3 SEO Trends for 2023

In today’s article we are looking at three SEO trends for 2023 worth considering in this year’s marketing plan.

(1) Keyword Rankings or Click Through Rate (CTR)?

Since the dawn of SEO, every strategy has been based solidly on the performance of keyword rankings. Business owners over the years have spent time and money ensuring their most profitable keywords appear in the top three positions on page one of Google.

But is this still relevant?

Yes, it absolutely is (wait for the but), BUT, taking CTR into consideration will pay dividends in 2023’s marketing strategy. Whilst there’s no getting away from the fact that page one keywords undoubtedly perform better than those on pages 2+, it’s important to understand how page one now looks.

Let’s take a look;

When searching on Google for PPC Middlebrough, we are presented with the following:

Google Ads

Top 3 Google Business Listings

With Google Ads and Google Business listings sitting at the very top of the page, we have yet to come across an organic listing (you will find ICDigital in position 5 for this particular search term).

The point is, being on page one of Google for profitable keywords is great, as long as you bear in mind your advert could potentially be buried among numerous other marketing strategies. With this in mind, a focus on click through rate is more intrinsic now than ever.

How do you do this?

Increasing click through rate fundamentally revolves around the creation of attractive meta titles and descriptions. How will yours stand out from the competition?

(2) People First Focus

It’s no secret that ‘back in the day’, SEO efforts were heavily focussed on content creation purely for search engine robots. Whilst effective, Google was always going to catch up.

The whole purpose of a search engine is to provide the most relevant results to users. Websites focussing on directly answering users questions within content will rank better overall, providing of course, they are doing this better than their competition.

How do you do this?

It’s all about research. You need to determine the information your audience is looking for, translating this into every piece of website content then created.

Consider Dwell Time

Dwell time is the amont of time a user spends on a web page. The longer, the better as this means the user has found their required information. When creating quality content focussed around a specific audience, visitors are likely to spend longer on your site. The longer they spend, the better chance of increased rankings.

(3) Semantic SEO

Semantics is a fundamental piece of the SEO puzzle that should be woven securely into existing strategies. Semantic SEO is required to include the right language for your audience and goes beyond the depths of simple keyword strategies. 

Why is this so important?

Utilising semantic SEO helps algorithms determine and recognise the relevance of your content thus ranking you higher on search engine results pages (SERPS). It’s also important for the following reasons:

• Shows search engine algorithms you’re an expert on your topic
• Means users searching will see you as an authority in your industry
• Helps you directly to improve content with a focus on topics as opposed to keywords

When incorporating semantic keywords into content, search engines have a better chance at returning the best possible results based upon the user’s search.

How do you do this?

• Familiarise yourself with user intent
• Improve internal and external linking structures
• Strengthen keyword research
• Give credence to ‘people also ask’ boxes on Google
• Create and further develop in-depth topic outlines
• Focus on longer content

Taking these three fundamental trends into consideration for SEO in 2023 will help increase keyword rankings and website traffic alike.