Trying to guess how the SEO landscape will be in the next year seems to have become a kind of tradition that we usually do when we first enter the new year.
If we flash back a little bit to the past year, there were many 'challenges' that I—and perhaps also my fellow SEO practitioners—faced in carrying out optimization.
Starting from crawling and indexing issues, the emergence of new updates from Google that require us to readjust our strategies, to the increasing popularity of the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence), especially in content creation practices.
Well, of course, it is certain that this year we will also find many new trends emerging that will more or less influence how friends compile and implement SEO strategies that produce results.
On this occasion, I will try to share a little of my predictions regarding what SEO trends might occur in the future, and how friends need to respond to them.
What will be the future of SEO?
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| What will be the future of SEO? |
Search Engine Optimization is a must to increase traffic to your website. Of course, this is done so that your website is always ranked first in a search on Google. There are many ways to make a website always rank first, but there are things that must be considered at this time.
This is because Google is always improving the algorithm in its search engine. User experience and user engagement are two things that Google pays attention to. So, SEO tricks that were once weapons to make your website rank first, may now change because they are no longer relevant. There are several things you should pay attention to, here is the review..!!
1. High Demand for AI and Machine Learning in SEO
A survey by McKinsey states that AI adoption has more than doubled in the last five years, and the presence of AI and ML in the SEO industry is no different.
Artificial intelligence refers to the development of computer systems that perform tasks that require human intelligence, such as problem solving, learning, and decision making. In contrast, machine learning (ML) is a subset of AI that focuses on creating algorithms that allow computers to learn from data and improve their performance over time without explicit programming.
While there are many innovative ways to use AI in business, SEO experts are more inclined to use AI and ML to do what has been done manually for a long time. Don’t get me wrong, bots have been used in SEO for a while to automate tasks like spam link building, but the use of AI and ML in 2023 will be for classification, identification, and content creation.
The speed with which AI can assist with SEO tasks such as keyword grouping, identifying the intent behind a search phrase, and predicting the topic of an article using Google’s NLP API means that SEOs are much better at creating relevance between content and its backlinks, which in turn drives better results.
In addition, AI has contributed a lot to content generation. This eliminates the need for humans to write content. However, Google’s helpful content updates still ensure that the results displayed are content that is useful to humans.
2. The Rise of Voice Search
Statista predicts that there will be 8 billion voice assistants in use by 2024. That means there will be at least one assistant for every creature on the planet.
It’s no wonder that voice search continues to be a vital aspect of digital technology, as it offers a convenient and hands-free method for users to access information. Over the past decade, the adoption of voice search has grown substantially, driven by advancements in speech recognition technology and the increasing use of smartphones and smart speakers.
The increasing reliance on mobile devices with assistants like Amazon Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant has become more accurate and sophisticated, enabling seamless voice interactions for a variety of tasks, including search.
Additionally, the rise of smart speakers and IoT devices has made voice search a part of everyday life for many households. For example, I recently had a baby boy join our family, and having a smart speaker trained to listen for “Baby going to sleep” has been a huge help when both of my hands are busy trying to keep the baby from barrel rolling on the changing table.
As a result, we have become more accustomed to voice interactions, increasing our use of voice search.
Pro Tip: Voice assistants will only read the first result on the SERP. I have found that targeting featured snippets is an effective way to be the answer that is read aloud.
3. Google’s Quality Guidelines Will Still Matter
The QRGs continue to grow, but you have no choice but to familiarize yourself with them as a webmaster.
The Google Quality Rater Guidelines (QRGs) are essential because they provide insight into how Google assesses and ranks web content. Human quality raters use these guidelines to evaluate websites and inform Google’s algorithm updates. Understanding the QRGs helps web admins, SEO professionals, and content creators align their strategies with Google’s expectations, ultimately improving their site’s visibility and performance in search results.
In December 2022, Google updated the QRGs and added another E to the famous E-A-T.
As a webmaster, you can share some anecdotes from your past to show your Experience (latest E). If you can show your past experience (E), it can show that you are an expert on a particular topic. While getting mentions and references from other niche sites can show that you are an authority (A) and a trusted resource. All of the above will increase trust (T).
This adds to the basic requirement of making sure your page does and provides what it says it will do.
4. Positive User Experience Will Be a Priority
For years, SEO experts have asked for guidance on how to meet and improve UX, and in 2021, we got Core Web Vitals that centered around the user experience on a website.
But in 2023, that’s not enough for SEO. Not only does your website need to be easy to use, but its content also needs to be useful to users. In August 2022, Google released the Helpful Content Update, and it made another change in December 2022 .
The gist of these updates?
Your website should make “…visitors feel like they’ve had a great experience…”
This is highly subjective as it depends entirely on the reader at the time, but here are some basic tips for improving the user experience for your website:
- Breaking content into smaller paragraphs
- Using meaningful heading tags and bullet points
- Simplifying navigation
- Focusing on page speed
- Prioritizing mobile users
- Leveraging search data to inform site architecture
5. Keyword Research Will Still Be Useful, But It’s Only Part of the Picture
This is a fundamental skill for any SEO. However, many practitioners jump straight into keyword tools without truly understanding their target audience. This needs to change in 2023, as it’s the only way to differentiate yourself from the plethora of similar-sounding content in the top 10 SERP results.
Understand your target audience and start by defining their needs, preferences, and pain points. This understanding will guide your keyword research and help you create content that appeals to your audience. Use research tools like GWI or SparkToro to get more insight than just keywords.
Conduct user research surveys and listen to what your audience is saying online about you or your competitors.
