2022 Search Marketing Predictions for Therapists + Counselors
Hi friends! Welcome to the first ever SEO predictions podcast episode.
I’m kind of excited about this one since I’m hoping it inspired you take more ownership of your Search Marketing in 2022 and also try out some new things as well.
Listen to this episode below:
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So, why 2022 predictions you might be wondering?
One of the things I find most fascinating about Search Marketing is how quickly it evolves and how there are so many things happening at once. It really keep you on your toes. At the same time, there are are some foundational principles that are fairly solid at that we can go back to time and time again.
I hope this blog post and podcast episode inspire you to really take ownership of your Search Marketing this year, especially for those of you who have some big business goals (I see you friend!).
Ready for some predictions? Let’s go!
Prediction #1) Focus on understanding longer-term and more complex queries
In the past few years, Google has made some incredible advanced in AI and language processing, including MUM. In my view, this is good news for business owners since it allows them to write more freely (or humanly) instead of focusing on keyword stuffing (which is an old practice anyway) .
This year, I think Google will be continuing to invest in this technology, being able to underst more complex searches (that ask multiple things at once), as well as voice search.
Why do we care? Impacting longer and more complex queries can be exciting, especially if we are spending a lot of time creating long form blog posts that have many different sections and information.
Prediction #2) Expansion of the knowledge graph
The knowledge graph allows us to show different entity information on businesses and people.
Taken from Wikipedia, here’s a definition of the knowledge graph:
“The Google Knowledge Graph is a knowledge base used by Google and its services to enhance its search engine's results with information gathered from a variety of sources.”
This accenture article also has some great information about the knowledge graph: https://www.accenture.com/us-en/blogs/search-and-content-analytics-blog/enterprise-search-knowledge-graphs
Right now this is a feature that comes up in the Search results on the right side but I feel like the information here is going to spread to other parts of the search results and be used in other ways.
My prediction here is that the knowledge graph is not only going to be used in new ways, but it will also give businesses fresh options for how to get featured in the Search Results.
Why we care? This continued push to showing EAT (or Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) for all medical practitioners and showing Google our profiles from other websites is another piece of the puzzle for how we get ranked. Showing our authority is important, especially since we are impacting people’s lives with the information we share on mental health.
Which leads me to my final prediction…
Prediction #3) More of SERP features
We’ve already seen may developments from last year on how the SERPs are more engaging with different options. SERP stands for Search Engine Results Page and is all the options we have to get featured on Google.
Some examples are:
Featured Snippet
Reviews
Videos
Top Stories
People Also Ask
Check out this Semrush article with a full list of all the featured snippets currently available (there are quite a few!): https://www.semrush.com/blog/serp-features-guide/
It’s important to note that Google is always balancing between keeping people engaged in the search results, as well as allowing business owners to get traffic directly from the search results pages.
Why we care?
Being aware of and taking advantage of each of these SERP features is important, especially as Therapists and Counselors.
For example, getting featured in a “Featured Snippet” or that immediate answer you see at the top, can bring a lot of authority to our websites.
Staying on top of the different variations of SERP features can serve our business, using the tools that Google gives us to feature our business.
Now what? Time to take action!
Here are my recomendations for starting to action some of these predictions:
Start today! Wherever you are today with your website and blog don’t get stuck in perfectionism. Since SEO takes time, the sooner you get started, the faster you’ll start to have data to work with and measure your progress.
Gain awareness on what areas need more support. Since there are many moving parts to doing Search Marketing, that’s one of the reasons it can feel extra overwhelming. Doign an SEO audit to understand which area of your website and Search Marketing you want to focus on next to get faster traction.
Focus on one area at a time to get faster traction. Especially if you don’t have a team that can help you with this, it’s important not to get overwhelmed. Start with one part of your website that you can easily improve and go from there.
Excited about these predictions? Let me know in the comments below what you think about what’s coming up in 2022.
Sources:
In this conversation, Cinthia Pacheco and Jen Vasquez discuss various aspects of SEO, focusing on site migration, canonical issues, content management, and keyword optimization.