SEO is a living thing; A living being that is constantly changing; That is why we must keep abreast of different trends and perspectives: so as not to be left behind. We must continue to deliver on everything that not Google, but the user, expects to find when they come to our site; It seems simple, but it is not so simple, as users, technologies, devices and yes, of course, Google, change;
It seems that sometimes we forget that we are writing for the person who reads us, who has a concern, doubt or need. Do we really think that we are responding to what the user wants through their search intent? If the answer is “yes”, we are on the right track; It is the foundation that will best support the roots of our web positioning; If we are only thinking about creating a text for thecrawler, full of keywordsand meaningless links, we need to start rethinking everything;
Let’s take a look at what’s to come this year in terms of organic positioning.A year in which,(spoiler),Artificial Intelligencehas swept over us ‘like a wave’, and voice searches are becoming more and more common.
Here we go!
SEO trends in 2023: AI, user experience or Local SEO
The annual report of theSearch Engine Journal reflects that SEO professionals believe that machine learning, AI, Google updates and the elimination of third partiescookieswill be the main changes in organic positioning in 2023;
Let’s break down some of these points;
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a constantly evolving technology that is increasingly being used in the world of SEO.. And it can be positive and negative at the same time for many reasons; What is certain is that it is already turning everything ‘upside down’;
Just a few days ago,Google posted on its blog a Google search guide to AI-generated content. “The appropriate use of AI or automation does not violate our guidelines; In other words, we are referring to content that is not primarily used to manipulate search engine ranking, which infringe our policies aboutspam”, they say;
At the end of the day, one of the big questions is how Google intends to address AI-generated content that may spread misinformation.
His answer seems simple: “These problems exist in both human-generated and AI-generated content; Regardless of how content is created, our systems seek to highlight high quality information from reliable sources, rather than information that contradicts established consensus on important issues; On issues wherethe quality of information is of vital importance, cWhether it is health, civic or financial information, our systems put even more emphasis on signals of trustworthiness;
But beyond what Google is saying, let’s look at how AI will affect SEO in 2023.
We believe that AI can help search engine optimisation by enabling personalisation of results. AI algorithms can analyse users’ search behaviour and preferences to present them with more relevant and personalised results.. This personalisation can help improve the user experience and increase click-through rates; In addition, SEO professionals can leverage this technology to create more effective, user-focused content, which can improve the ranking of the website.
Of course, another of its functions can be to identifying and correcting errors, such as broken links or duplicate content. It can also help identify patterns and trends in user behaviour, which can help SEO professionals optimise website structure to improve the user experience and increase conversion rates;
Another important aspect of AI in SEO is its ability to analyse large amounts of data and provide interesting information on website performance. We can use it to analyse search trends and keywords, which can help create effective content strategies;
However, despite all the benefits that AI can offer to SEO, there are also some challenges that are worth keeping in mind; For example, AI algorithms can be very complex and difficult to understand; Moreover, it can be difficult to ensure that these algorithms are not biased and that they are providing the most accurate results;
By the way, some of these paragraphs have been developed by Artificial Intelligence, would you know which ones?
And, if you are interested in the world of artificial intelligence, we recommend that you read this post on our blog in which we talk about AI and copyright.
Focus on user experience (UX)
User experience has always been an important factor in SEO, but in 2023 it is expected to become even more important; Search engines seek to offer quality results to users and, therefore, sites that offer a fast and satisfactory browsing experience , will benefit the most in terms of positioning.
As we said at the beginning, and we will explain below, it is the creation of quality content that will allow users to find answers to their search needs; But at the same time, a good SEO strategy for titles and tags will help both rankings and improve the user experience.
