As you prepare your strategy for the coming year, it’s important to plan for possible future disruptions and challenges.
This year, SEO practitioners have overcome challenges posed by lack of resources, strategic issues, and the ability to scale processes.
Looking ahead to 2023 and beyond, our State of SEO report finds practitioners expect the biggest changes in SEO to be led by machine learning and AI, Google updates, and the demise of third-party cookies. increase.
In this article, we’ll summarize the report’s key data points, highlight three key challenges in particular, and look at relevant SEO trends to help you develop your strategy.
Finally, we discuss the impact of advances in machine learning and AI on search marketing. Does this new search technology pose challenges for you and your business? Read on to learn what our experts have to say.
All insights here are based on our own research data from the annual State Of SEO Report.
Summary of report findings
When asked what their biggest SEO challenge was over the last 12 months, respondents said:
- Lack of resources (14.9%).
- Strategic issues (12.3%).
- Scaling process (11.9%).
- Pandemic-related issues (11.2%).
- Collaboration with other departments (10.7%).
Budget cuts have dropped from the #1 challenge facing SEO professionals in 2021 to #6 this year.
However, the fact that resource scarcity and the scaling process were the biggest challenges in 2022 suggests that the 2021 budget cuts had lasting effects.
Looking ahead to 2023’s potential threats, we asked respondents to select up to three “biggest changes” in SEO and industry changes. Here are the top answers:
- Machine learning and AI (18.7%).
- Google Update (18.0%).
- Removal of third-party cookies (13.9%).
- Google’s zero-click page (12.9%).
- Talent competition (11.5%).
Here are the factors that SEO experts are eyeing as urgent:
- Machine learning and AI (11.3%).
- Core Web Vitals (10.8%).
- EAT & Reliable Sources (10.2%).
- Mobile SEO (9.8%).
- SERP features (8.3%).
SEO professionals often work with limited resources
Lack of resources was cited as the biggest challenge facing SEO in 2022.
While there’s no doubt that the industry is feeling the impact of the budget cuts in 2021, another reason for limited resources is that many SEOs aren’t working with large teams. am.
Over 40% of respondents reported working in teams of 10 members or less, and about 5% said they worked on their own.
Adding new team members can become a challenge in the next year or two.
The State Of SEO Report goes into more detail about the challenges facing SEO professionals and what they’re worried about in the coming year.
Recent and continued growth may prove challenging
Some of the changes in SEO predicted for 2023 and beyond could hinder growth.
Recent and continued growth can prove difficult without the ability to scale as a team, and competition for talent is expected to be a major source of concern over the next two years. .
The deprecation of third-party cookies has made it difficult for SEO professionals and marketers to sustain their recent growth. It is expected to provide similar or better results with less data.
Strategy is a concern for many SEO pros
SEOs rank strategic issues as one of their biggest challenges in the last 12 months.
Strategy issues can indicate that SEO professionals struggle to prove ROI (return on investment).
More than half (58.0%) of the SEOs we surveyed reported an increase in ROI for their work, but many struggled to prove ROI, and 29% of SEO professionals said they I reported feeling vague.
The chapter on winning strategies and measuring SEO success explains how ROI problems are often the result of a disconnect between a brand’s target goals and the data being tracked.
SEO experts expect machine learning and AI to make a big impact
Machine learning and AI top the list of the biggest changes in the next two years, as predicted by SEO experts.
Additionally, when SEO professionals were asked to rank what they believe will be the most important imperatives in 2023, machine learning and AI were the top answers.
To better understand why machine learning and AI are on everyone’s mind, we spoke to some of our in-house experts to get some background.
Shelley Walsh, SEO content strategist at SEJ, doesn’t believe AI and machine learning can replace human decision-making anytime soon. Additionally, she does not recommend over-reliance on AI-powered tools for creating content.
“As a disruptor, I still don’t believe AI can replace critical decisions and choices. It’s up to you to decide what’s wrong, and now there are a lot of tools out there with GPT-3.
These are great for low-end, high-volume content like product descriptions, but widen the divide and elevate well-researched, thought-leadership quality content. As online niches become saturated with AI-spun content, quality will be the only way to stand out. Ultimately, overuse can only have detrimental effects. ”
Download the State Of SEO Report to view all first-party research data and read in-depth insights.
Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
