Are You SEO-Ready For 2023?

If you think your website SEO score is 100 and that you have done a perfect job, think again!

Here are some facts that you may want to rethink SEO for 2023.

Did you know?

• — According to Google search statistics, it handles more than 3.5 billion daily searches and a whopping 40000 searches per second. How many searches are you competing with?
• — Google has a 92.70% share of the global search engine market. (Followed by Bing at 2.78% and Yahoo at 1.60%. How long can your SEO stay at a high score?
• — Only 0.63% of users get past the first page on Google! How long will a good SEO score keep you on the first page? SEO is evolving every day.
• — Google’s algorithms have undergone 3000 changes and will keep updating for a better user experience. Is your content changing as per Google’s algorithm?
• — Mobile searches containing “Near Me” increased by 250%. Is your product/service optimized for local SEO?
• — 61% of product searches start on Amazon, 49% on Search Engines, 20% on YouTube, 19% on Facebook & 15% on Instagram. Have you covered all relevant channels?
• — 4.4 million blogs published every day! Will you be able to churn out continuous content to stay on top?
• — 27% of the global population uses voice search on their mobile phones.

Well, let’s face it – your business is in a long queue waiting to get noticed, and a good SEO score is not a guaranteed position on the first page of a search engine!

As algorithms keep changing, some of the things that may considerably depreciate in their value in your SEO efforts are:-

• — Getting more and more backlinks: There was a time when link building was considered an important SEO strategy. Not anymore. Google now analyses the low quality of your backlinks to assess their relevance to your site. Beware! You could be penalized too.
• — Content Quantity v/s Quality: Too many pieces of content or too little content, both are not good for your site.
• — Keyword stuffing: Not anymore a lucrative option for a good SEO strategy. Search engines are getting smarter than thou. Also, if you think having a keyword in your URL is great, it no longer matters.

Let’s get into what’s new and what you should consider in your SEO strategies for 2023.

First things first –

SEO IS YOUR ONLY SOLUTION TO RANK HIGHER IN SEARCH ENGINES, AND IT IS EVOLVING AT GODSPEED. ARE YOU READY TO ACE IT?

Start with your basics first:-

• ​— Keyword research is still relevant: Avoid keyword stuffing but ensure that you have the right keywords ranking high in your business.
• — Page Loading Speed: Critical, especially on mobile.
• — Backlinks are critical: Ensure they come from high-authority pages.
• — Content is still a king: Are you answering your user’s queries to their satisfaction?  Produce regular quality content.
• — Responsive website preferred: With 95% of searches happening on mobile, emphasis on mobile-responsive designs is the call of the times
• — Meta descriptions continue to have a place: Though losing their sheen, the meta description cannot be ignored.
• — Polarize your SEO efforts: Publishing content across relevant channels is critical to your SEO strategy.
• — NAP-optimized GMB & directory listings: This remains a top priority if your business is local.

Here’s what you need to do in 2023 to amp up your SEO game:-

1. Optimize Online Listings: With a quarter of the world’s population shopping online for products & services, online shopping is here to stay.  This calls for enhanced & keyword-optimized content for your product description because Google uses this information to determine the relevancy of the product to the user’s search.
2. Google Lens: The use of Google Lens is increasing. When a consumer wants to buy a particular product seen in an image, Google lens identifies the product from the image and gives users the options to buy from.  Your SEO strategy must include optimization for Google Lens, which you will see in the following points.
3. Image Optimization: Ensure that your website images are optimized with relevancy to the content, named with the right keywords, and a unique alt text. Voice search is gaining momentum, and image optimization will be important to serve consumers with visual disabilities.
4. Voice-Search: With voice search gaining momentum, your content should include conversational keywords followed by short and precise answers. You may want to consider using vernacular keywords, as Google Translate is also acquiring popularity over the years.
5. Video Marketing: Most consumers rely on videos to make a purchase decision, so having more informational videos in your content should be one of the most important aspects to consider in your 2023 SEO strategy. You will find more information in our Video Marketing Trends Blog.
6. EAT Content: What is EAT content? You may wonder.  EAT stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.  Consider co-creating content with your influential customers by adding testimonials, case studies, awards, badges, and backlinks from authoritative websites.
7. Rise of the featured Snippet: Featured snippets are getting more and more popular. When creating content for your searcher, who can eventually convert, think about all the possible questions the searcher can type and ensure your content appears on the top with a bulleted list or a short answer.  Such content could be the FAQ format or the DIY or How-to format.
8. Machine Learning & AI are here to stay: If there is anything growing fast in the digital world, it is Artificial Intelligence or AI. AI is applied in different ways – chatbots, email automation, website personalization, WA business integration, and content optimization.  AI also helps in analytics and performance-driven actions.
9. Semantic Optimization: We got to move beyond keyword research and create semantic entities. And how do we do that?  While the subject is vast, the minimum best you can do is apply structure to your site, become a knowledge graph entity, research on user-intent to create content, amplify your content, and add semantic words to it your content.
10. Invest in talent or outsource your SEO: If businesses want to remain competitive and get the best possible results, they must invest in the right resources.  SEO is increasingly becoming a team play with the combined efforts of writers, content strategists, developers, graphic designers, and search engine strategists.  It is no longer a solo role.

In conclusion, whether your business is already investing in SEO or getting ready to invest, SEO investment is no compromise.  You gotta do what you gotta do.  And 2023 brings in a lot of hope to businesses all around the globe.  New SEO strategies can have a positive impact on your bottom line.