For businesses that rely heavily on customers coming in from organic search results, the year 2023 holds significant challenges. Why? Well, it’s no secret that SEO has changed quite a bit in the past year. With the rise of machine learning and AI, SEO has become a bit more complicated.
Luckily, you can expect the changes to benefit your business. This article will outline ten of the most significant SEO changes you might face in 2023 and how you can prepare for them.
1. Voice Search Is Predominant
In 2022, voice search became the number one search engine usage pattern, surpassing text searches. Indeed, people are starting to search by speaking rather than typing. And, if you’re not equipped to handle voice queries, you’ll quickly lose business to competitors who are.
Fortunately, this also makes it easier for consumers to find what they want. When customers can’t type or spell out exactly what they’re looking for, they’ll often search using their voice. This increases the likelihood of them finding your business.
2. Mobilegeddon Does Not Mean A Completely New Development Environment
Mobilegeddon, the code name for Google’s mobile-first search update, was launched in 2015. Since then, mobilegeddon-capable websites have improved their SEO performance.
While mobilegeddon is a significant update, it’s not a complete makeover. As a result, you don’t need to shut down your existing website and rebuild it from scratch. Instead, you can take advantage of the new paradigm to grow and optimize your business using familiar tools.
3. Fewer White Spots On Pages
White spots remain one of the most significant SEO challenges. Sometimes, these are little more than a series of empty spaces that break up the text flow on a web page. But, in other cases, they’re obvious visual distractions that undermine the page’s effectiveness.
Fortunately, this trend is leveling out. In early 2023, Google rolled out a new algorithm, prioritizing content below the fold. Now, when users scroll down a page, they’ll see less whitespace at the top than before. This makes it harder for the eye to wander and easier for the reader to stay engaged.
4. More Visual Content To Improve UX
In the past, a typical web page might contain a few paragraphs of text with an image or two. But now, web pages are becoming more visual. Web content is images or videos.
Why the shift? In the past, people primarily read news articles, scanned web pages, or listened to YouTube videos. But now, people are consuming content in different ways. With more images and videos than text, consumers have more chances to see content as something other than textual content.
Therefore, if you want to improve the user experience on your website, you should include more images and videos rather than just text. The web content which you might consider adding includes product images, case studies, FAQs, testimonials, and videos.
5. Content Calendars Are Crucial
If you want to rank well in search results, you need to consider what you will post soon. Most of the executives weren’t prepared for the amount of content the pandemic created. As a result, they had to become more productive and efficient quickly.
In 2022, planning and scheduling your content becomes even more important. In particular, if you want to rank well in search results, you should try to post the most significant and up-to-date content at the top of your schedule. This content will then appear as natural as possible in your search results.
6. User-Generated Content Is On The Rise
It’s not just about the quantity of content but also the quality. Consumers will have more chances to contribute to the conversation in the future. Consumers also expect to hear more from brands than traditional advertising.
To improve the user experience on your website, you might consider letting people write reviews, comment on blog posts, or offer advice.
7. Product Data Management (PDM) Is Essential
Knowing exactly what products your customers are searching for is essential if you want to be found for the queries your customers are searching. Unfortunately, many businesses don’t have time to enter this data into a central location manually. This is where PDM comes in. With this software, you can manage product data, including descriptions, reviews, prices, and more. And, with each product having its own entry, you can track what’s selling and not.
What’s more, you can segment this data by customer, device, or area. This information can then be used to improve the user experience on your website. For example, if you notice that some of your customers are searching for a TV but are using a smartphone, you can add more descriptors about the type of TV they’re looking for. Or, if they’re using a different browser on their mobile device, you can provide a better user experience by tweaking the layout of the webpage.
8. Local SEO Is Still A Must
Although not as significant as in the past, improving your local SEO still pays off. In the next two years, local searches will be for things nearby. So, if you want to rank well in your local area, you should consider optimizing your website for local searches.
For instance, if you’re a Chicago-based business, you might consider setting up a separate website for chicago.com, which contains only relevant, local content. You can then use local SEO to target customers in your area or send them to the main site for more information.
9. Content Marketing Is The Key
More businesses are getting in on the act now. Most businesses consider content marketing very influential when developing marketing strategies. So, if you want to get ahead, you should consider incorporating content marketing into your strategy.
What’s more, in 2022, companies will embrace content marketing as a way to build trust with potential customers. Businesses that used content marketing saw an increase in leads.
10. Local SEO Is A Must For Multilevel Marketing
In 2023, SMEs (small/medium enterprises) will use some form of multilevel marketing. To get a leg up on the competition, you might consider setting up a separate website for your MLM. This will then allow you to target qualified leads who are interested in what you have to offer. Furthermore, the more levels you have, the better your odds of generating profitable leads.
Consider these!
If you want to improve your SEO, you should consider looking into the above-mentioned changes. While these changes might seem insignificant, you can expect them to impact your SEO strategy significantly. You can easily prepare for future changes with the right information and tools.
