencies, it seems that both designers and developers greatly benefit from the use of whitespace in design. The key thing is that they’re both on the same page regarding this new website design. Before the project starts, they need to discuss the HTML-to-text ratio, the margins, and several additional (purely technical) issues.
As far as the advantages of whitespace go, the first and foremost one is the increased content legibility. The site itself appears tidier, and it’s much easier to draw attention towards the CTA button. It helps separate elements which otherwise might be quite hard to distinguish between. Simply put, it makes a web design easier to digest.
Oversized Elements in Web Design Trends
The use of oversized lettering is vital for headers, body copy, navigation, call-to-action, and banners. When used correctly, it can draw attention and maintain a longer connection with your audience. Some web designers agree that the use of oversized letters can sometimes completely replace images. Since images are more resource-intensive than these letters, the entire website becomes significantly faster.
Oversized letters and elements in general aren’t something you can use in every scenario. While oversized images do have their place in modern web design, using them on every page might be seen as overkill. The use of bold, oversized fonts on a page filled with images will make them seem out of place.
Remember that you want your website to be mobile-friendly, which is why a larger font could help with readability. In fact, one could argue that mobile-friendliness is an integral part of the anatomy of a perfect homepage design. Just make sure to focus on the font ratio for different screen sizes. All 2020 website design trends emphasize mobile-friendliness, and not much has changed in 2021.
Minimalist Navigation
In order to be effective, navigation needs to be simple and intuitive. In theory, it would be quite effective to allow everyone to find the exact page they’re looking for from your homepage. The problem is that with large sites, vendors with numerous categories, or those offering multiple services, this would overcrowd the homepage, making it look messy. It would also make it take forever to load, which is a disaster of its kind. This is why keeping navigation systems minimal is one of the hottest trending website designs in 2021.
With fewer options to choose from, it’s more likely that people will make a choice. This results in a higher CTR (click-through-rate) on the page. One study from 2006 showed that when presented with 24 options, people are ten times less likely to actually decide than when faced with only six options. In other words, this type of indecisiveness grows exponentially, and minimalist navigation can help you out.
Retro Touch
The majority of current website design trends is adding a retro touch to your web layout. Nostalgia is a powerful tool in the hands of a skilled marketer, but how far back in the past are we talking about here? For most people, the ‘good old era of the internet’ is the early 2000s.
Sure, people only remember the good stuff which is why they forget how ill-optimized and clunky the use of the internet was in the past. Still, we’re not talking about a full-retro design but a retro touch. In other words, we’re talking about web design styles and not techniques. A font from back in the day is more than enough to take the majority of users down memory lane. Evoking this kind of sentiment in one’s target audience is invaluable.
Augmented Reality (AR)
One of the primary roles of web design is to be immersive, and it doesn’t get any more immersive than AR. Some may argue that VR takes it even one step further, but they forget one major technical problem with this technology. VR requires a headset that the majority of people still do not possess. AR on the other hand, simply requires a user to have a smartphone or a webcam.
Web design trends in 2021 are supposed to be tech-savvy, and AR is the embodiment of this idea. In some industries like fashion and retail in general, this technology and its features may turn out to be completely game-changing.
In Conclusion
While the landscape of the web design industry may be ever-changing, there are some trends that are either evergreen or more resilient than others. So, in 2021 we can expect a crossover between innovative website design and tried and tested old-school methods. To be classified as good (or efficient), the design needs to be both aesthetic and functional, and the above-listed six ideas check both of these boxes.
If you want to combine functionality and aesthetics – you know who will be in charge of reWiRing these two. Make sure to schedule a meeting, and we will make the design work for you!
FAQ:
What are web design trends in 2021?
Dominant trends in 2021 web design need to be both aesthetic and pragmatic. Minimalist navigation, dark mode, better whitespace management, and oversized fonts are just some examples. Anything that results in a simpler, sleeker design, as well as a better user experience, will keep going strong throughout the year.
Is Web Design Dead 2021?
Professional web design is not dead in 2021, nor are there any indications of it slowing down anytime soon. It increases revenue, boosts credibility, enables better SEO ranking, and creates a strong first impression for all its users. As long as all these benefits are present, web design will remain a high priority.
What is the future of website design?
Technologies like AI-based analytical tools and big data will control the future of website design. Most of the time, even the users have no idea why they feel stronger about some designs than others. This is because a lot of this decision-making process happens on a subconscious level. With the help of a large enough number of test subjects and sophisticated analytical tools, we may finally be closer to getting the answers we lack.
What are the latest trends in website design and development?
Some of the latest trends in web design are retro fonts and augmented reality experiences. Like dark mode, oversized fonts, etc., the rest have been dominant for quite a while now. Still, there are always some tweaks that can subsequently introduce massive changes to the industry.
What makes a good website in 2021?
A good website in 2021 is responsive, mobile-friendly, and fully functional. The aesthetics are important for making a great first impression, but the functionality always comes to the forefront. Intuitiveness and resource-friendliness are two relevant factors to keep an eye out for.
