It goes without saying that if you have a business in Australia, then your online presence matters.
If you aren’t making the most of your digital marketing efforts, then your competitors are certainly getting more leads and business than you.
Having a top-tier website to accompany your business matters. Above all, SEO matters… a lot!
If you want your business services or products to be found online well into the future, there are a few things you need to consider.
Our SEO analysts have compiled their list of top SEO trends for 2023 and how you can make the most of them for your business.
About SEO
More than 90% of all internet users continue to use Google to search for answers. When we’re talking about upcoming SEO trends, we’re talking about how you can make your business’s website more visible to Google’s spiders and crawlers so its ranks higher in search results.
If you’re a small business owner or a manager of a leading enterprise that’s struggling to get your footing in the world of digital marketing, all is not lost. The good news is that with a few SEO best practices, you’ll be able to meet the algorithm criteria needed to get to the first page on Google SERPs.
SEO is an integral part of digital marketing. It’s been around for years.
However, over the years, search engines have changed significantly in categorising websites and emerging trends.
What does this mean?
Strategies that used to work five to ten years ago won’t work today, and things we may have considered essential in the past are much more critical now.
Let’s take a closer look.
Top SEO trends for 2023
Consider changing your approach to link building.
Remember the golden years of SEO when professionals would spam their links over random directories, which would work? (Core DNA, 2020). This wouldn’t cut it in today’s digital marketing world.
While it remains one of Google’s top three search ranking factors, its golden age is over.
Search engines are continually working towards giving internet users high-quality results. When it realised businesses were manipulating their rankings using masses of low-quality links, they changed their ranking structure.
Today, it’s not about how many links you have but where they come from. If your website has low-quality links, it could potentially hurt your SERP ranking.
This doesn’t mean you should get rid of link building altogether.
According to Baclinko’s LINK BUILDING FOR SEO: The Definitive Guide (2021), “the authority of the page linking to you is what matters most”. Therefore, any article or webpage will rank more when you have more authoritative sources- think of it as a ‘less is more’ scenario.
Don’t spend time hatching deals with lesser authoritative sites with little relevance to your business. Your linking sites should be relevant to yours.
People are taking over robots, literally.
In the past, SEO professionals wrote content catered to search engine robots, spiders and crawlers and writing for people came second, according to Core DNA’s 2020 report “Is SEO Dead? The Answer is Yes, and No”.
Instead of creating high-quality content answering people’s search queries, most businesses resorted to strategies like keyword stuffing and content spinning that checked the necessary SEO boxes but lacked relevancy to users.
Today, the Google search engine is doing a one-eighty and returning to web pages focusing on internet users. For consumers, this is fantastic.
However, if you’re familiar with SEO, you’ve got some catching up. Thanks to semantic search and Google updates, it changed how search engines ranked content- and it will still be one of the biggest SEO trends moving into 2023.
Google’s crawlers are always searching for content that answers people’s questions and delivers more valuable insight and information.
As we move into 2023, longer form and more in-depth content will rank higher than short posts. This is why better-performing websites with guides and ‘how-tos’ as long as 3000 words could make your website rank higher.
As a business owner or content creator, be wary of unattractive fonts and font sizes. Ensure that your website is focused on user experience to coax prospects through your marketing funnel.
Emphasis on predictive search.
Many internet users refer predictive search with Google’s autofill feature. Predictive search is so much more.
It’s more closely associated with Google Discovery- a feed that provides articles and videos to mobile users. Although a relatively young service, Google Discover has since grown in popularity with over 800 million users to date- and it’s only going to continue growing in prominence into 2023.
While the Google Discovery algorithm is still unknown to marketers, predictive search will undoubtedly evolve into more complex information delivery systems. We believe that Google Discover will have the potential to become a valuable tool for bringing website visitors to businesses.
Ranking number 1 in organic search won’t be as significant as it used to be.
This trend isn’t as crazy as it sounds!
