Search engine optimization is a dynamic aspect of digital marketing since Google is always updating its algorithms. This helps make the search experience better for users but it also means that marketers need to reevaluate their SEO strategy time and again to stay at the top of their marketing game. Every year there are new trends that have an impact on the SEO. Let’s take a look at the SEO trends you need to watch out for in 2023. 

1. The EEAT

Since December 2022, Google’s EAT acronym (Expertise, Authority, and Trust) has got a new E which stands for Experience. Hence, from now onwards, Google will be looking at the experience of the creator or author whenever it evaluates the quality of your content. When we say experience, Google wants to see your real-world experience on the topic you are discussing. It wants authoritative voices when it comes to talking about something. Hence, you need to ensure that your content is written by an experienced author and that they know what they are talking about. 

2. Create audience-targeted content 

Since Google places importance on experience, it wants to see content that is audience-targeted and not traffic targeted. When you have a personal finance website and you start producing content about food, Google will get suspicious. This is because your content does not benefit the target audience but is only helping you rank with specific keywords. Your SEO strategy is going after search traffic but this will not work in 2023. If you want to rank, you will have to create content that meets the expectations of the target audience.

3. High emphasis on the author’s authority  

In 2023, Google wants to make sure that the content is produced by real people for real audiences. You need to elevate the experience and the authority of your creators this year. An expert at Fast Simon, a group of site search and SEO experts states, “Ensure that the people who are creating content for you are experienced and experts in their area. You can then elevate their experience by including author bios and creating author pages that showcase their work.” Additionally, you can link the creator’s social media accounts so that Google knows real people are writing the content. 

4. Helpful content

Google has changed the way we create and consume content. It is focusing on helpful content which satisfies the users. Google decides whether the content is helpful or not by checking that it is created by humans and not search engines, whether it fits the expectations of the target audience, and if it is relevant to the subject area of the website. The content should also display a depth of knowledge on the subject. To achieve this, you must focus on the quality of the content and not the quantity. Do this by expanding the keyword research and looking for information that is beyond the search volume. You can also check the search queries in the search console to see what people are looking for. 

5. SEO automation 

We will see a lot of SEO tasks automated in 2023 as marketing professionals continue to use the power of enterprise SEO software tools. The growing availability of advanced SEO automation tools seem to accelerate this shift by enabling businesses to streamline complex processes with greater accuracy and speed. We will have site audits and monitoring platforms that will identify changes and technical issues on the websites, and keyword research tools will automate the job that once required a lot of manual work. There is a rise in DIY SEO tools and it will allow businesses to handle the marketing tactics more efficiently.

6. Product page SEO

Google has always rewarded informative, long-form content and you can benefit from doing the same this year. Try to create content like it is a product page and add FAQs or drop-down menus or even customer reviews to make the page more informative. Look for the different questions that your readers may have and try to answer them through drop-down menus. 

7. Perform competitor analysis 

You can look at your competitors and build an SEO strategy that works for your business. Competitor analysis will become more effective and easier in 2023 due to the various SEO tools. Google will lay more emphasis on industry expertise and if you look at the websites of the thought leaders in the industry, it will help you understand the type of content that will rank. There are different ways that your competitors establish authority, expertise, experience as well as trustworthiness and you can leverage the insights into your SEO strategy. 

8. High-performing, fast-loading websites

Google places high emphasis on fast-loading websites in the ranking algorithm. It uses different signals to determine if a page is high-performing for users or not. Besides the quality of content, you also need to prioritize the page speed improvement to ensure that it is ranking.  These are some of the top SEO trends marketers need to watch out for