In addition to this, of course, the website must have a good loading speed; In fact, the latter will not only help you to rank better in Google, but also to get a better position in the search results; users to browse more comfortably and smoothly. All this without forgetting the need to have a design responsive that allows users to access our website from any mobile device;
Quality content
Closely linked to the previous point, content has always been king in SEO, and that will not change; However, search engines are expected to pay even more attention to the quality of content and penalise sites that publish low-quality or misleading content;
Content is at the core of many inbound marketing, communication and digital advertising strategies, and publishing quality content regularly is the best thing we can do for the health of our website, as well as for our positioning;
Of course, we tend to think that only by publishing written articles in our blog we are doing everything necessary to create and maintain that quality content; But the content goes far beyond our blog posts: it has to do with the generation of videos, ebooks, guides or reports, such as our trend reports;
Local SEO
Local SEO is another point to take into account this year; With the undoubted (and increasing) prevalence of the use of our smartphone as a search engine, coupled with local search, it is essential that businesses do that job of complementing their digital presence with their physical location.
There is a key point in all this: Google My Business. This tool is a differentiator in local search results, as this is where the search engine gets most of the information it needs about businesses;
What is important to consider in order to optimise Google My Business to the maximum ?
Quality content
By this we mean the images and videos you upload to your profile: both their keyword optimisation and their quality; Avoid uploading photos or videos of your business or your products that are not of sufficient quality;
NAP
This stands for “name, address and telephone number”; Fill in as much information as possible so that both Google and users will thank you for it;
Include the timetable (and stick to it)
There are things that no one likes, such as arriving at a site that appears to be ‘open’ and it is not; Something as simple as setting a timetable and sticking to it will save you from more than one negative review;
Keywords use
Just as you would do with your website, it is important that you choose the right keywords to optimise your local spot
Categories
Google My Business has a lot of categories and subcategories; Only the first one will be considered the ‘main’ one, although you can choose up to 10 different ones; Take your time to choose the ones that most closely match your type of business, because it is really relevant when it comes to optimising local SEO;
Reviews: Essential!
User reviews are an essential part of Local SEO; To appear above our competition, i.e. among the top positions for our type of business, Google attaches great importance to reviews, especially if the vast majority contain between 4 and 5 stars;
Optimisation for voice
Alexa.
Ok, Google.
Hey, Siri.
This sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
That is exactly what voice search is all about; Did you know that a SEMrush voice search study claims that «70% of all responses returned from voice search occupied a SERP function»?
So important is this factor that we are already familiar with what is known as the Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), a new branch of SEO, which describes all the methods used to optimise your website so that it is more responsive to voice searches;
If you want more information about AEO, this Market Muse articlecan be very useful to you;
To optimise your website for voice search as much as possible, it is important to ask yourself the following questions:
- What kind of keywords in a question would you use to solve this question?
- What would that style of conversation look like?
- Am I giving the right answer to that question?
- What kind of questions are asked in relation to this topic?
- What is the competition doing?
- What response is currently returned for that query?
Focus on privacy
In the world of SEO, privacy has become a critical issue that we must address in the best way possible in order to ensure the protection of users’ personal data and compliance with the law.
Privacy is now more important than ever. Search engines and social networks have updated their privacy policiesto ensure that users have control over the information that is shared; They should therefore be more cautious in the way they collect, store and use user data;
Privacy in SEO is vital for a number of reasons. Firstly, good privacy management can improve the user experience; If visitors trust the security of their personal data, they are more likely to share additional information and spend more time on your website; Besides, search engines also give priority to websites that comply with privacy policies, which means that privacy-conscious websites can rank higher;
On the other hand, if users feel that their personal data is at risk, they are likely to leave the website and look for an alternative; If a data breach occurs, this can cause a significant loss of trust in the brand and, therefore, a decrease in customer loyalty; In addition, privacy laws are becoming increasingly stringent and non-compliance can result in heavy fines and penalties for companies;
In short, technology, and in this case Artificial Intelligence, will continue to affect the organic positioning of our content; But, as we said, what is important, and one of the keys to SEO success is quality.. Does that content respond to the search intent of your audience? Is it quality content? Would you consider your doubts resolved? If the answer to all these questions is “yes”, you are on the right track;
