Google is always coming up with new algorithm updates, making the SEO industry unpredictable. In 2022 alone, numerous changes have left many marketers and SEO resellers in the dark.
The SEO industry is the most dynamic and ever-evolving. The trends that worked wonders in 2022 may not have the same effect in 2023, since Google algorithms are getting smarter and new technologies are coming into play. For instance, voice search has become a major trend in recent years and is expected to be even more popular in the coming years as people are becoming more reliant on voice search for everyday tasks.
As we enter 2023, the trends we see are even more exciting. As a reseller of white label SEO services, understanding and staying on top of these trends can help you give your clients the best advice.
Without further ado, here are the top 21 SEO trends for 2023 that every reseller should keep an eye out for:
1. A Decline in Organic CTR
We have seen a continuous decline in click-through ratio (CTR) from organic search results since Google incorporated multiple SERP features that directly answer user queries. This means users are getting the answers they need without having to navigate away from the search results, which is why SEO resellers must focus on optimizing content for featured snippets and other SERP features.
Google is focused on keeping users within its ecosystem, giving it more control to provide relevant information. In addition, the more time users spend on Google, the more ads it can serve, and the more chances users have to engage with its associated services like Maps, YouTube, Shopping, etc.
For instance, if you look at the query “buy iPhone 14 pro max”, you will see that Google has incorporated several SERP features like Shopping Ads, YouTube Videos, and more.
Google is also focused on providing users with instant answers with its People Also Asked section, followed by Apple’s official website.
This means that users are unlikely to click through to the organic search results for this query since they can get all the information they need right within the SERP. We believe that this trend will continue to increase in 2023 as Google wants users to spend more time on its associated verticals.
If we look at the statistics, the top-ranking site on search results pages gets around 43% of clicks, followed by 37% and 29% for the ones that rank on positions two and three, respectively. This shows a huge potential for SEO resellers to capture more clicks by optimizing for the SERP features.
2. AI-Generated Content
AI content generation has been making waves in the last few years due to its ability to create relevant content quickly and accurately. With ChatGPT, OpenAI’s AI-powered content generation technology, you can now generate entire articles in minutes.
We expect that more businesses will start utilizing AI-generated content as a lot of improvements have happened in the last few years in making AI-generated content better. Google’s algorithms are still having a tough time distinguishing AI-generated content from human-generated ones.
GPT3.5 has made unparalleled advancements in natural language understanding that can make AI-generated content better than ever before. Although Google uses the same natural language processing to improve its machine learning algorithms to understand the content on the web, OpenAI seems to be on a mission to provide the power of AI content creation to everyone.
Google has been actively discouraging websites from using AI-generated content and has launched two Helpful Content Updates in the recent past that have been aimed at cracking down on websites that use AI-generated content. But AI content generators like Jasper and Copy Ai have gained traction in the last few years and are used for content creation on a large scale due to their scalability.
However, we recommend using AI content generators with caution as they are not yet advanced enough to replace human writers completely. Moreover, adding in inputs and suggestions can help add more value to the content generated by AI content generators.
We believe that AI-generated content has the potential to revolutionize the SEO industry. Still, it should be used with care as Google is actively encouraging websites to create useful and unique content.
3. CALM – Google’s Answer to GPT3
Language models like T5, GPT3, PaLM, and LaMDA have made impressive strides in language understanding, but at NeurIPS 2022, Google presented a new approach called CALM (Confident Adaptive Language Modeling) that looks to be the answer to GPT3.
Google’s approach uses confidence-based sampling and beam search to improve the speed of text generation during inference. This new approach allows language models to identify which words and phrases are important and then prioritize them to generate the most relevant output.
CALM has been trained on a fraction of the training data required by GPT3 and is more energy efficient than other models. With its quick inference speed, CALM can be used on edge devices with minimal latency.
Google is confident that its new approach can significantly reduce the amount of time and energy required to generate texts, making it a viable option for webmasters and SEOs. We believe that the introduction of CALM will make a huge impact on the industry, and we are excited to see how it will be used to optimize content for better search engine rankings.
