My lord, it’s February 2023 already! I honestly haven’t had my head above the content parapet since Christmas. But I do need to drop in and tell you about the trends in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for 2023, because if you haven’t already instructed your content team, now is the time to do it.

As we get back to some kind of normalcy in business it is important to think about how we stand out among the competition. Part of that is obviously in our products, services and brand identity, but how are you going to stand out online? This is where your SEO comes in because it is a tool you can use to increase your website visibility.

In this blog post, I’ll be covering what 2023’s SEO trends look like, a recap of the foundations we need to remember and how business blogging in particular can help.

Let’s dive in.

Here are some of the trends in search engine optimization (SEO) for 2023

• Voice Search Optimization - With the increasing popularity of virtual assistants like Amazon's Alexa and Google Home, optimising for voice search is a continuing trend to be aware of.

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) - AI and ML will continue to play a major role in search engine algorithms, helping them to better understand user intent and improve search results. This could play to our advantage if we optimise our content correctly.

• Core Web Vitals - in 2020 Google announced that Core Web Vitals became a ranking factor in its algorithm, meaning website owners needed to focus on website speed, loading times, and user experience. I think this is something many businesses are still grappling with, but this year we need to fix it!

• Helpful content - back in August 2022, Google announced their “helpful” update. The aim of this is to rid their SERP results of poor quality and AI-written content, in a move towards offering valuable results for users. This year we need to amplify our content quality.

• Visual content - Video and image-based content as SEO strategies aren’t new, but one worth mentioning again. This is especially poignant this year as Google is continuing to develop products like Google Lens.

• Local SEO - Local search optimization will continue to be important, especially with the rise of hyperlocal searches (highly specific location targeting). Since Covid we’ve been aware that more competitors are honing in on our local clients - now we need to up our game!

While you think about how these trends shape your SEO plans, I’d like to remind you that updating your foundational SEO is also really important.

The frequency of updating your SEO will depend on several factors, including the size and complexity of your website, the competitiveness of your industry, and the changes in search algorithms. 

For the smaller businesses I work with, I create an SEO blog audit every year, but for a larger team, I’d expect to run these quarterly. You’d be surprised at how small changes to existing content can make BIG differences in traffic gains!

Here are some general guidelines for foundational SEO reviews

• Regularly update your content - Fresh and relevant content is important for SEO, so make sure to update your blog or website with new and relevant information. While you are doing this make sure you keep an eye on what you already have, audit it and update it. This will mean being prepared to axe what doesn’t work!

• Monitor your analytics - Regularly monitoring your website's analytics can help you identify any issues with your SEO, and make any necessary updates. Have you upgraded to GA4 yet? If not, read my GA4 guide here.

• Keep up-to-date with algorithm updates - Search algorithms are constantly evolving, so it's important to stay up-to-date with the latest updates and changes. If you are a client, then I do this for you, from a content standpoint.

• Check for broken links and technical issues - Regularly checking for broken links and fixing any technical issues, such as slow loading times or mobile optimization issues, can help to improve your website's ranking in search results.

Overall, it's important to have a consistent and ongoing SEO strategy and to make regular updates and improvements to your website as needed.

Once you have your review process in place, it’s important to consider your approach to SEO. The foundations of your SEO approach should include

• Relevant and high-quality content - The content on your website should be relevant, informative, and engaging for your target audience. Not sure where to start? I recommend looking at your pillar content.

• Keyword research - The quality of your keyword research is important too, so make sure to document your process and make sure everyone follows it.

• On-page optimization - Understanding how you structure new content and individual pages is crucial. This means documenting your process for page titles, layout, images/video, metadata and internal linking.

• Technical SEO - Technical SEO involves optimising the underlying code and infrastructure of your website to improve its visibility and ranking in search engines. This includes things like improving website speed, ensuring that it's mobile-friendly, and fixing any technical issues that may affect its ranking. If you aren’t familiar with how to do this, you will need to find someone who is.

• Link building - Link building involves acquiring backlinks to your website from other relevant and trustworthy websites. These links help to increase your website's visibility and credibility in search engines. A link-building strategy might include guest posting, editorial grabs and more.

• User Experience (UX) - Providing a good user experience is key to keeping visitors on your website, reducing bounce rates and increasing conversions. To maximise your UX your content needs to function. That means it should read well, be presented beautifully and elicit plenty of engagement.

Now while it is important to remind you to optimise your entire website, it would be remiss of me to ignore blogging. After all, as a B2B freelance blogger, this is where my expertise comes to life.

Your business blog is a powerful marketing tool. One that can drive traffic to your site by leveraging user search intent on search engines like Google.

Your blog posts should target new keywords to extend your reach.

Good SEO helps website blogs in several ways

• Improved visibility - Optimising your blog for search engines can improve its visibility and help it rank higher in search results.

• Increased traffic - A higher ranking in search results can lead to increased organic traffic to your blog, providing more opportunities for engagement and conversions.

• Better user experience - Implementing good SEO practices, such as using descriptive and keyword-rich titles, meta descriptions, and header tags can improve the user experience on your blog.

• Increased credibility - Good SEO practices can also help to improve the credibility and authority of your blog, which can lead to more backlinks and a stronger online presence.

• Better engagement - Optimising your blog for search engines can help to improve engagement, as users are more likely to stay on your blog and engage with your content if it's relevant and easily accessible.

So when you are considering your website updates, please don’t forget about your blog. An audit and refresh might be all you need to spring from page two on a search engine to page one!

Writing blog posts isn’t easy, you need to understand your target customer intimately to pick winning topics. And if you want your blogs to reach more potential leads then you need to understand how to write for SEO. There’s a skill to it.

I’ve been blogging since 2007, so you can say I’ve learned a thing or two! Growing up with Google has really helped me. I’ve been there through all the big core updates and sweated the problems of content refreshes to reach bigger traffic numbers.

Since I started writing for other businesses I’ve had to learn the ins and outs of industry differences, topics, and SEO practices, on top of your specific tone of voice. It’s been a lot - but you know what? I love it!

With this in mind, it’s time I turned to you, dear reader, and asked:

Are you unsure if your blog strategy is working for you? Then it’s time for an audit.

If you need a copywriter to create compelling copy, someone who understands SEO, fill in the project brief form below!