Google is unlikely to take a break in 2023, so staying on top of SEO trends is essential. You don’t even have to violate search guidelines to lose favor with Google. It’s not uncommon for websites to experience a significant drop in rankings despite the SEO elements on the affected pages remaining the same.
While fluctuations in search rankings are normal, you want to keep things stable moving forward, producing as much relevant and original content as possible.Quality content can be subjective, but you should be in good shape as long as you provide information that answers searchers’ questions and addresses their concerns.
Is it as simple as that… or is it?
The truth is that it’s unclear how exactly Google “weighs” each ranking factor. In November, the search engine giant published a documentproviding some insight into its current and historical ranking systems.
We sat down with experts from a leading digital marketing agency in San Diego to discuss how the most recent changes should affect your search engine optimization plans and the tricks you should use to keep your SEO thriving in 2023. Let’s get right into it!
[Source: Unsplash]
1. Explore Some New Tools
Most people are familiar with platforms like Semrush, Moz, Conductor, BrightEdge, or Ahrefs. Chances are, if you’re in the SEO space, you’ve used these or at least heard of them. Below, we will present a few more for you to consider in 2023:
Keyword-o-Matic
The simple and free keyword tool displays related keywords and questions for topics you research. For example, inputting the keywords “t-shirt prints,” “custom t-shirt prints,” and “buy t-shirt prints,” you might get results such as:
- T-shirt prints online
- T-shirt prints near me
- Wholesale t-shirt prints
- Who sells t-shirt prints
- What are t-shirt prints
Also Asked
AlsoAsked accesses Google’s People Also Ask queries and examines relationships across various topics. Its strong emphasis on searcher intent makes the results useful for content and internal link structure.
It generally provides a few free searches, but for more extensive research, you’ll be required to pay a subscription fee with plans starting at $15 per month.
KeywordsPeopleUse
This free service lets you input a topic, question, query, or brand. You pick where the resulting ideas come from – content explorer, keyword discovery, Google’s People Also Ask, Google autocomplete, Reddit or Quora.
KeywordsPeopleUse presents the ideas in two formats: a questions map and a list of topics categorized under “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” “which,” and “can.”
Suggest Machine
This free service generates long-tail keyword possibilities. It can help you quickly uncover phrases you haven’t thought of but is by no means a replacement for more complex tools. It allows you to input up to 10 keywords or topics, and you can select the desired language and country to receive suggestions and potential search questions.
2. Don’t Forget the Page Load Speed
Page load speed is still an essential factor in SEO in 2023. Google aims to provide searchers with the information they need as quickly as possible. Improving your website’s page load times will enhance the user experience.
This means keeping your Core Web Vitals healthy.
However, it’s worth noting that some websites with deficiencies in certain areas can still rank well. This may be due to a keyword in the domain name (which still holds importance) or a wealth of educational content that appeals to visitors.
3. Track Your SERP Presence
Be mindful of the changing SERPs, which can vary significantly from keyword to keyword. These variations may not be immediately noticeable, but they occur when Google decides which snippets to display, including featured snippets, People Also Ask, videos, and Local Pack.
It’s common for SERPsto present different rankings for the same keyword on different days.
Keep track of the position of your organic resultsin relation to the snippet features on a SERP. For example, your fourth-rankingpage may not appear above the fold when those prominent features push it lower.
You can gain insight from tools like RankRanger’s Google SERP Features tool, which tracks trends.
4. Pay Close Attention to Voice and Photo Searches
As mobile queries continue to grow, your business needs to be prepared for the increasing number of voice and photo search queries. In anticipation of this trend, Google has introduced options such as Search by Photo for visual search and Google Assistant for voice search.
To stay ahead of the game, brands should embrace this trend. Consumers are increasingly enjoying the convenience of voice search, as it allows them to multitask while searching for songs, making reservations, and setting alarms.
It is estimated that 42.1% of people used voice search at least once a month in 2022.
Enabling onsite visual tagging can help your business capture the attention of search engine crawlers when users upload images as part of a Google search query. This can also improve the shopping experience for mobile users, who are increasingly using visual search.
Additionally, by providing prices, reviews, and locations of items in response to voice queries, you can enhance in-store customer experiences.
5. Take Another Look at Your KPIs
Rankings and organic search traffic data are relative and should be considered along with other vital metrics such as leads, sales, or even PDF downloads as key performance indicators. Even if a few pages don’t rank at the top of the SERPs, they may still result in excellent conversion numbers.
When monitoring the competition, it’s crucial to look at the industry’s content landscape. Don’t limit yourself to known business competitors, but consider your competition in terms of content.
Any website that ranks better than yours for your targeted keywords can be considered a digital marketing rival. Analyze the content of any website with a higher position in the SERPs, and think about what they are doing that you’re not.
Conclusion
To achieve SEO success in 2023, you must closely monitor performance metrics and make regular adjustments. Regardless of whether Google targets a specific industry or makes changes to SERPs, you can take steps to improve your results.
Creating engaging content that responds to the searchers’ questions is still the most powerful offensive strategy for SEO. It may be challenging, but organic traffic remains a powerful tool in digital marketing, so taking on the challenge is more than worth it.
Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?