2023 Google Algorithm Updates & SEO Trends

In our popular series of exploring the biggest marketing trends of 2023, it's time to delve into the significance of SEO. With the digital marketing landscape constantly evolving, it's important to stay ahead of the game, and understanding the latest Google algorithm updates and SEO trends for 2023 plays a crucial role in that. SEO is no longer just a trend but a staple in achieving success in the digital world.

In this blog, we'll explore the most recent developments in the world of search engine optimization, including emerging technologies, 2023 SEO strategy, and best practices to help you achieve top rankings and drive traffic to your website in the coming year. From the rise of voice search and the importance of mobile optimization to the impact of artificial intelligence and machine learning, we'll provide a comprehensive overview of what's in store for the world of SEO in 2023.

We will cover: 

• Google Algorithm Updates 2023 & 2022

• SEO Trends 2023: Ranking Factors to Watch

• 2023 Search Trends: Voice, Local, and Visual Search

Google Algorithm Updates 2023 & 2022

With over 10 updates to its search engine ranking algorithm in 2022, marketers need to be more and more vigilant and constantly update their pages to rank better on Google. Here’s a summary of Google's top 3 algorithm updates of 2022.

1. Core ALGORITHM Update - March 2023

March 2023 Google’s Core algorithm update is part of a series of broad changes that Google makes several times a year to search algorithms and systems, designed to improve the assessment of content overall. These changes do not target specific pages or sites and may cause some pages to do better in search results. 

If your content experiences a change after a core update, you should re-evaluate your content strategy. You should focus on offering the best content possible. An audit of impacted pages can help understand how to improve your ranking. Recovery from a broad core update may take a few months.

2. Product Review Update - February 2023

Google's product reviews system rewards high-quality product reviews that provide insightful analysis and original research. The system evaluates product review content on a page-level basis, prioritizing in-depth research over thin content. 

The February 2023 Product Review update primarily affects sites with a substantial amount of product review content. Structured data might help Google better identify product reviews, but it is not the only factor used in ranking content. 

If your content was impacted by a product reviews update, it might not recover until the next update is released. However, changes can happen at any time for various reasons.

3. Helpful Content Algorithm Update - Dec 2022

Released in December, Google’s Helpful Content Update aims to reward content that, as the name suggests, is, in fact, helpful to visitors. Google wants to reward content that gives visitors an overall satisfying experience. Brands need to focus more on creating people-first instead of search-engine-first content.

You can ask yourself these questions about the content to determine whether you’re creating people-first content: 

• After reading your content, will someone leave feeling they've learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal?

• Will someone reading your content leave feeling like they've had a satisfying experience?

If you’ve answered yes to these questions, then you’re on the right track! Create people-first content and only after optimizing it for the search engine to create value for you and your visitors equally. 

4. Google Spam Algorithm Update - April 2022

Image Credits: Google

Google’s SpamBrain, the AI-based spam-prevention system, constantly operates, working to detect search spam year-round. However, Google constantly updates this platform to work better and be more efficient at detecting spam. 

One such update includes link spam update, wherein pages with spammy links will be removed by the system. For companies, this would mean any ranking benefit caused by those spammy links will be removed and would not be applicable in the future. Websites that violate Google’s policy updates will rank lower or might end up not appearing in search results at all. This calls for companies to regularly check these spam policies and keep an eye out for their rankings.

SEO Trends 2023: Ranking Factors to Watch

2023 first quarter is already behind us! As you’ll see in this article, Google frequently updates its algorithm, so staying up to date with it is crucial. We’ve analyzed key ranking factors for you that will play a major role this year to stay on top positions. Keep in mind these SEO ranking factors while revising your strategy this year are as follows:

1. High-Quality Content

Create content that is unique, fresh, and valuable to visitors. With the rise of many AI Tools, Google will reward more valuable content. How will Google systems determine which content is high quality and one that is not? This is where the E-E-A-T framework comes in handy. E-E-A-T stands for: Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

Image Credits: MonsterInsights

2. Backlinks 

Incoming links from other websites to yours will always play a huge role in getting ranked in Google. Remember to use backlinks from authority websites since they are more valuable and will boost your rankings more when compared to lower-rated sites.

3. Search intent and content relevancy 

One of the key deciding factors in ranking on Google’s search results is the relevance of your displayed content to a user's search intent. Search intent simply means the intent behind the user’s search query must be addressed.