Now that Google is evolving, it’s emphasising paid advertising which appears at the top of the search results. Therefore, even if your business website is the first organic result for a particular search term, you will most likely appear below the fold.
One of the biggest trends in 2023 is going back to an older SEO concept- using long-tail keywords.
If you think about it, long-tail keywords are all about the user’s search intent. Instead of targeting generic keywords like “coffee shop”, you’ll want to target “best coffee shop Sydney” or “best coffee shop near me”. Whilst the first search query will undeniably gain more traffic, the following search queries will bring the audience that’s looking for something much more specific to your website.
We suggest narrowing down user intent when creating content for your next SEO strategy. While it might not get you to the top of search results, it will definitely get you the right kind of searchers to your website and almost always means new click-throughs.
Additionally, local SEO will have greater importance in 2023 and beyond!
When people search for local businesses or advice, being shown in one of the three Google maps results is crucial. Not only does it take up a significant portion on screen, but any written content below will be highly localised too!
For example, for a digital marketing agency based in Sydney, look for a Sydney SEO specialist to help your business rank in Sydney.
This theory is also valid for other townships and cities. Whether in Newcastle, Adelaide, Canberra or other significant areas, ensure to optimise your local search visibility to funnel targeted traffic.
Featured Snippets say hello.
Let’s get down to the nuts and bolts of the internet. Why do people use it? To answer their questions.
Whether it’s finding out the current time in another country or a comprehensive guide on how to strain pasta, people are constantly looking for information and answers- it’s human nature!
Google’s realised this too.
Which is why one of the biggest SEO trends in the next year will be ensuring that when users input their search queries about your industry, services or products, your site content appears as a ‘featured snippet’.
Featured snippets are essentially highlighted excerpts of text that appear on the top of Google SERP’s, more commonly known as ‘Position 0’. They can provide internet users with a quick answer to their questions.
When creating your next batch of content, ensure that your snippets are short and to the point, and above all, answer the core question being asked. This content will most likely appear as a featured snippet, meaning higher chances of gaining online traffic!
Image optimisation plays a more prominent role in search.
Google has made it clear that business owners should properly optimise any site they run. Therefore, it’s unsurprising that website images should eventually contribute to user experience.
Whereas images originally served for aesthetic purposes back in the golden day of SEO, more users today will continue to find themselves clicking into pictures to find information or make a purchase.
As we move into the latter half of 2022, SEO practitioners should optimise images of great relevance and high quality while providing custom alt tags and file names.
EAT and ‘be content’ takes a stand.
As business professionals and SEO experts are well aware, content plays an integral role in today’s SEO world.
Search engines match what they ‘think’ is valuable content to users. Therefore, having an optimal content strategy is more crucial than ever. Site content is the backbone of your entire business and essentially your ticket for Google to connect you with your target audience.
Our final SEO trend to keep an eye out for 2023 is creating content strategies that matches your content with search intent.
We recommend revisiting the EAT rating guidelines.
When broadcasting your brand, your content strategy should create a sense of value for users. Your site should also have the right Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness—EAT by leveraging different types of media from audio, video and others to keep your engagement high.
However, keeping within your expertise lane is essential when creating new content as you’ll likely have more chance of ranking well on Google’s SERP. With the right amount of expertise, authority, and trustworthiness, your SEO will likely prosper now and well into 2023.
… and finally,
Choosing the right SEO company is key!
While this is a given, it’s one of the most important SEO trends for 2023.
Good SEO takes time, requires work, and is a process- not an event! Don’t be fooled by big promises! Do your research, check the reviews and don’t hesitate to give companies a call to get a feel for their services.
If you’re looking for an experienced SEO company to help you make the most of Google’s SEO trends for 2023, look no further than AdVisible.
We’d be honoured to get your business ahead of the competition.
Contact the SEO team at AdVisible to learn more about what we do and how we can increase your ROI.