4. Continuation of Google’s Efforts to Identify AI Content
AI content is likely to become more prevalent in 2023 than today, and Google has already stated its intention to find and penalize sites that use AI content. It is likely that Google will continue to use its algorithms to identify AI content and penalize sites using it.
It has already released two updates aimed at reducing the use of AI content, and it is likely to continue this trend in 2023 as well. Additionally, Google has also stated that it is improving its algorithms to make them more effective in recognizing AI content and penalizing sites using it.
However, Google’s current algorithms are far from perfect when it comes to recognizing AI content, and there is still a long way to go. We believe that Google will continue to work on its algorithms to make them more accurate and effective in recognizing AI content and penalizing sites using it.
Therefore, SEO resellers need to be aware of this trend and develop strategies that focus on creating unique and useful content. They should also consider using AI content generators with caution, as Google will likely continue its efforts to identify and penalize websites that use AI content. Overall, SEO resellers should keep an eye on the evolving SEO landscape and adjust their strategies accordingly.
5. Entity-Based Search
Google has also been indicating that it is moving towards an entity-based search. This means that instead of just looking for keywords, Google will be able to understand the entities associated with those keywords and rank content accordingly. They have already started mapping authors to niches and topics, which is the first step toward better understanding the context of the content.
This shift from keyword-based to entity-based search has already made the sun set on personal blogs, as it is difficult for them to compete with websites with more resources and visibility. With this new trend, SEO resellers need to focus on creating more useful and unique content, as Google will be able to understand the context better. They also need to ensure that their authors have E.E.A.T, i.e., Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness in the topic to ensure that their content is ranked higher by Google.
Overall, it is clear that E.E.A.T will be an important factor to consider in SEO in 2023, as Google is focusing on creating a more contextually-relevant search experience.
6. E.E.A.T
The term EAT stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It is Google’s way of ensuring that the content in its search results is accurate, honest, safe, and reliable. Google has been increasingly focused on EAT since the 2018 medic update.
Google has recently added experience as a fourth factor to E.E.A.T, making it E E A T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). This is an important addition as it adds more value to content generated by AI content generators.
What does experience mean in this context?
According to Google, experience means that the author, brand, or website has direct first-hand experience with what is conveyed in the main content. This means that if a website is writing about a product or service, it should have used it first-hand to be viewed as reliable and trustworthy by Google.
For instance, if your site is related to a niche wherein your products, services, content, or suggestions can affect health, financial stability, or safety or impact society in any way, it will require higher E.E.A.T weightage. For online stores and review sites, their content must follow Google’s E.E.A.T guidelines to ensure that they are not penalized by Google’s algorithms.
In general, content produced by someone with direct personal experience and knowledge on the topic is more likely to rank higher than generic content.
We believe that Google’s E.E.A.T updates are likely to become more stringent in 2023, and SEO resellers should be prepared to shift their strategies accordingly. They should focus on producing high-quality, useful, and unique content written by an author with relevant experience and expertise in the topic.
7. Helpful Content
People’s search intent and behavior have been changing over the years. They use Google to find answers to their questions or to learn more about a topic.
In 2023, it is expected that Google will prioritize content that helps the readers. Content should be useful and provide an answer or solution to the query. Furthermore, it should also be interesting and engaging enough to keep the readers interested.
Google is constantly improving its algorithms and focusing more on user experience. Google will likely prioritize content based on its helpfulness, ingenuity, and clarity. Content should not only provide answers to the query but also give users an insight into the brand, product, or service.
In addition to helpful content, SEO resellers should also focus on user intent and behavior. They should pay attention to the language used by users when searching for information and create content that is tailored to their needs.
8. Long-Form Content
Long-form content has been gaining importance in the past few years, and it is not likely to change anytime soon. As more and more people prefer to get all their information from one source, long-form content will be highly preferred in 2023.
Content should be at least 2000 words long and follow the E.E.A.T guidelines to ensure that it is reliable and trustworthy. It should provide an in-depth look at the topic and be comprehensive enough to answer all the related questions.
