The Ultimate Guide to SEO Strategy in 2022

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, mastering Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial for businesses and website owners looking to stay ahead in 2022. With search engines continuously refining their algorithms and user behavior evolving, a solid SEO strategy has become more essential than ever. This comprehensive guide is your roadmap to understanding the latest SEO trends, best practices, and strategies that will not only boost your website's visibility but also help you achieve sustainable growth in the competitive online world of 2022. Whether you're a seasoned SEO professional or just getting started, this guide will equip you with the knowledge and tools you need to succeed in the dynamic realm of search engine optimization. Let's dive into the strategies that will define SEO success in 2022 and beyond.

SEO strategy (also referred to as "SEO approach") is a planned process involving the design and execution of steps to enhance organic search engine rankings.

In other words, an SEO strategy is a process you follow when you want to generate more organic traffic.

Here are the steps to create an SEO strategy in 2022:

1. Create a List of Keywords

   • Start by compiling a list of relevant keywords related to your content or business.

2. Analyze Google's Page One

   • Analyze the first page of Google search results for your chosen keywords to understand your competition.

3. Create Something Different or Better

   • Develop content that stands out from the competition, either by being different or offering superior value.

4. Add a Hook

   • Include an attention-grabbing element in your content that encourages engagement.

5. On-Page SEO Optimization

   • Optimize your content for on-page SEO factors, including meta titles, descriptions, headings, and image alt text.

6. Optimize for Search Intent

   • Ensure your content aligns with the search intent behind the keywords you're targeting.

7. Focus on Content Design

   • Pay attention to the design and formatting of your content to make it user-friendly and visually appealing.

8. Build Internal Links

   • Create internal links within your content to improve navigation and user experience on your website.

9. Enhance and Update Your Content

   • Continuously improve and update your content to keep it relevant and valuable.

Step One: Create a List of Keywords

Keyword research is usually the first step of any legitimate SEO strategy, and one of the best ways to find keywords that your target customers are searching for?

Google Suggestions

Start typing a keyword in Google's search bar, and Google generates a list of suggestions.

These usually make for good keywords for SEO because they come directly from Google.

(Which means you know people are actually searching for them.)

Plus, longer keywords (known as "long-tail keywords") have less competition compared to shorter keywords.

So even if longer keywords have relatively lower search volume, ranking for them is much easier.

We recommend typing in various different keywords into Google until you have a list of 10 keywords.

If you want to check the search volume for those phrases, you can use Google Trends.

Once you've noted down the 10 keywords, you're ready for step 2.

Step Two: Analyze Google's First Page

Alright, so you've found a few keywords.

Now it's time to see who's already ranking for those keywords.

To do this, simply type one of the keywords you found into Google.

And make note of any patterns you notice.

For example, on search pages, you might see that the top results have titles that include a list of numbers.

So, if you want to cover that topic on your site, you'll need to note that most of the first-page results are made up of list posts.

And you probably want to publish a list post on your blog.

Step Three: Create Something Different or Better

Now it's time to create high-quality, exceptional content.

When it comes to SEO content, you have two options:

Option #1: You can create something different.

Option #2: You can create something better.

Sometimes you want to create something bigger and better than what's already out there. (This is known as the skyscraper technique.)

But sometimes you're better off with something completely different.

Why?

Because it helps your content stand out.

For example:

A while ago, I decided to write some optimized content about "link building in SEO."

And I noticed that the first page of Google was full of list posts, like "X ways to optimize and build links for your site."

Now:

I could've created a bigger list post, like "30 ways to build links."

But that wouldn't make any sense.

Instead, I created something different.

Specifically, I published the ultimate guide to local link building in SEO.

Step Four: Add a Hook

If you want to improve your search engine rankings in 2022, you'll need to get backlinks (and a lot of them). In fact, according to a study by Stone Temple Consulting published on the Moz blog, backlinks are still strongly correlated with first-page Google rankings. This means they are still a major ranking factor for Google.

The question is: How do you do it?

Well, you need to figure out why people would link to specific content in your industry (also known as a "hook"). Then, incorporate that "hook" into your content.

Step Five: On-Page SEO Optimization

This step is about optimizing your content for SEO, specifically focusing on on-page SEO. On-page SEO encompasses much more than I can cover in one post, but here are three key on-page SEO techniques I recommend focusing on in 2022:

1. Internal Linking Yes, internal linking, and you need to do it right. Specifically, you want to link from high-authority web pages to pages that need more authority.

2. Short and Keyword-Rich URLs Our analysis of 11.8 million Google search results found something that surprised many people: when it comes to SEO, shorter URLs tend to outperform longer URLs. That's why I either make my URLs just my target keyword or my target keyword plus one more word.

Please note that these are just two of the five steps you mentioned. If you'd like me to continue with the next steps, please let me know.

Semantic SEO

Finally, I optimize my content for semantic SEO.

In other words:

I find words related to my target keyword and incorporate those terms into my content.

To do this, I type my target keyword into Google Images.

Please let me know if you'd like to continue with any more information or steps related to SEO or any other topic.

 Then, type the same target keyword into a regular Google search and go to the "Searches related to..." section. Finally, incorporate any relevant phrases you find into your content.

If you have any more questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask!

Step Six: Optimize for Search Intent

Let's explore this with an example. Suppose you have a blog post about increasing your website traffic, but it never made it to the top 5 search results for your target keyword. Why? Because it didn't align with the search intent for that keyword. To achieve the desired outcome from your content, you'll need to rewrite it to match the search intent of the target keyword.

Step Seven: Focus on Content Design

Design may be the most undervalued aspect of content marketing. You could have the best content ever written, but without an eye-catching design, it won't have much appeal. To make your content more engaging, consider using various visual elements such as:

• Graphs and charts
• Different types of images
• Videos

Step Eight: Build Links to Your Page

Now is the time to actively build links to your content. Specifically, we'll employ three link-building strategies that work well today:

1. Broken Link Building: Find a broken link on a website and offer your content as a replacement.

2. Competitive Analysis: Analyze competitors who rank for your target keyword and strive to acquire at least some of the same backlinks they have.

3. Outreach Method: This strategy is less about links and more about presenting your content to the right people. For example, if you want to promote a new technical study, email it to people who express interest in reviewing it. This can lead to dozens of shares.

Step Nine: Improve and Update Your Content

Review the content you've previously written. If there are new techniques or information you haven't covered, consider writing new content and incorporating screenshots and images from your old content into the new one.

In conclusion, you've read about our 9-step SEO strategy for 2022. Now, I'd like to hear from you:

• Which strategy from today's post have you implemented?
• Do you plan to refresh and relaunch older content?
• Or perhaps you're looking to try your hand at fixing broken links?