12 Emerging Google SEO Trends in 2023
SEO is a cutthroat competition. Everyone wants to have their site show up on top on Google for the keywords their target users use.
Maintaining a top spot in search engine rankings is a fiercely competitive game. While everyone wants to be on top, only a handful of businesses can make it there. Success for one means failure for another.
If you’re looking to enhance your online visibility, keeping up with the latest SEO trends is crucial. Luckily, we’ve compiled a list of twelve of the hottest trends for 2023 that can help you outdo your competition.
These trends are essential for nailing your search engine game because they reveal how to tweak your content to fit the latest Google algorithm shifts.
1. E.E.A.T
With the 2018 update to Google’s medic guidelines, we have seen the term EAT appear more frequently. This acronym stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness, especially now that Google has decided to add a third E for
experience making it E E A T.
To rank on search results, Google looks at the accuracy, honesty, safety, and reliability of the content.
Those websites that sell products, services, content, or suggestions that have a profound effect on health, financial stability, or safety require a higher E E A T score. This type of content falls under the category of YMYL (Your Money or Your Life).
This may result in negative consequences for users who rely solely on what they see. The majority of topics on the internet are not YMYL and lack accuracy or trustworthiness.
2. Maximize Your Visibility with Featured Snippets
So, you know those little blurbs of text that appear at the top of Google search results? Yeah, those are featured snippets. They’re automatic extracts from pages in Google’s index that give you a quick answer to whatever you searched for. Pretty nifty, huh?
The cool thing about Featured Snippets is that they can actually get your website to appear on the first page of Google search results.
They’re pretty smart because they can take away some of the visitors from your competition. Plus, they’re definitely gonna be more crucial in the times ahead.
To fully benefit from them, you should concentrate on using long-tail keywords and produce articles that tackle the concerns and inquiries of your readers.
3. Optimize Your Site For Voice Search
Did you know that an increasing number of people are using voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home to scour the web? To keep up with this growing trend, it’s essential for businesses to optimize their websites for voice search.
This can be achieved through the use of longer, more specific keywords and conversational language that is easy for search algorithms to comprehend. It’s also important to ensure that your website’s structure and navigation are user-friendly for voice search.
By doing all of these things, you’ll be in a prime position to rank well on voice search and stay ahead of the curve.
4. Long-Form Content
Google likes to rank high-quality content. Although content length is not a ranking factor, there is a strong correlation between longer content and better rankings.
Why is that? Because long content is more likely to display the E-A-T signals that Google associates with quality, such as in-depth content, original research and analysis, and expert authorship and sourcing.
As Google continues to improve its NLP (Natural Language Processing) algorithms, it will keep getting better at recognizing quality. So take the time to provide thorough information on the keywords you’re targeting and you’ll likely see higher keyword rankings and higher average positions.
To ensure you captivate and engage readers who visit your website, you need to shift to a long-form content strategy. Long-form content of 3,000 words or more has been shown to get more traffic and shares than short-form content. Shifting your focus to creating quality long-form content can greatly improve your search rankings. However, for long-form content to be successful, it must be able to keep readers engaged.
5. A.I Content & Content Writing Software
Did you hear about the updates in 2022 that were meant to stop auto-generated content? Well, despite all that, it looks like we’ll be seeing more AI-generated content in 2023.
These days, it seems like every marketing app out there is trying to integrate SEO and AI to make our lives easier. And you know what? It works!
If you’re a content marketer, chances are you’ve tried out some kind of AI content generator in the past year. I mean, who wouldn’t want to save some time, right?
These SEO and AI integrations are popping up all over the place and they’re making our lives easier.
have you been wondering if it’s safe to use content-writing software these days? The answer is a big, fat YES!
While you don’t want to rely solely on auto-generated content, these tools can be a useful resource for streamlining your content creation process.
With proper oversight and creativity, you can produce high-quality, unique content that meets the standards of both your audience and search engines.
So, don’t hesitate to leverage these tools to your advantage and create content that’s both efficient and effective.
6. Local SEO & Google My Business
If you’re a local business owner, ranking high in local search results is crucial to attract more customers. Even in 2023, targeting relevant keywords is still a fundamental aspect of SEO.
