5 SEO trends to think about for your 2023 marketing strategy
By: Lianna Haywood | SEO Lead
We all know how unpredictable the SEO industry can be. With Google throwing constant curveballs, it can be tricky to keep on top of algorithm updates. However, it’s important to look at previous trends in order to predict (aka. make educated bets) as to what Google will likely be focusing on over the next 12 months.
So, to help you prepare for the year ahead we’ve decided to share our top five SEO trends for 2023. Here you go...
1. Visual search will become more prominent
More Gen-Zers, and even Millennials, have been going to TikTok and Instagram for their search needs, effectively bypassing Google. We’re not saying that TikTok will take over as a dominant search engine... well not yet anyway!
However, the reason we care is that Google, in their typical style, will continue to find new ways to improve the algorithm in order to stay at the top. So, this year we’ll likely see Google continue to roll out more changes in visual SERP features.
What do we need to consider? We need to make sure visual content is optimised for Google, and that we’re thinking about creating different content types to fulfil the needs of our audience.
2. Google updates will roll out faster
Google is going to continue to test new features and result types. Updates will be rolling out faster, which could result in more SERP volatility.
How does this affect us? There will likely be more significant fluctuations in our organic rank positions. So, we need to make sure we continue to monitor our keyword performance and review content to align with new SERP features. We’ll need to keep on-top of the latest Google updates and align them with any rank fluctuations we notice.
3. Interactivity and experience will be key
This year will see a greater shift towards human-focused solutions. It’ll be more important than ever to prioritise search intent and user behaviour over anything else.
What do we need to consider? We need to make sure we understand what our audience is searching for and how we can fulfil their needs. So, our content needs to be entertaining, memorable, and effectively solve users’ questions and problems.
Content formats to consider for your 2023 content marketing strategy:
Ebooks
Calculators
Infographics
Quizzes
VR & AI
4. Trustworthiness of content will continue to grow in importance
Google’s recent update to the quality rater guidelines further highlights the importance of trustworthy content. They’ve added an extra ‘E’ to the concept of E-A-T in order to better assess the quality of webpages.
Why do we care? This year we need to focus more on how we can improve the E-E-A-T of our websites. It’ll be important to showcase more experience and expertise signals to Google and to our audience. Things to consider adding to your digital strategy (if you haven’t already done so):
Building high quality backlinks to signal authority
Creating on-site author bios to showcase the experience and expertise of our content creators. This also helps to gain trust from journalists, so can impact the effectiveness of our digital PR strategies
Making sure your website has an informative ‘about us’ page to build trust with your audience
Showcase industry awards on-site to signal expertise, authority and further build audience trust
Try to encourage business reviews (where applicable) to showcase trustworthiness
Add links to trustworthy sources as evidence to back up any claims
5. Engagement on LinkedIn will continue to grow
In 2022, LinkedIn saw a 22% increase in engagement. In order for us to make the most out of the content we’re posting, we need to make sure it can be found - in Google and within the LinkedIn feed.
LinkedIn optimisations to focus on in 2023 for findability goals:
Implementing a keyword strategy
Post long-form content with keyword optimisation
Add engaging imagery
Schedule regular posting
Hopefully these top trends will help you get ahead with your digital strategy. If you need support on growing your online search findability, get in contact with us today. We can help boost your brand’s digital footprint.