What To Expect With SEO In 2023
SEO changes a lot each year thanks to the Google updates which occur throughout the year. In 2022, many websites experienced dramatic changes in rankings due to the numerous algorithm updates. SEO is a long-term strategy that plays a significant role in business marketing.
One thing that we do know is that we cannot prepare the website for these changes. With minor updates, Google will give us little notice and therefore, those who work in SEO can’t prepare for the changes. However, for the much larger updates, Google will announce these updates so web developers and those who work in SEO have time to prepare for these changes.
The question is, what can we expect in 2023 other than the fact data will no longer be recorded for universal analytics? Here, we will try to predict what to expect in 2023 with SEO.
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
Usually, when you see these sorts of lists, people will tell you to optimise your website for AI. However, this is a slightly different take on it.
In August 2022, Google announced the helpful content update. This update was announced so web developers and those who work in SEO can make their content more unique and informative. It is great writing content to help your keyword start ranking through Google; however, Google doesn’t want to see large pieces of content which are not helpful to the user.
Your content must be unique, written with a human touch and not spammed with keywords, then you are onto a winner. The final point we would make is that your content should educate your users about what they are reading.
Keep On Top Of Google Updates
The SEO community was flooded with Google updates and algorithm changes last year. This is what makes SEO fun for some people and stressful for others. We have already mentioned the helpful content update previously.
There have been many more updates in the past which have had a much bigger impact than we have seen in 2022. Some of those include BERT, and E-A-T and these are expected to develop further in 2023.
These updates could affect you massively if you have not already adapted your website to these updates so make sure it is a priority.
Deprecation of Third-Party Cookie Deprecation
Third-party cookie depreciation is supposedly going to bring more privacy as well as consent management.
Sometime in the near future, we can expect two different forms of cookies in SEO. Both cohort-based marketing and first-party relationships. These should heavily be considered when planning a marketing strategy.
Zero-Click Pages
As you may have noticed, there are more and more new features on the SERPs page. Some of these results will gain traffic and others won’t. For example, the People Also Ask (PAA) section is something that might not be clicked on as much as PPC advertisements and other organic search results. However, how do you guarantee organic traffic with these results and will they result in conversions?
In your content, we advise you to include long-tail keywords. Furthermore, if your content is engaging and provides them with the information they require, they will likely click on this SERP result and land on your website.
Fast Load Speed
Since the Core-Web-Vitals back in July 2021, there have been several updates directed towards this. Google values the user experience and although it wants to read a lot of content throughout the page, it also has to load quickly. Think about it, if a website takes too long to load, you will likely click off that website and visit another one.
Organic Backlinks
Link building is something that the SEO world is very torn between. Some believe that it is valuable and others see it as time-consuming. However, Google likes to constantly remind us that links are still valuable by releasing algorithm updates, with the December spam update in 2022 being the most recent.
The relevance of a website may also be a factor in 2023 when it comes to building links. For example, if you work in construction and specialise in telehandler hire, you should build links to construction blogs to build a relevant trust flow to your site.
What Else To Expect In 2023 With SEO
SEO has come a long way. In the early days of SEO, companies used to spam keywords throughout their content and it didn’t make any sense. Now, Google has released many updates to reduce keyword stuffing for many pages. One of the best things about SEO is that it is constantly changing although some may see this as a negative, with many businesses neglecting SEO because of this reason.
Google has constantly focused on mobile as well. That is why web developers should ensure that websites are mobile-friendly.
To Conclude
It can be difficult to predict what Google will change for organic search results. There seems to be a push for the infinite scroll on some SERs but others tend to show the top 9 results. Usually, Google will announce large updates before they are rolled out however, with smaller updates, these will come as a surprise. Make sure to follow Google Search Central on Twitter for the latest updates and news regarding SEO.
