The 2022 Not-So-SEO Checklist

Google and other SEOs around the globe had a busy year in 2021. Although the search engine giant is constantly improving, there were some significant changes in the past year that digital marketers should be aware of. Google is always looking for ways to improve user experience.

User experience was the main topic of the year. The Page Experience update in June, which was spread over several months, notably the Core Web Vitals.

Hundreds of thousands of words were posted on the internet describing how to make websites conform to the new standards.

Mobile-friendliness has become more important than ever. Core Web Vitals might be the new ranking factor for web pages that more inexperienced SEOs are now considering.

It’s possible some misinformation has sprung up about SEO in 2022.

I’m going to dispel some myths about Google’s larger and more mainstream 2021 updates.

Here it is, the not-so SEO checklist for 2022. These are the three things you should not do.

1. Core Web Vitals (CWV), should not be prioritized above quality content

It is no secret that Google’s Web Vitals will be among the elements you want to optimize for your website in 2022.

The Core Web Vitals, which are located at the intersection of SEO and web development, are the measures of your website’s largest and most important contentful paints, first input display and cumulative layout shift.

These are the pages that load the fastest and allow users to interact with the site within a matter of milliseconds. According to logic, the user experience on your site will suffer if it takes longer to load.

This information is not new. Page speed is something we all know and how it impacts SEO. We all know how important it is for your Core Web Vitals to perform well on mobile. Mobile is where 60% of Google search queries originate.

Google considers its Core Web Vitals to be ranking factors. You can now search for a CWV report using Google Search Console, and see CWV metrics in PageSpeedInsights results. This is mobile-only until February 2022 when the desktop metrics will roll out.

It is clear that Core Web Vitals should be at top of your 2022 SEO-optimization list.

Google has made it clear that publishing great content is more important than having a top-shelf website experience. SEO is still all about content. Ranking factors include being useful and answering questions.

It is a common misconception that Google won’t rank you well if your Core Web Vitals are in good, solid places.

It is possible to have it all, however. You’ll perform better in search engines if you have excellent web content and strong Core Web Vitals.

Develop a detailed content marketing strategy first.

2. Do not assume that your affiliate product-review website is in trouble

A 2021 Google update might have led to another misconception: affiliate sites, particularly product-review sites were in serious trouble after the April Product Reviews update.

Google wanted to make sure that the update prioritizes in-depth product reviews over spammy reviews. Also, this update is similar to organic search in that higher-quality content will win.

There was a time when an affiliate site with low-quality product reviews and shady business practices made money. This is now over, as Google’s April 2020 product reviews update has killed that.

Long-form, detailed reviews are now prioritized by Google’s search engine. This is because it generates trust from users. These are the types and types of affiliate content that will benefit from Google’s new update. Spammy sites will remain at the bottom of the search engine results.

We can forget the notion that honest and hardworking affiliate product reviewers would be affected by the update.

If you’re presenting useful and relevant information to users, your ranking may have risen since April 2021.

3. Google won’t rewrite your entire title list.

Last misconception: Google will rewrite all title tags on pages after its August 2021 title-rewrite initiative.

Let’s start with some explanation. Many of you may recall that in August, SEOs in the industry noticed page titles being rewritten.

Google admitted that it did rewrite page titles but only when it felt they were not appropriate for the user experience. Google deemed junky title tags those that contained keywords, too long, boilerplate, or were just plain wrong.

SEOs noticed that even though the title tags appeared to be SEO-optimized, they were being rewritten and sometimes the titles weren’t derived directly from the original title. Google started doing this in 2012 and would sometimes use semantics to rewrite titles to make them more descriptive or simply better.

In some cases, Google’s new titles were created from H1 text or body text.

Google recognized these efforts as a great way to improve the user experience while searching.

There were many SEOs who didn’t see it this way. This is especially true considering that Google’s Google rewrites sometimes caused traffic drops .

To be blunt, the SEO community was in turmoil over the changes. Google even explained the change to the public a second time a month later in September 2021.

Google stated in that blog post that it uses marketers’ title tags 87% of the time, up from only 80% in August. The remaining 13 percent would be rewritten to improve.

• 
  too-short titles,
  
• 
  Old titles,
  
• 
  boilerplate titles.
  
• 
  and incorrect titles
  

Now, let’s get to the point: It is a common misconception that you are wasting time writing title tags after 2021.

Google doesn’t want to rewrite title tags. This was clearly stated in its September blog post.

Google expects you to create high-quality page titles that are informative, truthful and useful. Google will not give you the title you need.

Google will clean up your website if you include keywords or boilerplate titles. You may not like the results.

SEO title tags are crucial. Do not think your efforts are in vain because of the 2021 changes. You will be fine if you focus on creating title tags that are meaningful for users.

Moving forward

In 2022, it is possible to fall for the three myths I have discussed here.

Google is now asking if Core Web Vitals and quality affiliate links are important. They are, you can bet. These matters are not difficult for SEOs to approach, but they do need to be smart. Every Google Search Central task is designed with the user in mind.

Optimize your Core Web Vitals but keep quality content creation top of mind.

Create an affiliate marketing website, but make sure that the reviews are helpful.

Write amazing SEO title tags that Google won’t mind rewriting.

These guidelines will only benefit you for the next year.

Kris Jones, the former CEO of digital marketing network Pepperjam and the founder of its affiliate network, is now selling it to eBay Enterprises. Kris Jones founded LSEO.com, a software and SEO company. He has also previously invested in many successful technology companies. Kris is a skilled public speaker. He is also the author of ‘Search-Engine Optimization: Your Visual Blueprint for Effective Internet Marketing‘ which is one of the most popular SEO books. It has been sold close to 100,000 copies.

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Search Engine Watch’s post, The not-so SEO checklist for 2022 appeared originally on Search Engine Watch.