Search engine optimization (SEO) is constantly evolving, and Google’s algorithm updates are unpredictable yet very influential. The SEO industry is never stagnant, so it’s essential to stay up to date with the consistent flow of algorithm updates and the top SEO trends.

The Top SEO Trends of the Year

If you’re looking to climb the ranks of Google’s SERP or maintain your top positions, it’s crucial to keep up with the year’s latest SEO trends. Google’s algorithm changes quickly and unpredictably, so what may have been working last year may not work this year.

Helpful Content

Google recently announced its newest algorithm update – Helpful Content. Helpful content aims to amplify and boost content explicitly written for people and provides users with useful information while devaluing content written for the sole purpose of SEO. This update is available sitewide – meaning that any content on sites determined to have higher amounts of unhelpful content is more likely to underperform in the search results. Because of this, sites would be better off and could improve their rankings if you remove any unhelpful content.

Passage Index

If you’ve been writing and producing long-form content that isn’t ranking or driving traffic, the passage index may be your most beneficial update. Google is now using the natural language processing feature while reviewing and processing each web page to understand the content’s meaning better. This means that if a particular passage in your article is relevant to the search query, it will show up on search results even if it is buried deep within your article.

Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals are a set of Google ranking factors that better the user experience on websites and has been a critical factor in rankings, only becoming more substantial and more prominent each year. Core Web Vitals consist of three measurements of site speed and interaction:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – The amount of time to load the largest piece of content on the page.
• First Input Delay (FID) – The time it takes for the site to respond to the user’s first interaction with it.
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – The CLS assesses the amount of layout and format changes the site has undergone throughout its life span.

If you improve your Core Web Vitals, you can significantly impact your rankings and online visibility.

People Also Ask

Another SEO trend quickly becoming a critical factor in your online rankings is “people also ask.” In order to scale the ranks of Google’s SERP, provide answers in your article to the common questions section known as “people also ask.” Including keywords and answers to these questions in your header tags can help users find the answers they are looking for and boost your content to the top positions.

AI-Generated Content

AI-generated and optimized content is an SEO trend quickly becoming more and more influential. AI-generated content allows for quicker content creation and maximum optimization, allowing creators to produce loads of content in a short amount of time. This kind of content still needs to be edited with a human touch to ensure complete originality and customization; otherwise, Google can discredit and devalue the content.

New SEO Trends Your Business Needs to Utilize

2023 is around the corner. One of the top trends to dominate the year and will continue to do so is ensuring your content’s intent is relevant and correctly matches the query’s search intent. The search intent and behavior of the user are constantly changing, so it’s critical to align your content and provide the answers to the questions the user is searching for.

Another SEO trend that has been on the rise and isn’t slowing down is the creation of long-form content. High-quality long-form content has the potential to rank higher on search engines because it provides more depth and allows you to make the content relevant with header tags and keywords. Long-form content should be relevant to your site and search queries and be at least 2,000 words long.

As Google’s algorithm continuously changes and updates, one trend that will become more prominent is the push toward more localized search results. As Google Map Pack optimization becomes critical to dominating the ranks in local searches, creating content that matches local search query intent is imperative. On top of that, it is also essential to include the city and state names when targeting local audiences.

Whether you’re a business owner or work in the digital marketing industry, staying up to date with the top SEO trends is imperative. Understanding the changes in Google’s algorithm and adapting to these updates will ensure your SEO strategy includes the top trends for maximum optimization. Learn more about the latest digital marketing trends and techniques by checking out BrandRep’s blogs.