For any content to be valuable to the user, it should match the user’s intent behind that query. Is the user looking for a list of services? Are they looking to learn about something? Are they looking to hire someone? Understanding user intent behind a search query is exceptionally important for your business so that you can cater your content to be more suited and in line with your customer’s needs, which in turn will help your rankings on the search engine.

4. Page Loading Speed

Owing to Google’s commitment to providing a great user experience to searchers globally, the loading time of your website pages will play a crucial part in May 2021. Google even added page loading speed into its Core Web Vitals. To provide a Google-ranking-worthy user experience to your visitors, ensure to set a standard for website loading time, and pay attention to your website’s overall loading speed and responsiveness along with loading times of different elements in your website such as fonts, texts, images, or videos.

5. Mobile Friendliness

According to Forbes Advisor, 74% of online users will return to a website that is mobile-friendly. Therefore, it becomes crucial for Google to update their ranking factors to consider the mobile-friendliness of a website.

This means that now rather than just using your website’s desktop version for indexing, the mobile-friendliness will also be assessed to determine your website’s ranking on search page results. Therefore, once you get SEO optimization, remember to check for the mobile-friendliness of your website. 

6. Niche Expertise / Domain Authority 

When we talk about your website’s domain authority, it essentially means a metric to track your website’s expertise around a particular topic. Being a niche expert would entail having around 10+ authoritative pages revolving around a particular keyword, idea, or topic. To move upwards on Google rankings, make sure to produce high-quality, authoritative content that is focused on your industry, niche or main topics that you would like to show up in the search results for.

7. Keyword Optimization

Having a regularly updated and optimized keyword strategy is crucial for you to rank on google’s search results page. Your keywords should match the search terms your users will be searching for and should be prevalent in your meta tags, titles, descriptions, website URL, headings and subheadings, anchor text, and image alt text. However, it is important to avoid keyword overstuffing and find the right balance to rank higher on google.

8. Website Security 

The last thing Google wants for its searchers is to get attacked by hackers over the internet and sabotage its customer’s security. Google flags websites that are considered unsafe and thus suffer the consequences in their ranking positions. Make sure your website uses the HTTPS signal to be deemed safe by google and rank higher on search results.

9. On-Page Experience and User Engagement

Google’s increasing attention to user experience is bound to prefer websites that give a higher quality user experience and thus rank them accordingly. If more visitors like your website, stay on it longer, and interact with it, it gives your website a push toward to top of the ranking pages. Essentially, you want to make sure your users are engaging with your website and track metrics like CTR, bounce rate, time on page, pages per session, etc., to get a good overview of your website’s performance.

2023 Search Trends: Voice, Local, and Visual Search

As the digital landscape continues to evolve so does the way in which people search for information online. Below we will discuss the 3 search trends that are continuing to play a major role also this year,.

1. Local SEO

With Local search becoming increasingly important in recent years, with over 97% of users searching online to find a local business, it's essential for businesses to optimize their websites for local search, including name, address, contact information, and customer reviews. Additionally, businesses should also focus on building their presence on local directories, such as Google My Business, on increasing their visibility to local customers.

2. Voice Search

With the rise of virtual assistants, voice search has become a staple in many people’s everyday lives. According to a Demand Sage, 56% of users use voice search on their smartphones to look up information about a business or brand.

In 2023, it's expected that even more people will turn to voice search to find what they need online, making it essential for businesses to optimize their content for voice search. To do this, focus on creating content that answers common voice search queries in a conversational tone, and utilize structured data to provide additional context to search engines.

3. Visual Search

Visual search refers to the ability to search for information using images rather than text. The rise of visual search engines, such as Google Images and Pinterest Lens, are the driver of this trend. Your business should ensure its images are properly optimized, including descriptive alt tags and file names. Additionally, you should also focus on creating visually appealing content, such as infographics and videos, to increase their visibility in visual search results.

Our Final Thoughts

Reaching success in the world of SEO means it's not just a one-and-done deal; it's all about staying on top of the game and adapting to the ever-changing trends in 2023. So, let's make SEO an essential part of your whole digital marketing plan, shall we?

We get it; keeping up with all the changes can be tough, and sometimes, businesses might feel a bit lost when it comes to their SEO strategy this year.

That's where our digital marketing agency can come in! We help businesses like yours tackle the complex world of SEO with our knowledgeable team. Trust us, we've got your back, and we're ready to help your rankings soar! Check out our SEO Services page to learn more!