To ensure your business appears in local search results, keep two things in mind: use geo-targeted keywords in your website content and keep your Google My Business listing up to date.
Google My Business is a free tool provided by Google that lets you list your local business in search results. With a Google Maps link included, potential customers can easily find you.
Listing your business on this platform can boost your online visibility and attract more local customers from search results.
7. SEO Automation
As we step into 2023, we’re seeing a significant rise in the usage of enterprise SEO software tools, enabling digital marketers to automate a wide range of SEO tasks. The potential of AI-powered content has paved the way for marketers to explore newer and more efficient avenues of optimization.
For instance, keyword research tools have made once-manual spreadsheet tasks effortless and streamlined. Additionally, site auditing and monitoring platforms such as SearchAtlas and Content King have revolutionized the way technical issues and changes on websites are detected.
For the less SEO-savvy individuals, website graders can prove to be a handy tool in identifying optimization requirements and prioritize them accordingly. All these automated processes and SEO software platforms allow marketers to optimize their websites in a more effective and streamlined manner.
8. Invest in Mobile and Desktop Web Development
Despite the longstanding emphasis on “mobile first” in digital marketing, recent data indicates an 8% decline in mobile traffic and an increase in desktop usage since 2020.
That being said, it’s still important to maintain a mobile-first strategy. It’s important to prioritize both mobile and desktop development to ensure a positive user experience.
Unfortunately, some brands have neglected their desktop experience in favor of mobile optimization, but now it’s time to give desktop a much-needed refresh.
9. Emphasize On Your Core Web Vitals
To provide a seamless user experience, it’s essential to monitor your website’s core web vitals. Google recommends focusing on three specific metrics – Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift.
LCP measures the loading speed of the largest content piece visible to the viewer, FID tracks the time for a person to become interactive with the page, and Cumulative Layout Shift tracks visual stability.
It’s crucial to note that good core web vitals won’t guarantee the top ranking spot on Google. Nevertheless, they’re crucial for mobile searches’ ranking factors.
Besides, it’s vital to address potential issues that could harm your website’s user experience, such as slow page or site response speed, slow-loading resources like images and videos, time-consuming tasks, ads and pop-ups that alter the site’s layout, and images without dimensions. Remember, while core web vitals are essential, content is still king.
10. Less crawl frequency
Google is taking big steps towards sustainability, pledging to operate on carbon-free energy by 2023. As part of this initiative, Google is considering reducing the frequency of web page crawling.
This change helps conserve computing resources and aligns with Google’s eco-friendly goals. However, it’s worth noting that reduced crawl rates could potentially impact the frequency of refresh crawls rather than those that discover new content.
As a result, it may take Google longer to notice any updates we make to our websites. To mitigate this, it’s essential to optimize our content right from the start, ensuring all on-page elements are in place to improve our website’s rankings. In 2023, this is the best strategic choice we can make.
11. Target Informational SEO
Informational SEO involves categorizing top search queries based on their intent. According to Semrush, search queries fall into four categories: informational, transactional, navigational, and commercial.
Informational queries are the most popular, indicating that users are seeking information and answers to key questions. This insight is valuable for B2B marketers as it highlights the importance of sharing useful information on their websites.
When assessing the effectiveness of a company’s website, it’s important to consider whether frequently asked questions are addressed, and if industry nuances, products, or services are clearly defined. Providing this basic information can drive traffic and engage prospects, making it a crucial aspect of effective SEO strategy.
12. Optimizing Website Speed and Performance
Since the 2021 page experience update, Google has placed greater importance on fast-loading and high-performing websites in its ranking algorithm. Although the update was rolled out over a year, Google will continue to refine its signals for determining page performance in 2023.
Page Speed Insights and Core Web Vitals will remain critical tools for monitoring website speed and performance. Improving page speed is a wise investment for businesses seeking to boost keyword rankings across their domain, in addition to providing quality content.
Final Thoughts
The latest SEO trends of 2023 reveal the intricacies of consumer behavior and how search engine algorithms affect brand reach. To effectively communicate with your intended audience, it’s crucial to comprehend their behavior. Concentrate on implementing these evidence-based tactics, remain focused, and witness your brand’s visibility expand.
