Good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a moving target. So what should B2B organizations and content marketing professionals do to ensure their content is optimized for search in 2023? We asked SEO expert Michelle Symonds of Ditto Digital to share her insights and tips.

Impact of Web3 and the metaverse on SEO

Web3 and the metaverse are just buzzwords now, but their adoption threatens to eliminate the third-party cookies that are a critical part of the current marketing landscape in favor of users opting in to share their information. The good news is that this shouldn’t be an urgent SEO concern for most businesses and marketers at this time.

“What I’d say first of all about cookies is that really, from an SEO perspective, they’re not going to impact us negatively at all,” says Symonds. Unlike “people working entirely in pay-per-click ads, we’re just not going to be affected by the lack of cookies because we don’t use them in SEO.”

In fact, Symonds says that — at least for 2023 — Web3 and the metaverse aren’t yet poised to disrupt the status quo when it comes to SEO. In the B2B space, if your clients haven’t already migrated to these new platforms, then it isn’t time for you to do so either. While certain niches are already thinking about Web3 and dipping their toes into the metaverse, most businesses simply aren’t there yet.

Less reliance on Google keywords for SEO

When it comes down to it, SEO should be focused on content. There should be less reliance on keyword tools that are based on Google information and more of a focus on defining user intent — then creating content that serves users the information they actually want.

“We’re moving away from traditional keyword tools to much broader searches with often very little traffic data in Google,” says Symonds. “But we know from the research that we do that people are searching for those things.”

Keywords are still valuable, but content should be the focus when it comes to search engine optimization. What does that look like in practice?

You want to “look at solutions to pain points,” says Symonds. “Offer information about those pain points and your solutions to those pain points. Don’t try and sell your product.”

This means that, if your company provides accounting software, the content isn’t answering the search query “Who sells accounting software?” Rather, it’s focused on the unmet needs of your target audience — for example, “Can’t run accounts payable report.”

Content strategy is the crux of Search Engine Optimization

The purpose of creating content to support your business goals is to differentiate yourself from the competition. You need to have a very clear sense of what your organization and your offerings are, as well as who your intended audience and community are. Good SEO is borne of good content strategy.

“I think we’re all weary with the sheer amount of content there is online, with people just saying the same thing in different words. You really need some sort of originality of thought that really focuses on your real target market,” says Symonds. “I think that’s why we’ll be looking more at content strategies and the content marketing aspect of SEO as well.”

How’s your content strategy? If it’s ready for review– or if it’s nonexistent– contact us today.