2023 is here and I’m excited about what the new year will bring to the SEO world. 2022 was filled with changes in the SEO space – whether it’s algorithm changes or content updates – and I’m anticipating another dynamic year for the SEO landscape in 2023.
Here are the top three SEO trends that small businesses should expect in 2023.
1. Backlinks will remain a strong ranking factor
A backlink is a link from an external website to another website. For example, if site A links to site B in a blog post, the link is considered a backlink for site B. The number of quality backlinks a website earns will continue to play a vital role in SEO in the near future because backlinks show a vote of confidence for a website. If different websites link to website A, the backlinks suggest that website A is a credible source of information, which is why different websites are linking to it. Google will understand that website A is an important and trustworthy website and should be ranked higher on search results so that searchers can find the website more easily and visit the website to gain information that searchers want.
There are a number of approaches in which a business can engage to earn backlinks. Examples include:
- Media feature. If your business has done something incredible or noteworthy, you can reach out to a media company for a feature and include a link to your website in the feature. For example, if your business such as Vancouver gift shop has raised over a certain number of dollars for a Christmas drive for a local charity, you can reach out to your local newspaper and ask them to feature the achievement in an online news article and include a link to your company site in this article.
- Local chamber of commerce. By joining your local chamber of commerce, you can list your business website in the business directory. Doing so lets your business earn a backlink. For example, if you’re a Richmond daycare, you can join your local Richmond chamber to gain a backlink from the directory.
- Create useful content on your website. You can share industry stats or insights on your website that other websites would want to link and refer to on your website. This approach is an organic way to earn backlinks. For example, if you’re a Google Ads Vancouver or a Google Analytics Consultant, you can share blogs about the Google Ads space or Google Analytics trends so that other websites can link to your blogs.
2. Google will have more indexing challenges
Back in July 2022, Google confirmed that it is having issues indexing new content and displaying that content in Google Search and on Google News. In a tweet, Google states that “[t]here’s an ongoing issue with indexing in Google Search that’s affecting a large number of sites. Sites may experience delayed indexing. We’re working on identifying the root cause. Next update will be within 12 hours.”
I believe that this challenge will reoccur in 2023 and beyond because there are simply too many webpages nowadays. Even though Google is a robust machine, it has limitations and it’ll be very difficult for Google to keep up with all the new pages that are created daily. To increase your chances of getting your new webpages indexed by Google, you can submit your website’s XML sitemap or your new pages’ URLs in URL inspection in Google Search Console and request Google to index them.
3. Google Will Launch More Algorithm Updates
Google released several algorithm updates between August 2022 and December 2022, hoping to provide more quality content on search results while limiting the amount of spammy results. Some websites saw an increase in search rankings while other websites witnessed a drop in their search rankings. It’s very difficult to find out exactly what Google has changed in these algorithm rollouts and what factors Google weigh more or less for determining websites’ search rankings. The only approaches that businesses can take to try to minimize the adverse impact of these algorithm updates in 2023 and after (Google will likely roll out algorithm updates in 2023), is create valuable content using relevant keywords and earn quality backlinks so that your website is informative, useful and credible before the eyes of Google. Doing this will increase your chance to remain unimpacted or possibly improve your search rankings during upcoming algorithm updates.
