Five SEO tips for 2023 

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After a tough few years for many companies, our SEO specialists have analysed the latest trends to help you experience a more successful 2023. 

Here we’ll provide you with hot tips to master your SEO strategy and encounter as few algorithm surprises as possible in the year ahead.

The challenging economic situation for the past few years has resulted in some companies lacking resources, alignment, and scaling processes. Strategy issues came as a result, making it difficult for brands to reach their marketing goals. 

In terms of SEO, Google has used the time, as it always does, to analyse rankings, spot SEO tactics, and adapt the algorithm, making digital marketing an even more competitive environment. 

Furthermore, we all know that Google struggled with challenges, such as fake news during the pandemic. More recently, AI has become a big issue, as we’ll discuss below. As such, bots are more and more demanding in quality and veracity as well as originality over quantity.

By now, we all have heard of GPT3, Notion AI, Otter.ai  and many other AI or machine learning tools. They help us in our everyday tasks. Even if the rise of such smart tools is criticised and found threatening by some, the real opportunity with such tools is to embrace them for strategic assets.

AI and machine learning can be used for content optimisation , keyword research to plan out your digital strategy as well as link building (also supported by our PR services). 

For offsite link building, tools like SEMrush can recommend sites to gain links in, in order to get more Google traffic. For onsite linbuilding, you can turn to ChatGPT to help you code a Google Apps Script to automatically do your link building while typing on Google Doc.

So, why are smart tools not a threat to our SEO agency ? The answer is Google is already on the case with AI and has an algorithm to detect AI generated content, marking it as spam. While Google always aims for accurate content, which ChatGPT is impressive in creating, Google always requires unique content that is crafted by humans. 

Did you know that Google algorithms change up to nine times a day? This causes a lot of headaches, as you can imagine, with specific aspects of SEO changing often.

We recommend keeping a close eye on BERT, MUM and EAT; three different algorithms from Google. While BERT and MUM handle complex search engine queries, EAT stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness; three aspects that your digital content must always show. Experts all agree, in 2023 brands must deliver fast loading content and original quality content in order to make a difference. 

In 2023 a key update will be the move from Standard Universal Analytics properties to Google Analytics 4 (GA4). The aim of GA4 is to collect event-based data from websites and from apps. We strongly advise making the move before July 1, 2023; otherwise data collection for digital marketing KPIs and brand reputation will become impossible. 

Lastly, an update we are really excited about at The Monarchs concerns Google Shopping features – keep tuned to our social channels to stay tuned.

Third party cookies are a real opportunity to get to know your audience. But it can be challenging to set up the cookies for data privacy and consent management while maintaining an user-friendly website, especially on mobile. 

Cookies are a great tool for website owners to use in order to improve their SEO. They allow website owners to track how visitors are using their website, what pages they are viewing, and how long they are spending on each page. This data can then be used to make improvements to the website’s design, content, and layout to better serve the needs of the visitors. 

Additionally, cookies can also be used to save user preferences and other data so that the website can be tailored to the individual user. This allows for more customised experiences and can help increase user satisfaction which in turn can help improve SEO. All in all, cookies are a great tool for website owners to use to improve their SEO.

However, as Google’s approach is mobile first, make sure your company has a specialist for this matter. If not, consider reaching out to someone that is. Prioritising cookies over a user-friendly website could do more harm than good – for example, your website speed matters more than really specific data about your customers.

Perhaps triggered by AIs ability to give clear and fast answers, in 2019 Google responded with its ‘zero click’ pages. Giving you an answer without the need to click on a link. 

For Google users, the current issue is most of the answers lack accuracy. But for brands, this is a real opportunity to provide those better answers, rank due to their benefit to users, and in turn achieve more impressions and visibility. 

There are 2 ways to appear in the “zero click” pages: 

Google Direct Answer is a feature that provides a quick and concise response to a user’s search query at the top of the search results page. It’s a summary of the most relevant information related to the user’s query displayed in a separate section at the top of the page. Its purpose is to provide a quick and accurate response to the user’s query, without the user having to click through to a website.

Google Knowledge Panel is a feature that appears in the search results page, providing a summary of the most relevant information about a brand, person, place, or thing. The panel displays information such as a brief description, images, social media profiles, website links, and reviews from various sources. The information is collected from Google’s own search index, as well as trusted sources such as Wikipedia, Google Maps, and Google My Business. The purpose of the Knowledge Panel is to provide users with quick and easy access to the most important information about the topic of their search.

While in years gone by, a company could use paid search results to gain website traffic as a contraption for a lack of SEO, expert analysis that has taken place over the past year shows organic search results were much more valuable and encouraged by the Google algorithm. 

So while Search Engine Ads will still perform, never underestimate the power of organic SEO and organic traffic. 

Indeed, search engine advertising, also known as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, can be a valuable tool for driving traffic to a website and generating leads in the early days. However, it can also be expensive and doesn’t provide a sustainable long-term solution for driving traffic to a website. 

This is why organic SEO and organic traffic can be a cost-effective way to drive traffic to a website in the long run. Organic traffic comes from search engines and social media platforms, and it is driven by content that is relevant, engaging, and optimised for search engines as mentioned before.

This year is going to be challenging in many aspects. Use the above tips to help maintain the focus you need for your company’s SEO strategy. 

Staying competitive on Google means you must stay curious about the latest trends, including for both the algorithm and new content trends. And don’t forget, it’s not just about creating new good quality content, make sure to regularly review, rewrit, or remove non-performing content.

A final thought. Staying on top of things can be really challenging, so don’t hesitate to reach out if you would like to know more about The Monarchs’ services.