In addition, content should also include visuals such as images, GIFs, and videos. This will help keep readers engaged and make the content more interesting.
9. Refreshing Content
Google loves fresh content. Regularly update the content on your website, as this can help improve its rankings on search engines. Content should be updated with relevant information or data related to the topic.
SEO resellers should focus on refreshing existing content instead of creating new content. This will help them save time and resources while ensuring that the content is up-to-date and accurate.
In conclusion, content should be regularly updated and refreshed to remain relevant in 2023. All content should also follow the E.E.A.T guidelines and should be helpful, creative, and engaging to readers.
10. High-Quality Niche Links
Google’s recent spam link update has made it more difficult for websites to get away with low-quality backlinks. In fact, Google has been spreading a lot of fear about getting penalized for building backlinks. And while it is true that Google has been continuously failing to crack down on link-building practices such as blogger outreach, guest posting, and link exchange.
In 2023, SEO resellers are advised to focus on building high-quality niche links instead. These links should be relevant to the website’s topic and should come from authoritative websites within the niche. This will help improve the credibility of their content and make it easier for Google to recognize their website as an authority in the niche.
In addition, link-building should be done slowly and steadily over time to ensure that it looks natural and organic. SEO resellers should also ensure that they are not using any black-hat techniques or buying links, as such practices will lead to a Google penalty.
11. Reduction in Crawling and Indexing Frequency by Google
Google is reducing the number of times it crawls and indexes websites. Since 2021, Google has considerably reduced that crawl rate, which is why IndexNow was introduced as one of the SEO trends for 2022.
With Index Now, websites can inform search engines about any content changes that happen on their website. This makes it easier and faster for search engines to crawl and index their content. Unfortunately, Google has yet to adopt a protocol like IndexNow, while Bing and Yandex have already adopted it.
Indexing and crawling are essential for any search engine as it helps them discover and store information from web pages. This, in turn, helps users find the most relevant content when they perform a search. However, like any other form of computing, it can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental concerns.
Since Google is committed to its carbon-neutral policy, they are trying to reduce its carbon footprint completely by 2030. We believe this can be done by optimizing algorithms and using technologies to reduce the amount of energy required for indexing and crawling.
As an SEO reseller, keep in mind that Google is reducing the number of times it crawls and indexes websites. Therefore, regularly update the content on your website and keep it fresh to ensure that it is indexed more often.
12. Passage Indexing
Google’s recent announcement of its new algorithm called Passage Indexing has been making waves in the SEO industry. This algorithm uses natural language processing to understand the meaning of each passage within the page.
This means that Google can now understand the context of a web page or article better than just looking at keywords and phrases. This will help search engines return more relevant results to users by indexing the content of a page instead of just looking at its keywords.
Note that the Passage Indexing, being an internal ranking factor, will have a greater impact on the results in the SERPs in the coming years. This also means that in 2023 Google will be more focused on improving the ranking of holistic content.
13. Core Web Vitals
Before Passage Indexing, SEOs were all talking about Core Web Vitals, which Google rolled out to measure and improve the performance of web pages. Google has been pushing webmasters to provide a better page experience to their users since its Page Experience Algorithm launched.
Core Web Vitals measure three aspects of page performance: loading, interactivity, and visual stability. It uses the field data collected from Chrome users to measure the user experience of web pages and create metrics that webmasters can use to improve page performance.
Google has pointed out that although Core Web Vitals may not be a primary signal to rank pages on SERP, it will continue to rank web pages with high-quality content and links even if the site doesn’t comply with Web Vitals standards.
As an SEO reseller, you must activate accelerated mobile pages (AMP) to optimize your site for Web Vitals to save time and money.
14. Localized SEO
In 2023, local businesses will observe more traction from Google as the search engine prioritizes highly localized results. As an SEO reseller, you should take advantage of Google My Business and other review sites to get more positive reviews, as Google may end up rewarding the local businesses that can prove their value to the local market.
