This year of 2023 has seen an increasing move toward user-friendly websites. As Google continues to rank user-friendly websites higher and penalize those that are just too complicated or have too much back and forth, we anticipate that we will continue to see this trend continue.
Blogging has seen a revival at the end of 2022. This trend did seem to be dying off; however, since Google has said that they are introducing algorithms to screen for non-apt backlinks on sites, things have taken a different turn. As a result, there has been an increase in digital PR and a resurgence of blogging, with sites publishing more fresh content to continue appearing relevant when the site is crawled and indexed. The goal here is to be found for key search terms relevant to their business.
Google’s Take on nofollow links
After a decade of Google telling SEO and PR specialists that “nofollow” links are of no use when it comes to helping with a website’s SEO rankings, they’ve actually changed their tune. This type of link was originally intended for forum posts and similar so that people looking to increase SEO rankings couldn’t benefit from just spamming forums with website links. However, this type of backlink has been misused regularly. Since then, people and businesses who genuinely contribute to articles and engage in their business community often receive a “nofollow” link when they are sourced. Moreover, Google doesn’t want websites to increase their SEO rankings simply by purchasing backlinks. As such, Google has now said that contributions to high publicity domains, or domains with good domain authority, will receive a “hint”. As a result, we expect to see an uptake in digital PR and/ or community engagement. This will also play alongside the blogging side of things mentioned previously.
With economic uncertainty looming across almost every economy, businesses will revisit their budgets, including their marketing budget. Naturally, smarter businesses will put more into marketing, knowing that marketing brings sales and that sales are king for any business. However, the knee-jerk reaction for any business is to cut costs wherever possible because this, in theory, should save costs. That’s not always the case, though.
Said by Douglas Boehm Marketing Manager of IHealthspot
It’s always better to stay ahead of the curve, especially with marketing, rather than play catch-up after the fact. This is why we keep our fingers on the pulse of the constantly evolving marketing world so that we are in the best possible position to advise clients wherever and whenever possible.
Let’s enlighten you with some of the top trends in SEO and marketing:
1. Local SEO. In my opinion, local SEO optimization should not be neglected if your organization has a physical location. This is especially significant given that people now include “near me” in their search queries. Therefore, it is necessary to have an optimized GMB (Google My Business) listing with current information. Customers will be able to check for website updates if they have one. In addition, they will learn about any changes to your work hours, peruse your products/services, and obtain your contact information. Google has also included a ‘nearby’ filter to their shopping tab since it now encourages tiny local businesses to establish their own internet presence. Consequently, having a local SEO will also allow you to target local customers, which is advantageous for both you and your prospects, as they no longer have to worry about long shipping delays.
2. Voice search will continue to grow in popularity as users increasingly turn to their devices to help them find a restaurant or check the weather. As a result, digital marketers must ensure that their content is optimized for voice search, using keywords and phrases that are likely to be used in spoken queries.
3. Artificial intelligence (AI) will play an increasing role in digital marketing, helping marketers target ads and create more relevant content for individual users. AI can also be used to assess the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and track customer behavior over time.
4. Social media marketing will continue to be important, and marketers must find new ways to use social media platforms to reach their target audiences. For example, they may want to experiment with using Snapchat or Periscope for marketing campaigns.
5. Video marketing will become increasingly important as more and more people watch videos online. Marketers will need to produce videos that are both engaging and informative, and they will also need to come up with strategies for distributing those videos online.
6. Content marketing will continue to be a key SEO and digital marketing strategy, and marketers will need to produce high-quality content relevant to their target audiences. In addition, they will need to find new ways to promote their content online.
7. Mobile optimization will become increasingly important as more and more people access the internet via their mobile devices. Therefore, marketers should ensure that all of their content is mobile-friendly and use effective mobile marketing techniques such as app development and responsive design.
Summing up
Today’s consumers are flooded with marketing messages, and the generic tactic no longer works.
Businesses must find ways to stand out from the crowd and resonate with their audience. Personalizing your marketing messages is key to attracting attention with so much competition online. This means tailoring your approach to individual groups and offering a more personalized user experience. This will help you to build relationships with the audience and increase the likelihood of conversions.
The digital landscape is constantly evolving, and businesses will need to adapt along with it. This means tracking your results and optimizing your approach to see the results you are after.