What Makes a Good Website Design 2021?
Great web design trends are those that make an excellent first impression on their target audience. This is either achieved through intuitiveness of design (minimalist navigation, oversized fonts), by offering something new and unique (AR), or through the sense of nostalgia (retro design). While some may label this entire category as something subjective, it’s a fact that some trends give consistent results.
Anatomy of the perfect website and attractive homepage today: Stats, facts, and a survival guide
Are websites still a thing today? The answer is yes, yes, and a million times more yes. Websites are important in so many different ways, especially now in the COVID-19 aftermath. A great website is an interactive business card that can help you build trust, establish your online presence, and convert.
What we are about to witness is the rapid expansion of E-Commerce sales and websites continuing to complete their way to the top. We will let Google be the judge of who wins that race.
But it is not a typical race that is just a flatline from start to finish – well, you will be surprised by that rollercoaster, to say the least.
What makes a good homepage design?
Building a website and positioning it on the market is a rollercoaster ride. You collect your achievements and try to find a balance between what your users want to see and what Google wants to see. It looks easy, but don’t let the SEO and web development team fool you because it is far from easy.
Giving your brand a voice and helping the users get a better picture of your products and services are ways we can assist you.
So what is crucial for your website anatomy today? Well, everything. Lucky that you stumbled upon our piece because we will give you useful insights into what we found important about crafting an effective website.
Now let’s see some numbers to back us up!
Our top picks for the most intriguing website statistics
- Be quick or be stagnant: one of the most important website elements is site speed. It takes only 50 milliseconds for a user to form an opinion about your website. So, provide the content that will make users engaged. A certain amount of content, precise information distributed, and eye-candy visuals.
- Mobile-first, please! Believe it or not, the websites that switched to mobile-first increased their sales by 68%.
- The attraction gives traction – 38% of the users will immediately stop browsing if the layout of the website is unattractive. Beauty goes only skin deep on the internet!
- Currently, there are 543 million active websites and 6.3 billion Google searches per day.
- 4.13% of all websites have valid HTML and CSS. Web development indeed works in the most mysterious ways.
The goal of a homepage
People will often say that the main purpose of your website is to sell… or lead you to a place where the sale will happen.
But that is just the one dimensional way to look at the mission of an amazing website. Your website is there to educate.
To entertain. To inspire.
Having an immersive and responsive website could help the users find the right information, make a quick purchase, and most importantly come back for more! It is not enough to make a website, put it online, and just leave it that way. Websites should always be in a state of constant changes and updates, keeping up with the latest trends.
Wasted potential to connect with your audience
Imagine that you want to make a purchase and find yourself on some strange website with a design from the 90s and navigation that even the Pirates of the Caribbean will scratch their heads. Of course, we are exaggerating but you will be amazed at how many people are unaware of their online potential. Especially in small businesses.
In 2017 almost half of the small businesses didn’t have their own website. We guess that no one faxed them the memo that websites are much more affordable nowadays.
Statistics have also shown that websites can help you build trust by utilizing web design. It takes approximately 10 seconds for the user to decide if it is going to trust your mission. Almost 95% of users won’t trust outdated and/or plain websites.
In the post-Covid 19 era, digital transformation accelerated tremendously. Since quarantine took its toll, a lot of users are looking for more of a personalized approach which leads to the importance of finding your voice, speaking your message clearly, and understanding the specific needs of your target audience. Strategically positioning personalized CTAs could increase the conversions.
What are the main ingredients of an awesome website?
If we dissect the website anatomy we will see that the key elements remain:
- Loading speed is the main factor. The longer it takes to load, the later you are to show your audience your products.
- Mobile-friendly design. Almost half of the world’s traffic comes from mobile devices.
- Responsive design and simple interface. No one likes to be stuck in a maze of links or confusing menus popping up from everywhere.
- User experience. Users will easily find something better if you don’t grab their attention instantly. They will be the best judges if things are working out great.
- Content that could be easily digested. Forget about large chunks of text and forget about large images. Think in the form of video production, image positioning, and about longer yet well-formatted content.
- The color palette that ties together the entire website. Believe it or not, blue is the color. There is just something calming and trusting about the blue color, so don’t feel blue because no one visits your website. Paint it blue and see what is happening.
With these in mind, you can think about a redesign, starting a website from scratch, or do a rebranding. Chances are endless and it will not break your bank but instead could provide a quick return on your investment.
What can we expect from the web design evolution in the near future?
We already mentioned finding your voice, but what do you think about optimizing for voice search? Imagine driving home from work and remembering that it is your anniversary at the last minute. You are in a rush and getting anxious about not wanting to disappoint your significant other for those unique presents you still need to get.
Alexa would be here to remind users about their wedding anniversary but if your website is optimized for a voice search, it is most likely that Alexa would probably find you and make that perfect match. It is also great for local and small businesses – help your users find you.
So, local flavor and global reach. Spice up with some tasty content ideas and speed up your way to the top.