What’s Changed About SEO in 2023?
As SEO for therapists experts, it's out job to constantly assess the digital marketing landscape. Every month, we discuss if our services adequately address the way Google is headed in 2023 and beyond.
We love the challenge that SEO brings, but it's a full-time job!
To future-proof our services, here are a few things we've noticed about how Google is changing (and what we're doing to address these changes).
Content needs to be better
About a decade ago, you could write a 500-word blog post stuffed with keywords and rank for just about anything.
But one of the reasons users love Google is that they are constantly perfecting their algorithm through algorithm updates. Although different updates target different things, they're all getting at the same bottom line: how do we deliver the best search results for users' searches?
That's why creating high quality content is more important than ever in 2023. In fact, just in August of 2022, Google rolled out their Helpful Content Update. Yup, you guessed it--this update singularly targets content that they don't find helpful.
How Google assesses which content is helpful and which is not isn't entirely known to us, but because of Google's ever-increasing demand of high quality content, we recommend that our clients focus on quality over quantity consistently.
So what do that look like?
We recommend that all of our clients create one piece of content every month that's 1,500+ words long about a specific topic directly related to their niche. If you can use a content optimization tool (we use Surfer SEO!), that will go a long way.
There's a higher burden of proof
Google gets smarter every day.
Google can pick out phonies way more accurately than they used to, so now more than ever, therapists and coaches need to work on building their reputation online and completely focus on becoming a subject matter expert.
The term "subject matter expert" is thrown around a lot, but here's what looks like in practice for SEO.
Getting quoted by or linked to from highly authoritative websites like Huffington Post and Psych Central (we recommend using HARO for this). Link building is crucial to SEO, but quality is once again the name of the game.
Building a subject matter expert library on their blog. Remember that content needs to be better!
Adding EAT signals throughout their website. EAT stands for expertise, authority, and trust. You can communicate EAT on your website through logo walls (and link to the sites that you've been featured or quoted on) and a robust author bio that mentions your credentials and experience.
Remember that we can say whatever we want about ourselves on the internet, but it's our job to prove what we say to Google with SEO.
There are no quick fixes
I still see our competitors advertising quick fixes for SEO.
But in 2023, there are no shortcuts to ranking on Google.
Becoming a subject matter expert takes time, and there's no workaround for building your reputation. That's true for the real world, and it's true for the online world as well.
We encourage you to think critically about too-good-to-be-true sounding promises like "guaranteed page one rankings in months." This is an unethical promise, and it might not even mean anything.
Here's what we mean.
We could write a post on your blog for you about "the best hot sauce for eggs" and likely rank on page one within a few weeks. That's pretty cool, but ranking for the best hot sauce for eggs will not sign you any clients.
So when someone guarantees page one rankings, make sure that those keywords are searched enough and will actually contribute to your bottom line.
Google Business is becoming more difficult
Getting an address verified on Google Business is becoming more and more difficult.
A few years ago, we had little to no trouble getting our clients' Google Business profiles verified. But in the last few months, this process is becoming so haphazard that we no longer off a set-up service.
Some of our clients have been asked for business licenses with addresses, lease documents, pictures of signage, and videos of office staff to prove that their listing is legitimate.
Not all of our clients can provide this evidence, so their listings get suspended or disapproved from the get-go.
What used to be a pretty fool-proof and uncomplicated SEO strategy has become finicky and difficult.
That's why we recommend that before you commit to Google Business, you verify your listing first and take extra steps to make your listing as legitimate as possible.
TikTok is becoming a search engine
Many TikTok users are looking to the social media platform for product and travel recommendations. In fact, 40% of Gen Z prefers TikTok as a search engine instead of Google.
Instead of searching "best moisturizer for dry skin" on Google, they'll take to TikTok and see what's trending and what their favorite influencers recommend.
We don't predict TikTok ever totally replacing or even surpassing Google, but TikTok is beginning to take up a percentage of the search engine market. This would be a pretty big blow to Google since their only real competitor is Bing, who only has less than 3% of the global marketshare compared to Google's 92%.
Long story short, if you plan on investing in social media marketing, we recommend TikTok or Pinterest since they not only offer exposure on users' feeds but in their searches as well.
How to future-proof your SEO strategy
Whether you've done some SEO before or are hoping to invest in 2023, here's what we recommend prioritizing this year.
Consistently create high quality content. Just add one page or blog post to your website every month, and make it good!
Add logos from your media features throughout your website.
Create a robust author bio for your blog posts.
Sign up for HARO and commit to regularly responding to journalists' queries.
Be careful with who you invest in SEO with and prepare for a longer-term return on investment.
Take time to find a legitimate office for Google Business. When submitting the listing, make sure to fill out the listing in its entirety (the more pictures and videos the better!).
If you're going to do social media, consider investing in TikTok.
Are you ready to become a subject matter expert online? Contact us today to learn more about our SEO services.
