The end of the year is a time for personal and professional reflection.
And, if you work with search engine optimization (SEO) on a daily basis, as we do, now is the time to reflect on SEO trends for 2023 and consider what changes you should make to your SEO strategy to ensure you remain at the top of the search results.
Even if you don’t deal with SEO as much as we do, if you own a business, this is something you should consider.
Because if you’re not visible on search engines and your website is buried beneath a mountain of competitors, you’re unlikely to be very successful in the coming year.
Unfortunately, there are many business owners who do not understand these concepts, and some who, dare I say, do not even know what SEO is.
So, for those of you who are unfamiliar with SEO, let me refresh your memory.
Simply put, search engine optimisation is the process of attracting organic (free) traffic from search engine results and other sources.
Some of you are probably thinking right now, “OK. “However, why is this important to me?”
If someone starts typing keywords related to your business into a search engine, you want them to see your site right away, which requires you to rank high in the search results.
You see, if your company doesn’t rank high in organic search results, potential customers won’t even know you exist, and they’ll likely go to a competitor instead.
But SEO is about more than just traffic, and the goal of optimising your site isn’t just to increase traffic. It should ideally assist you in increasing qualified traffic, which is traffic made up of people who are genuinely interested in the products and/or services you have to offer.
Given all of this, it should come as no surprise that some of my clients have been wondering if search engine optimization is still relevant. And the answer I always give them is emphatically yes!
With many of us still avoiding brick-and-mortar stores and the vast majority of Canadians preferring to shop online, SEO remains highly relevant, and if anything, it’s become more relevant than ever after the pandemic.
For example, according to Statista data, more than 27 million Canadians shopped online in 2021, a 1.5 million increase from 2020.
SEO bar graph from Statista
This figure is expected to rise significantly over the next few years, reaching more than 30 million by 2025.
So, as you can see, search engine optimization isn’t going away, and business owners who ignore SEO will suffer as a result.
So, if you’re planning your SEO strategy for 2023 and curious about the latest SEO trends, you should definitely keep reading.
Because in this article, I’ll look at the three SEO trends for 2023 that I believe will have the most impact in the coming year.
READ: Google’s AI Update for 2022: What It Is, How It Works, and How It Might Affect Your SEO
A thorough understanding of SEO necessitates familiarity with Google’s ever-changing algorithms.
These processes determine what it takes for a website to rank high in search engine results, and understanding how they work can give you a significant advantage when it comes to SEO.
This stuff can get pretty complicated, so it’s not for everyone, but if you want to get deep into the world of SEO, you should definitely look into it.
This article delves into Google’s most recent algorithmic update, including what it is, how it works, and how it may affect your SEO.
Artificial Intelligence is one of the three most influential SEO trends for 2023. High-quality content has always been the foundation of any solid long-term SEO strategy.
Without it, you have a slim chance of attracting visitors or keeping those visitors on your site for any length of time, and they are unlikely to share your content.
In case you didn’t know, all of these things are important to SEO because search engines use a variety of factors to determine your ranking in search results, including how much traffic your site receives, how long visitors stay on your site, and how frequently your site is linked to by other websites or shared on social media.
But you can’t just post a few blogs and call it a day. It simply does not work that way.
Search engines like Google love new content and reward websites that post new content on a regular basis with higher rankings.
However, creating a consistent stream of content is much easier said than done, and keeping up with everything else a business owner has to deal with can be nearly impossible.
This is where artificial intelligence (AI) enters the picture.
AI content generation tools, such as Jasper, ContentBot, and CopyAI, have popped up all over the place in recent years, leveraging machine learning to help create content.
These tools use natural language processing (NLP) and natural language generation (NLG) technology to generate content with only a few prompts from the user about things like keywords, tone of voice, or a topic description.
The AI can then combine that information with other data, such as the billions of pieces of content available online, to create whatever content you desire.
But keep in mind that this is far from perfect, and the content generated by these tools is prone to the same flaws as human-written content.
Poor structure and/or grammar, a lack of authoritative evidence to back up claims, a lack of originality, and a lack of valuable information or insight are all examples of this.
So, while these tools can help content creators reduce their workload, a human touch will still be required for creativity and quality assurance.
But it’s definitely something to think about for anyone who wants to publish a lot of content, and we’ll see more of it in 2023 and beyond.
Chatbots
Chatbots are everywhere, and they’re here to stay, whether you like them or not.
Furthermore, I believe their popularity will continue to rise through 2023, as they provide numerous benefits to business owners, not least in the SEO department.
But, despite the abundance of chatbots on websites today, I’m sure there are still a lot of people who don’t know what they are, so let me explain for those of you who aren’t sure.
In place of a live agent, a chatbot is a software application designed to simulate conversation with users.
Chatbots function by being pre-programmed with responses to a variety of user questions or concerns, and they can also use artificial intelligence to determine what a user is saying and formulate a response.
These software applications are gaining popularity for a variety of reasons, including the ability to significantly reduce operational costs for business owners and provide more timely responses to user queries.
Chatbots are an absolute goldmine in terms of SEO. But why is this the case?
Because chatbots provide a better user experience by ensuring they can get quick answers to their questions at all hours of the day and night, this can have a positive impact on several SEO-related metrics, such as how quickly users leave your site (bounce rate), how likely they are to return (returning visitor rate), and how long they spend on your site (dwell time).
Furthermore, if a user has an overwhelmingly positive experience on your site, they are much more likely to tell their friends, family, and followers about it, both verbally and through social media sharing.
That said, I am confident that chatbots will be one of the defining SEO trends for 2023 and beyond, as more and more business owners realise that this technology is an essential component of their SEO strategy.
TikTok
To be honest, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to get into this, but TikTok has become so massive that it’s impossible to ignore, no matter what you think of it.
Many of you are probably wondering, “What does TikTok have to do with SEO?”
I’m glad you inquired!
The first thing you should know is just how massive TikTok is.
TikTok had more than 655 million users by 2021, according to Statista data, despite being launched in 2016.
That may seem like a lot (and it is), but by 2025, the figure is expected to rise to more than 955 million, which is nothing short of incredible.
Aside from its massive user base, which allows you to reach a massive number of people, TikTok also provides numerous opportunities to improve SEO.
TikTok’s utility as an SEO tool, however, will be determined by your target audience.
According to Statista, the vast majority of TikTok users are between the ages of 18 and 34.
So, if you’re selling adult diapers, your target market isn’t on TikTok, and you shouldn’t waste your time.
However, if you offer anything remotely appealing to TikTok’s primary demographic, you must have a presence on this platform.
Because, while having a TikTok account will not improve your SEO in and of itself, it will allow you to interact with TikTok’s massive user base and gain traffic from people who may never bother to search for you on Google or any other search engine.
That being said, if you play your cards right on TikTok, it could have a significant impact on your SEO, as it provides numerous opportunities for users to click through to your website, boosting organic traffic and driving qualified leads to your site.
Simultaneously, TikTok’s algorithm is frighteningly good at serving users the types of content they want to watch, so it has the potential to connect you with a slew of qualified leads who are actually interested in what you have to offer.
Furthermore, it enables you to stack social signals and gain backlinks, which can help your SEO as users interact with you by following your account, sharing your content, liking it, or commenting.
Overall, I think that one of the most popular and important SEO trends in 2023 will be for businesses to use TikTok as part of their SEO strategy.
Source: Article bySusan Friesan
Images: Statista