6. Featured & Rich Snippets Dominate Search Engines
In 2016, I worked with a client who was ranking #1 for a selected term, but at the time, the ranking report didn’t take into account the coveted ‘position 0’ of the featured snippet. For three months, I pondered why traffic had plummeted until I looked at the SERPs, and that’s when I discovered that another website, not even a direct competitor, was ranking in the featured snippet, stealing all our clicks.
This was the time when research into Zero-Click Search came into play.
Seven years later, the SERP is still changing, and more rich snippets are being displayed than ever before. Some of them can hurt your CTR, and some will help you.
Here are some of the features that are dominating SERP real estate:
a. Image packs
b. Filter
c. Shopping Products & Reviews
7. More Focus on Shopping and Merchant Features
It’s been reported that over 36% of online shoppers worldwide start their product searches on leading local marketplaces, and based on the SERP features available to shoppers, search engines like Google are scrambling to reclaim this market.
The global ecommerce market is expected to reach $6.3 trillion by 2023 and $8.1 trillion by 2026, making it a significant market share to capture.
That’s why if you’re an ecommerce store, Google is paying attention to you because, in May 2022, Google announced its integration with Shopify and, later in September, wrote about 9 new tools available to merchants.
Some of these features include viewing trends, shopping with filters, using rich media, and shopping in 3D. Now, even if you’re not a Shopify user, you can take advantage of these features by implementing Product Schema on your store.
8. Updating and Refreshing Content
In the first three months of 2023, Google has already rolled out two updates, Product Reviews in February and a core update in March, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more algorithm updates to keep up with the pace at which AI technology is changing the field, as well as shopping features, both of which are related to the trends I mentioned above.
To ensure that your website isn’t negatively impacted, you should keep an eye on when changes are announced, reported by various ranking tracking tools, or when you see chatter in online forums.
Whenever there is an algorithm update, I always recommend breaking down the ranking changes to identify commonalities in results, regardless of whether your personal results have improved or decreased; that way, you know what you need to change or do more about.
QRG and EEAT are very important in 2023, as highlighted earlier.
9. Social SEO is hot!
I was surprised by the number of websites that still had the G+ social icon on their website even though the social platform was killed by Google after eight years. The reverse has been tried since 2015, but nothing has worked.
Social is social, search is search.
Until TikTok came along.
So successful have they been at attracting users to the platform, that Facebook even announced that they were changing their algorithm from a social graph to an interest graph.
In an interview last year about the future of technology, Prabhakar Raghavan, Senior Vice President at Google, said that over 40% of young people go to Instagram or TikTok to start their search for anything, including “…businesses and products, but also to ask questions about how to do things and find explanations for what they mean.”
While this search activity doesn’t happen on Google’s search engine, it does happen on TikTok’s search engine, so I think it’s worth mentioning.
The secret to getting discovered on TikTok is through the various textual means, such as captions, video titles, spoken words, and hashtags. It’s also about the actions users take, such as liking and sharing, but also what they don’t do.
TikTok is known for pushing the boundaries of recommendations and will put something in front of you and keep testing until it knows that your feed is really what you’re interested in, and that’s what makes it so powerful. With this app, you’re just sorting through content and curating what you want to see more of.
10. Topical Authority
Google uses topical authority to determine which experts can best help users with their questions. This is closely related to Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). With proven expertise, you build authority and trust in your industry.
To build authority, you need to cover all questions within a topic, not just the ones that are easy to rank for. You will create content that answers every question or query in your content. Go beyond the basics and dive into more detailed explanations, examples, and case studies.
Will SEO exist in 5 years?
SEO, or search engine optimization, is fundamentally about making content discoverable and appealing to search engines like Google and Bing. Over the years, the core principles of SEO have evolved, but the need for SEO has not diminished. This is because search engines continuously update their algorithms to better understand and satisfy user queries.
Looking ahead, SEO is likely to remain relevant for several reasons:
Search Engines as Primary Information Gateways: Search engines continue to be the primary method most people use to access information on the internet. As long as this remains true, there will be competition for visibility on these platforms.
1. Complex Algorithms and AI Advancements
Search engines are increasingly using AI to improve the relevancy and personalization of search results. SEO will need to adapt to these technologies, understanding new ranking factors and integrating more sophisticated techniques.
2. Increasing Content Volume
The internet is growing exponentially in terms of content volume. SEO helps in managing this deluge by ensuring that quality and relevant content reaches the intended audience.
3. Integration with Other Digital Marketing Strategies
SEO increasingly overlaps with other areas of digital marketing like social media and content marketing. This integration helps in building a holistic online presence that benefits overall visibility.
4. Voice Search and Mobile Optimization
With the rise of mobile browsing and voice-activated technologies, SEO strategies are evolving. There’s a shift towards optimizing for local search, conversational queries, and ensuring mobile-friendly websites.
In conclusion, while the tactics and strategies may change, the essence of SEO—improving visibility in search engine results—will likely remain important. As search technologies and user behaviors evolve, so too will SEO, making it an indispensable part of digital marketing strategies in the foreseeable future.
Simply, SEO will be around in 5 years. SEO will continue to evolve and adapt to the ever-changing digital landscape. AI and machine learning will dominate, voice search optimization will be critical, user experience will play a major role, and local SEO will continue to be important for businesses.
Conclusion
Stay Ahead of SEO Trends in an Ever-Changing SEO Landscape. Search is becoming increasingly difficult with so many technological changes happening simultaneously, both from search giants and competitors trying to steal your attention.
Stay on top of developments, set up alerts, and most importantly, keep working on your campaigns so you can dominate the market.