As you might imagine, there's a lot to search engine optimization (SEO), but we're outlining just a few of the most important SEO trends for 2023. While many of the basics remain the same, it's always a moving target because Google is constantly updating their algorithms.
A short list of what remains the same.
On-page SEO remains critical
On-page SEO consists of several items, including having content your audience wants to read. Your website, and your blogs specifically, are a repository for sharing your knowledge of your industry. Knowledge that will help your clients in their lives or businesses. Many companies don't realize their website isn't a place to talk about themselves. People want to to know what you can do for them before they want to learn about you (or us). In our "Short Attention Span Society" people want to know what's in it for them. And quickly.
To see what's involved with on-page SEO, click the video below, or watch the on-page SEO video on Youtube here.
Contact us to learn how we can help with your company's SEO.
why keyword research should be at the top of your SEO list
Some of these helpful SEO trends for 2023 have been relevant for decades, including keyword research. The keywords used on your website are what link your audience's Google search to your website. With voice search being used so much, the right keyword research unveils specific questions your audience is asking about your service or product. When you write a blog using the exact question people are asking, the chances of showing up well in Google's search results go up.
Blogging often
The more you update your website the more often it's indexed by search engines, keeping your website relevant in their searches. We try to blog every other week with helpful information (like these helpful SEO trends for 2023!). Yes it's time-consuming, but think of it as new business development. Consider if prospects can find you, instead of you finding them, how much easier it makes your sales efforts.
Backlinks are still critical
When Google first started in 1998, their very first algorithms was focused on backlinks. It was called "Pagerank" (after founder Larry Page). It's based on the theory that the more helpful and informative a website is, the more backlinks it would have to their site. Of course, getting backlinks takes time, so there's a service we offer called Local Citations that helps get 50 - 75 backlinks to your website. You can see a Local Citations report for Sevell + Sevell here.
There's an interesting Freakonomics blog about Google's history you can listen to here.
Google looks at the mobile version of your website, not the desktop version
Is the mobile version of your website the same as the desktop version? Most websites are, but they shouldn't be. That's because since 2017, Google rates how worthy your website is for ranking based on the mobile version, not the desktop version. Read about mobile first indexing here.
See if your website is mobile friendly using Google's "Mobile-Friendly Test" here.
How fast your homepage loads makes a difference
How fast a website loads remains a Google ranking factor, and has been since 2010. You can analyze, then optimize, your website with Google's PageSpeed tool here. Of course, optimizing a website is not something that should be done by novices. Be sure you have an experienced web design company (who offers helpful SEO trends for 2023!) help you.
Asking Google to crawl your website
Crawling your website means having search engines "index" it to be found. Of course, search engines will eventually get around to indexing your site, but why wait? Have your web design company send your site map to search engines because it gives you a head start on being found.
A brief list of what's changing in 2023.
Suggestive images
We do a bunch of work for plastic surgeons ,and for many procedures – like breast augmentation and labiaplasty – we've used images that reflect the procedure. Not that we use explicit images for either procedure, but one of our client's websites was being penalized for using overly suggestive images. Google does interpret images on your website, which means any suggestive image on a plastic surgeon's website would cause that website to be penalized. (We can't show you an example or our website would be penalized!) This update is a reaction to take down human trafficking or child pornography websites, which we know everyone supports.
Fighting spam
Spam is all about deceiving people into providing their personal information through fake websites that masquerade as real websites. Spam websites could also be manipulating you into installing malware on your computer. Phishing can also install spam on your website which could result in your website's ranking dropping. These new spam updates go a long way to identify phishing scams and fake websites.
targeting artificially-created content
Google is trying to target content created by artificial intelligence services. With the advent of services like Jasper that creates content through artificial intelligence, Google says auto-generated content, which is copy written by artificial intelligence, could lead to a penalty. The problem is that Google’s algorithms aren't quite up-to-speed when it comes to detecting content generated by AI, at least not without the assistance of human intervention.
Google Analytics 4
"Universal Analytics" is the analytics we've all been using forever. On July 2023, it's going to be replaced by Google Analytics 4. How is GA4 different than Universal Analytics? It's what they're calling an "event-based" platform rather than a "session-based" platform. Privacy of the people visiting your website is a factor in GA4 to align with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulations.
To summarize our helpful SEO trends for 2023.
The tips outlined in this blog are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. However, bottom line is, in order to start ranking well in Google and other search engines, you need to play by their rules. Using well researching keywords, using them correctly in your website and blogs, and blogging often, are all critical.
And getting backlinks to your website, which is one of Google's founding algorithms. Getting and maintaining those backlinks is an ongoing effort.
Bottom line is, SEO efforts are best left to a web design company that has extensive experience in these areas. Don't try this at home!
To see how we can help you with your website, contact us today and let's start the conversation.
