Extract from: 2022 Local SEO Report, published on PinMeTo December 2021
Article on PinMeTo bringing together local SEO professionals on 2022 Local SEO Report that turned out to be precious lessons of a 28 part series.
Jason Barnard
The Brand SERP Guy
💡 We’ll see an increasing focus on the brand as opposed to websites as Entities become the dominant approach to SEO in general, and Local SEO in particular. That said, Local SEO has always been about entities, and that will be even more true in 2022 (and beyond).
Tracking and analysing what your audience sees when they Google your company name (called a Brand SERP) seems to be central to any digital strategy (local or not). It’s your “Google business card“, but also an insight into your entire digital ecosystem: the strengths and weaknesses of your SEO strategy, content strategy and online reputation.
❌ Companies should not rely on keeping the level of control they currently have on their GMB profiles. Google already automatically populates them with a great deal of Knowledge Graph information… According to data from Kalicube Pro, that is increasing. And the change of name from Google My Business to Google Business Profile suggests this is a trend that will continue. Removing the word “My” is perhaps a not-so-subtle hint to you from Google that the profile is not yours and it will increasingly decide what appears there.
✅ Google is a child and it wants to learn. You are the responsible adult and it is up to you to educate it. So, in 2022, start educating Google about who you are, what you do and who your audience is. As the Google Business Profile moves closer to becoming a Knowledge Panel, the control you have will be indirect and based on how well you can educate Google. Start now – leaving it till 2023 will mean your job will be harder. You’ll be playing catch up trying to correct the “child” since Google will have tried to educate itself, and will probably have got many facts wrong.
