Whether you are a marketer or a business owner running your own website, you have already heard the phrase “content is king.” In the world of SEO and digital marketing, that is true. Content is not just text, however. It is video, images, audio, and all other formats that can be added to a web page. Understanding what formats convert better is key to boosting your own conversions. Today, we will be focusing on the crucial content marketing trends you need to consider this year.

Target Niche, Long-Tail Keywords

When you are first starting out in SEO, it can be easy to want to focus on keywords that have the greatest number of monthly searches. Unless you are the most authoritative website in your niche/industry, that might not yield the results you want. Instead, you have better chances at ranking and boosting your traffic by targeting niche-specific, long-tail keywords.

Repurpose Content

This doesn’t mean copying an article you published on your blog and pasting it into a directory or your social media. What you can do is repurpose that blog and turn it into a visual minigraphic, summarize it into a tweet, or even a short video for your Instagram account. You have many options! Keep in mind, however, that different platforms call for a different engagement approach.

Understand Consumer Intent

Before you create any type of content, always ask yourself, “what does my prospect want when they type [keyword] into Google?” If Google has made one thing obvious, it is this — the top-performing pages are those that understand consumer intent and have content that is useful, relative, and tailored to meet that particular need.

To get an in-depth understanding of all trends this year, check out our 2022 Content Marketing Guide.

The world of digital marketing and Search Engine Optimization is always changing. It is consumers’ shifting needs and behaviors that drive that change, and it is evident in the way Google continues to adapt its ranking algorithm. If you want to prosper in 2022 and beyond, you need to know what is happening in the industry and what SEO trends to follow. Here are some of the most important ones you need to consider this year!

1. Passage Ranking

As a small business or a newcomer, it can be difficult to rank an entire page for a particular keyword. However, Google’s passage indexing, which was first introduced in late 2020, offers you an opportunity to rank for a specific excerpt of a page instead of the entire page. To increase your chances of ranking, make sure to use proper headings (with your target keyword/s in them), to-the-point language, quality visuals, and original content.

2. Voice Search

By 2022, nearly 55% of American households will have at least one smart speaker. This means that more and more people will be using voice search to look for products and services. To meet that growing demand, Google introduces its latest update, called LaMDA.

LaMDA stands for Language Model for Dialogue Applications, and its goal is to offer better and more wholesome results to voice searches. We are yet to see how this update will affect search queries on a global scale, and how voice search will evolve in time.

3. The Role of AI Intensifies

If Google’s latest AI-powered updates (LaMDA, MUM, Shopping Graph, etc.) can teach us anything, it is that the search engine is primarily focusing on leveraging AI to improve user experience. The best way to use this to your advantage is to follow Google’s best practices as they are the guiding principles behind its ranking algorithm. Keep in mind that these practices are not a constant value, and they adapt as the algorithm evolves.

To learn more about upcoming trends and important statistics, check our Complete SEO Trends in 2022 Guide!