The Top 12 SEO Trends to Optimize for in 2023

 EO is one of the most dynamic areas of digital marketing because Google is always updating its ranking algorithm to make search a better experience for users. That means each year, marketers have the opportunity to reevaluate the SEO trends shaping the search engine landscape.



That being said, read on for the top 12 SEO trends to watch out for in 2023 and how to align your strategy with them.

Table of contents

  1. The new “E” in E.E.A.T
  2. Audience-targeted, not traffic-targeted content
  3. Increased emphasis on author authority
  4. Satisfying, helpful content
  5. A.I content and content writing software
  6. SEO automation
  7. Changes to CTRs by SERP positions
  8. Product page SEO
  9. SEO competitor analysis
  10. Less crawl frequency
  11. Image SEO revitalized
  12. Fast-loading, high-performing websites

The top SEO trends to align with in 2023

This year is all about displaying expertise and value in our content and continuing to provide high-performing web pages for users. These strategies have always been important throughout the history of SEO, but Google is getting better at evaluating signals and determining what content is actually meeting these standards.

Let’s take a closer look at what I mean and how you can meet those standards.

1. First-hand experience on a topic (the new “E” in E-EAT)

As of December 2022, Google’s popular EAT acronym, (Expertise, Authority, Trust) has gotten an additional E: Experience, making it E-EAT. Google will now consider the experience of the author or creator when evaluating the quality of content.

2023 seo trends - google eeat

So what does “experience,” actually mean? Google wants to see that a content creator has first-hand, real-world experience with the topic discussed.

For example, as the founder of an SEO agency, I have real-world experience and can speak authoritatively on SEO trends that will arise in 2023. However, If I were to create a piece of content on a health website about common causes of heart disease, that would undermine the quality of the content, because I am not a medical professional and have no experience in healthcare.

That means more websites need to take a closer look at not just who their content creators are, but what topics they’re focusing on.

Which leads me to the next two trends.

2. Audience-targeted, not traffic-targeted content

One reason for this increased emphasis on experience is because SEO content creation is proliferating. But if a website that sells financial software is producing blog posts with food recipes, Google crawlers are going to get suspicious. Because does that content actually benefit the target audience of financial software customers? Or, does it help that the website rank for certain high-volume keywords?

You already know the answer. The reality is, businesses whose content strategy is to simply go after search traffic with little or no consideration of what users actually want are unlikely to see ranking success in 2023. Sticking within your general topic and industry areas is essential for creating rank-worthy content.

Not sure what topics to explore in your content? A content planning tool can help you discover relevant industry topics that your target audience is searching for. Enter a keyword, and the tool will show you the many semantically related keywords that users are typing into the search bar.

2023 seo trends - keyword research examples

3. Increased emphasis on author authority

Another reason for Google’s emphasis on experience is the rise of auto-generated content ranking in the SERPs. Google wants to make sure that the content that ranks in 2023 is produced by real people with real audiences in mind.

So what can you do to elevate both the experience and authority of your creators this year? First and foremost, make sure that the people creating your content are, indeed, experts. Then, elevate their experience in the following ways:

  • Include author bios to better and more fully communicate your content creator’s knowledge and areas of expertise
  • Create author pages where you link out to all of the articles on your website that are written by the author
  • Link your creators’ social media accounts so Google can more easily understand through social signals that they are real people and real experts.

Here is an example of a great author bio that helps elevates the experience and authority of the creator as a PPC expert

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