1.Diversity in Media Format
Blogs have traditionally been text based. But over the last few years, bloggers have been relying more and more on podcasts and videos to connect with their audiences. This trend will only grow stronger in 2021. Here’s a simple way you can get on board with this trend: make an audio recording of your article and then upload it to your website Blogging Trends as a podcast: your visitors will be able to either read your content or listen to an audio version of it. Some people much prefer listening to reading, so this is a great way to expand your audience. But don’t stop there! Once you have an audio version of your article, just add some Powerpoint slides to the audio and you have a YouTube video. That’s another way to expand your audience
2. Semantic SEO
Semantic SEO involves targeting topics, not keywords, by including semantically related phrases within your content. With AI and machine learning, search engine algorithms are no longer focused on keywords but on context. The algorithms look for patterns in the way words cluster together and they use those patterns to understand the topic of your content. Research your topic well before you begin writing and make sure that you are using all the key terms, synonyms, and related words that occur when people talk about that topic.
3. Topical Authority
As Google gets smarter about semantics, backlinks will start to play a smaller role in how algorithms determine relevance. Links from other websites will probably never go away, as a way of measuring relevance. But other factors will start playing a bigger role. Topical authority is already competing with backlinks as a ranking factor. More and more we’re seeing pages with low domain authority (DA) outranking pages with high DA, simply because those pages cover the topic in more depth and with more authority.
4. Internal Linking
Bloggers have traditionally been far more focused on earning external backlinks than in building internal links between the pages of their own website. But as topical authority becomes ever more important as an indication of relevance, internal linking will give you a critical advantage in ranking higher in the results. Use internal links to create topic clusters that demonstrate to search engines that your website has topical authority.
5. Featured Snippets
Ahrefs states “it looks like we’re now in the middle of the featured-snippet-geddon that “SEO astrologists” predicted more than 3 years ago”. Featured snippets first started appearing in the search results in 2017 and since then they’ve become an ever more important driver of clicks, search engine visibility, and brand building. And it looks like this trend will continue through 2021.
6. Number of People Blogging
The number of people blogging in the US has been steadily growing over the last 6 years and with the impact of the pandemic, this trend will continue in 2021. Image source: Statista
7. Blogging Platforms
This is a blogging trend that hasn’t changed for years and won’t be changing in 2021. WordPress is still far and away the most popular blogging platform. 60.6% of all websites with CMS use WordPress (W3Techs)
5.2 of websites with CMS use Joomla, the next most popular CMS after WordPress (W3Techs, 2019)
9. Blog Post Length
Torquemag reports that the average article in Position #1 on Google is just over 2450 words. A preference in the search results for long form content is what you would expect, given the emphasis on topical authority (it’s hard to cover a topic with much authority in less than 2000 words). So this is trend that’s going to stay with us in 2021.
AI Research
We’ve seen the power of AI-written articles, and with the advancement of AI research, we’ll most likely see a similar trend with blog posts as well. Alibaba, for example, has been using AI to generate news articles.
Its algorithm is able to identify trending topics and topics that need to be covered in the media and then generate the content accordingly. With these tools, Alibaba has already made AI-written blog posts a trending topic in recent years. This will likely increase soon as more companies are investing in AI research and demand for quality content will get even bigger.
Frase
My preferred AI research service is Frase.io. Frase offers a collection of AI-generated articles from a variety of topics like psychology, lifestyle, business, and so on.
Automated Marketing
One of the major reasons why AI writers and researchers are going to be in demand is automation. In an article by Forbes, John Rampton points out several benefits of using automation in digital marketing:
“Marketing automation makes small businesses more efficient and frees up time to focus on what’s important: building customer relationships.”
“Automation also saves time if you’re working with other services, like an email marketing tool or a social media management platform. “
“Automation frees up resources so that you can focus on higher-impact activities, like research, strategic planning, and quality content.”
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
The demand for automation is going to continue to grow in the coming years, and it’s not just for small companies anymore. Big companies are beginning to take advantage of automation as well. It’s not uncommon to see companies like Ford, Google, IBM, and even Walmart uses AI to write topics and articles for their company blog.
In essence, automation is going to become the new normal. I’m looking forward to seeing how all this plays out in the future.
To learn more about using automation and how you can seamlessly integrate artificial intelligence into your business.
Long-Form Content
Long-form content still seems to be the most effective, but many bloggers are playing with different types. You want to mix it up a little, but make sure it still has value to your readers. Some popular types of long-form content include ultimate guides, research-based articles, and best-of lists. Long-form content should be between 1200-5000 words approx., and use a contents page to help navigate your reader where necessary.
Infographics And Video
If you’re looking for a way to present detailed information or figures, infographics are trending at the moment. An infographic can easily be shared on social media and used for your backlinks. There are plenty of available tools online to help you create infographics.
Video content is still trending as the most engaging and effective. Wear branding material where possible in your videos. Get t-shirts with your logo, or even recycled tote bags, check out these at 4All Promos. You could deliver video tutorials on your blogs or create a mini-series.
Improve Accessibility
There are many ways bloggers are making an effort to be more accessible this year. Reach out to foreign language visitors by adding subtitles or translations. Take into consideration any readers who are visually impaired or hard of hearing. Even things like your color schemes might affect anyone with color blindness. There are several interesting guides online on making your blog more accessible in 2020, perhaps covering areas you previously hadn’t thought of.
Visual Content
There’s no doubt about it; visual content is on the rise. People actually realize the importance of visual content. Studies have shown that people can remember 65% of the visual content they’ve seen, even after three days. That’s a huge thing!
Visual content gives a boost to your brand’s visibility. As blogs are written longer with facts and other details, it sometimes becomes dull. Visual content allows readers to look at content without reading it. When you add videos and images to your content, it breaks up heavy chunks. The blog looks attractive and easy to read. It also makes your audience engage with your Blogging Trends content more.
Mobile-First Format
There can be numerous blogging trends, but mobile-first formatting is here to stay. Nowadays, everyone prefers reading online using their phones. Whether reading news articles from Facebook or swiping up blogs on Instagram, readers constantly surf the Internet from their phones.
It’s essential that your website, blog, and any other digital content are optimized for mobile. If not, you may end up losing viewers. If you don’t have Blogging Trends mobile optimization set up, you risk losing people before giving them a chance to read your content. Studies from Google show that 40 percent of mobile consumers turned to a competitor’s website after a negative mobile web experience.
Summary
The main blogging trends to watch for in 2022 are semantic SEO and topical authority. This means taking the focus off keywords and approaching SEO from the point of view of the topic you are writing about.
How well does your article cover the topic? How well does your website cover the topic? Do you have a pillar post with 5 or 6 supporting posts that deal with subtopics in more detail?
Websites that use a semantic Blogging Trends SEO approach with a focus on topical authority will be the winners in 2022.
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