First up, we'd like to wish you a Happy very New Year and all the best for a wonderful 2022. The intention of this article is to help you focus on some possibly overlooked SEO pieces that could make all the difference to your performance this year.

For sure, the search landscape will grow even more competitive in 2022, so getting ahead, and staying ahead, is more important than ever.

Site Structure

Having a clear and intentional site structure has always been important. Undoubtedly, that will remain true this year. A good site structure helps Google to know which of your competing pages is the most important. Key content pieces need to be made prominent. You do this by linking.

Optimise Your Website Menu

Really think about how best to order and group your pages. Which pieces of content are the most important? What is the most logical way of structuring the site's pages? Sometimes it's helpful to use a mind map with this process.

The menubar links appear throughout the site and are therefore some of the most important clues for Google in terms of site structure.

Growing Importance of Structured Data

The emphasis Google gives structured data is only going up in 2022. Structured data is a way of describing your site to make it easier for search engines to understand. As well as being a potential threat if you ignore this issue, it is also an opportunity for you to get your site ahead of the pack and to make it easy for Google to rank you.

Maintain Your Content Quality

'Holistic' SEO means giving people what they expect, adding genuine value to your visitors' experience. So avoid spammy content, keyword stuffing with meaningless content and so on. You must expect your content to be read by an actual human, and to honour their time with good quality copy and presentation. Here's a great article from Neil Patel on how to write a blockbuster blog post in 45 minutes. And here's some inspiration for 7 Proven Blog Posts.

Video's Importance Will Hit New Highs in 2022

Video content and video SEO will both be super important in 2022. If you're not using video, it might surprise you at how easy, and cost-effective, it has become for businesses of all sizes to include it in their marketing mix. If you're new to video SEO, you can read a great article from Yoast here all about Video SEO.

Local SEO Matters More Than Ever

92% of users only chose businesses that are on the first page of local search results. So if you're not on the all-important page 1 of the SERPs (search engine results pages) forget about it!

Meanwhile, on mobile, queries like “near me,” “close buy,” and “where to buy” have seen 900% more growth in the past two years. In fact, 46% of all searches on Google are for a local business or local service. And, in order to find a local business, 86% of users rely on the internet.

SEO in 2022

Search engine optimisation has never been more crucial than it is now. As the competitive search landscape intensifies, more than ever, being on the crucial first page of results is everything. That's why it's important to choose your battles and make sure that you're investing your energy and resources in the projects that are likely to show the best results. Speaking to a professional SEO company such as Chaitanya Media can help you to avoid the pitfalls and seize the opportunities for your business that are out there.