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Every time we pass through the portal of a new year, we aim to reset ourselves and our goals. To have a clearer perspective of what we want to achieve, we make lists of actions that worked in the past and other lists of the things that need a 180° change.
Well, that’s pretty much how digital marketing trends work these days. No experienced marketer wants to stay behind in this fast-changing world. For that reason, constantly reinventing our approach is a must.
Today, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a highly competitive and increasingly vital component of a digital marketing plan. So, how can we stay ahead of this rapidly developing field?
In this blog post, we share the top 2023 SEO trends for you to continue as a head contender on top of this game.
An Overview of Seo’s Past Can Help You Plan for the Future
Albert Einstein once said: “if you want to know the future, look at the past.” If you take that philosophy to construct a new SEO strategy for law firms, home improvement, or even niche businesses, you’ll have a better perspective of what worked before, what’s working now, and what can potentially work in the future.
For example, Google constantly renovates its quality rate guidelines because they know we can’t just continue doing the same and expect a massive change.
In 1997, when we had just started using the term “SEO,” the only viable method was through on-page activity. SEO in 2023 revolves around search engine algorithm updates, search interests, high-quality content, ranking factors, and UX.
Below, you’ll find the main 2023 SEO trends you should focus on to succeed as a top-performing agency or business.
The Latest Trends in SEO You Should Be Focusing on This Year
Guide Your Audience Through the “Double-E-A-T” Experience
Those with experience in this field should be familiar with “E-A-T,” which stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
On december 2022, Google announced the incorporation of a new letter (E for Experience) to evaluate if search ranking systems provide helpful, relevant information. This means that 2023 SEO trends are leaning toward enhanced user experience.
The message behind this action is that SEO professionals should connect and create stronger relationships with their audiences to guide them through every stage of the marketing funnel combined with the E-E-A-T standards.
In a few words, each strategy you employ for the funnel’s stages should always convey a positive experience throughout the site, a demonstration of expertise, an authoritative backing of your information, and a sense of confidence that what you offer is precisely what the person on the other end of the screen needs.
AI and Machine Learning Are Allies, Not Replacements
One thing about high-performing SEO is that content is always king. Without content of any kind, how could you share the valuable information people are searching for?
Due to human nature, we’ve developed methods for making daily tasks easier, including content creation for SEO optimization. It is no surprise among 2023 SEO trends; we have access to helpful Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools for writing. However, there is a delicate line between using these features for support and completely relying on them, forgetting about the human perspective.
Leaving all the work to paid or free tools for creating content takes the soul out of what we do, and Google’s algorithm knows that. AI content will not only bury you in the deepest part of search results, but it will also damage all the factors mentioned above.
If you want to know how to use tools in your favor, stick to the following tips:
- Use AIs for “creativity blocking.”
- Make topic brainstorming
- Analyze competitor’s research
Page Speed Matters
This year, the web search experience is still on top of the comprehensive SEO checklist. As a matter of fact, Google has indicated that site speed is one of the signals used by its algorithm to rank pages.
Some simple but effective methods to boost the speed of your website are:
- CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files that are more than 150 bytes should be reduced.
- Remove spaces, commas, and other unneeded characters from your code.
- Reduce the amount of time spent waiting for the HTTP request-response cycle.
- Be cautious when using blocking JavaScript.
- Use content delivery networks (CDNs) to spread the load of delivering material.
#1 Is Not Always the Best
Among the SEO collective, there is a belief that ranking on the top of SERPs equals a nirvana state of mind. But if we think about it, that idea is questionable today.
According to a study, Google’s organic search results receive only 33% of the website traffic. This meanest that focusing more on your click-through rate (CTR) efforts is the key to ranking higher among all those ads, question boxes, and snippets.
Link-Build Authoritativeness
Link-building is an old-time friend with off-site search engine optimization; this shall remain the same on 2023 SEO trends. Let’s look at some examples.
Finding articles or landing pages on your website linked to low-performing sources could indicate why you do not have the results you expect. Linking to those pages will only classify your website as a non-relevant or not authoritative environment.
On the other hand, an article or a webpage linked to authoritative sources correlated to your industry will differentiate you from your competitors in the eyes of search engines and gain a long-term interaction with your readers.
An equally important part of link building is backlinks. They help search engines understand how popular your website is and how relevant it is to certain keywords. If you want to know more about backlinks’ importance and creation process, watch the quick shark clip below.
SEO 101 All You Gotta Know About Backlinks
Long-Tail Keywords: The Secret for Improved Voice Search
We can’t overlook voice search if we want to stand ourselves from the crowd among 2023 SEO trends, and long-tail keywords are the best way to succeed.
About 71% of online users prefer voice search queries rather than typing. This is an amazing opportunity for SEO because, nowadays, a wide range of mobile devices (smartphones, speakers, and car speakers) help you make it through your audience.
Optimizing your website for voice search with long-tail keywords that sound natural in the language will help search engines such as Microsoft and Google identify your content more easily. Furthermore, long tail keywords are the ultimate key to avoiding zero-click searches and establishing a stronger link between search query, search intent, and search results.
Best Tools to Align With 2023 SEO Trends
Of course, we must include the greatest tools aligned with 2023 SEO trends. These tools are useful because they provide information and alerts about your website’s general health and uncover areas of opportunity that may keep you from ranking and generating visibility in the SERPs.
Here is our infallible top 5:
- SemRush
- Google Search Console
- Ahrefs
- Google Trends
- BrightLocal
Final Thoughts
The fascinating thing about SEO is that it never stays the same. The demands of consumers are constantly changing, pushing us to get out of our comfort zone to get our messages across.
And believe us, all the information above is just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to dig deeper into 2023 SEO trends, our SEO strategists, writers, and analysts are always ready to guide you through your growing journey.
