Search Engine Optimisation is one of the most dynamic online strategies. As Google's algorithm keeps evolving up to 600 times in a year, SEO trends keep changing.
Google updates like the 2019 Google Caffeine update resulted in faster and more accurate search results, including news and social media results. In addition, the fifth Product Reviews Update in September 2022 intends to rank product review-related information to make results more useful, showing that Google is constantly improving its search results. As a result, SEO specialists must modify their techniques when Google's algorithm changes.
As 2023 approaches, here are SEO trends to know and apply for maximum results.
Advanced SEO Trends to know in 2023.
1. Video Search Optimisation
Video content is currently a top-ranking content form sourced by users. Social media apps like Tiktok and YouTube are gaining unexpected traffic and popularity because of their video content form.
Since more than 60% of TikTok users are from Generation Z, younger people are now using it instead of Google to find new things. And if you do it right, you can use all the buzz about these video channels to increase your organic search traffic and get more leads to your site.
As video content demand increases, Google optimises search to suit consumers' video needs. Optimising your website and content for video searches will place your site in a favourable spot for keyword ranking. With more and more people watching videos, you should incorporate video into your SEO approach. Google is also introducing features to speed up video searches.
Some of the features to pay attention to include the following:
- Clip Markup:
Marking up your film with clips allows viewers to skip to the sections that interest them the most quickly. For example: if you have a video with helpful hints, you can mark tips so viewers can easily skip to the preferred part.
- Seek Markup:
To explain your URL structure to Google, use the Seek markup. Google can automatically highlight essential parts of your video with this data, helping Google create a link to a precise moment in your video.
To optimise your website for SEO, start by incorporating videos into your pages and apply these features using exact and relevant keywords.
These markups improve search rankings and video engagement.
Read more about Video Marketing for your business here.
2. Voice Search Optimization
Voice searches have grown in popularity since the introduction of Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, and Google's Assistant. Approximately 41% of adults and 55% of adolescents in the United States use voice search daily, and these numbers keep increasing.
With new devices like Google Home, Amazon Echo, and the Apple HomePod, it is a trend that is predicted to become a major search technique in the coming years.
To optimise your content for voice search, target conversational keywords and optimise your web for mobile search.
3. Visual Search Optimisation
Images and graphics are essential to every website. They break up content and hold viewers' attention. Unfortunately, as image resolution increases, file sizes grow, slowing server loading.
With the growing need for user-friendly websites, reducing image size without compromising quality is a trend that will continue in 2023. In addition, optimising your photos can increase website traffic and loading speed. Also, page speed affects online shopping as it's essential for web design and user experience.
Nevertheless, optimisation and accessibility go beyond compressing images. Technical SEO can be used before or after a picture is submitted. Naming a relevant and targeted keyword with a photo increases image discoverability and helps online shoppers find products quickly.
4. SEO Trends: AI in Marketing
Artificial intelligence has become one of the hottest topics in marketing today. AI SEO involves using real-time data, statistics and observations to automate tasks. Over 80% of experts use AI in their SEO strategy due to its speed.
There are several ways to implement AI into marketing campaigns, such as using chatbots for customer service, email automation, Data analysis, Idea generation, AI Writers, Content generation, and website personalisation. According to a recent study by Statistica, in 2021, the market for artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing was estimated at 15.84 billion U.S. dollars. Furthermore, the source projected that the value would increase to more than 107.5 billion by 2028.
We've mentioned this before, but there are some significant upsides to AI marketing, and with the rise of more AI tools, it's safe to say AI in marketing is getting bigger come 2023.
5. SEO Trends: Featured Snippet
Featured Snippets are the boxes of search results that frequently appear above the top position on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). They are information from sources that Google thinks will be most helpful for the search intent. This can be done with bullet lists, instructions, tables, or just one or two sentences.
It's a way to increase your organic click-through rate and get 8.6% of clicks, even if your page ranking could be a lot higher. But they should also be re-considered because they increase the number of "no-click searches." This means the viewer didn't click on any search results because the information they were looking for was already in the featured snippet. Before keyword research, you should consider whether the search result has a featured snippet. Answer boxes show up in 12.29% of search queries, and it is known that this makes people less likely to click on other search results.
Want to optimise your content for SEO? Read more here.
6. SEO Trends: Focus on Core Web Vitals
Core web vitals such as page speed, interactivity, and stability will continue to determine a website's ranking factor. However, Google tends to lean towards excellent customer experience and mobile friendliness. Therefore, core web vitals which cover these aspects will be a trend to reckon with.
Even though having good core web vitals can affect your overall page experience score, it won't magically put you at the top of Google's rankings. Knowing your web vitals might help resolve issues like:
- Slow site response
- Slow-loading images, videos
- Ads that change the site's layout
- Dimensionless images
7. SEO Trends: Focus on Non-Google Search Engines
Although Google is a leading search engine platform, people are also beginning to search for valuable content on other search engines like Bing, Amazon, Youtube, Tiktok etc. Seeing these numbers rise is expected in 2023. For example, according to Sellics, 66% of consumers choose Amazon as their first stop when looking for a product. Thus, Amazon is something you must pay attention to if you're in the business of selling things online or for delivery.
So instead of joining the high-end competition on Google, most SEO specialists see positive results in applying their strategies on platforms their audience interacts and buys.
SEO trends: CONCLUSION
Over the past few years, SEO has seen significant development. Having a website and hoping for the best in search engine rankings isn't enough anymore. That's why companies' adoption of SEO strategies has evolved in response to Google's more complex algorithm.
To maintain a dominant position in search engine results pages, you must be abreast of current SEO trends and their application. Have you considered getting any assistance in that field? What other trends can you add to this list?