Goodbye 2022 SEO and hello 2023 SEO.
Google has on its hands an unprecedented battle – content can be created at the click of a button, links can be bought, SEO’s have reduced the quality of SERP results by trying to crack the algorithm, younger people are relying on TikTok for both entertainment and product discovery, and then there’s ChatGPT3 with its terrifyingly adept ability to give human-like answers to questions.
Last year, Google acted with its new quality rater guidelines which changed the landscape of Search and SEO. In light of this, 2023 SEO will be easier for real businesses and brands but harder for affiliate blogs. Here’s a look at what 2023 SEO will look like.
Content & Links
Content and links are still a thing and will continue to be so; the only thing is that the physical barrier to creating content has been lowered thanks to AI writing tools. Undoubtedly, Google will penalise sites that make use of AI generated content. How this will happen remains unknown but what we do know is that Google, now more than ever, is looking for quality content.
How content is designed/laid out
There’s never been any doubt – how a user interacts with a page and content on that page matters. However, this will become an increasingly important part of SEO in 2023. Some things to focus on:
- Images
- Charts
- Data
- Captivating H2’s
- Content that engages the mind
- Sufficient topical content spread
User experience
In the good old days, SEO was simple – stuffing a page full of keywords and watching the rankings pour in. In 2023, SEO couldn’t be further from that.
User experience or UX, has become a vital aspect of SEO. Websites these days no longer are served to satisfy search engines; sure, they must adhere to stipulations and guidelines laid out by search engines, but they need to understand the user intent and provide a rich user experience.
Site speed & page performance
Site speed and page performance are part and parcel of user experience. Noticing a bit of a trend here?
Page speed has always been an important ranking factor, but users today expect webpages to load fast which is why prioritising page speed improvements is a 2023 SEO element you simply cannot ignore.
Author authority
In light of auto-generated content, Google wants to make sure that the content rankings on SERPs is produced by real people with expertise and authority.
To elevate the experience and authority of your creators in 2023, you can do the following:
Create author pages – you can use these pages to link out to all the articles written by said author.
Link to the creator’s social media accounts – this will help Google more easily understand through social signals that your creators are real people and experts.
Include author bios – this will help better communicate your content creator’s knowledge and areas of expertise.
There’s one clear common denominator amongst the above points – they’re all focused on the user and providing then with the most informative, educational, mobile-friendly experience. In 2023, devote a significant number of resources to improving the user experience through the improvement of the above mentioned aspects.