Additionally, as Google is increasingly focusing on country-specific content and businesses, you should understand how to optimize a website for a particular country or region to ensure that their client’s content reaches the desired target audience. By ensuring that the content is adjusted to local language, cultural norms, and regulations, businesses can increase their chances of appearing in localized search results.
15. Customer Retention And LTV
As an SEO reseller, in 2023, you will need to focus more on bridging the gap between web traffic and SEO ROI. Knowing the value of new and existing customers will become increasingly important. Analyzing user behavior patterns, data from emails, and customer journey analytics can help you create more targeted campaigns that encourage customers to purchase more.
By focusing on customer retention, you can increase customer lifetime value (LTV), which is key for any business. Additionally, you should use data analytics to determine how customers interact with your client’s website and how they can be converted into customers. This analysis can help you create better strategies to increase customer retention and LTV.
16. Brand SERP Optimization
In 2023, keeping a tab on brand SERPs and knowledge panels will be highly important. Understanding who you are, what you offer, and the type of audience that your client is targeting will help them make the most out of their search engine visibility.
Additionally, with Google’s increasing focus on personalized knowledge graphs, optimizing a brand’s entire online presence will become important. This includes a website, social media profiles, and a Youtube channel. You should ensure that all of these pages have the same information and branding while ensuring that the content is optimized for search engines.
17. SERP Layout And Functionality Changes
The way content is being viewed or laid out on the website is likely to change drastically in 2023 as Google Passage Ranking gets implemented. This means that instead of having multiple pages on a topic, having an entire page dedicated to that particular topic would be highly beneficial.
Schema and page structures also need to be optimized in order to give search engines an easy way to understand the content. Additionally, including text that is highly readable and easy to understand will help search engines evaluate the content more accurately.
Moreover, with Google testing multiple layout changes and introducing features like autosuggestion and infinite scroll, SEO resellers should be ready to stay ahead of the curve. By staying on top of new features and changes, they can better help their clients make the most out of these changes.
19. Strategic SEO
In 2023, thinking outside the box will be the key to staying ahead in the SEO game. As an SEO reseller, you will need to have a better perspective of the opportunities available in front of you. It is recommended to shift your focus from user behavior to a dual process of understanding the market and taking a more strategic approach.
Utilizing various tools, platforms, and reviews to understand the best practices in the industry will help you build an effective SEO plan tailored to your client’s specific needs.
Additionally, a clear understanding of the customer journey and SEO trends will help you identify potential areas of improvement and create strategies to help your clients dominate their markets.
20. Mobile SEO
In 2023 and years to come, mobile experience will be more crucial than ever. Google has already started significantly prioritizing mobile-friendly websites over desktop ones, which is expected to continue in 2023.
Therefore, it is important to ensure that your client’s website is optimized for both mobile and desktop devices. This includes designing a responsive website with the same content for both versions. Additionally, optimizing page speed and loading time on mobile devices will be important.
Finally, ensuring that the website complies with Google’s mobile-friendly guidelines and tracking user behavior on both versions of the website will be important.
21. SEO Scalability
To beat your competitors in 2023, you need to ensure that your SEO services are scalable and fast. They should be able to handle larger workloads without compromising quality and should be able to adapt to changes in the market quickly.
Identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) is recommended for this purpose, as this will help you measure your progress and ensure that your services meet your clients’ needs.
In addition, having a system in place to test different strategies and analyze results will help you make more informed decisions. This will enable you to grow your SEO services confidently and help you stay one step ahead of your competition.
By focusing on building scalability in these areas, you can ensure that your SEO services are ready to meet the demands of the market in 2023 and beyond.
The SEO landscape is constantly changing, so it is important for SEO resellers to stay on top of the latest developments to help their clients get ahead in 2023. Staying up-to-date with the latest SEO trends and technologies, optimizing content for both desktop and mobile devices, creating scalable strategies, and using data-driven approaches will all be essential for success.
With the right approach, SEO resellers can help their clients beat the competition and dominate their respective markets. So start planning ahead and get ready to take your SEO services to the next level in 2023!
