How to improve SEO rankings in 2023

The fundamentals haven't shifted dramatically, but the competitive landscape demands more precision. Start with content that genuinely answers what your clients' target audience is searching for. This means moving beyond keyword stuffing toward understanding search intent—are people looking for information, making a buying decision, or trying to navigate somewhere? Use tools like Search Console and actual SERP analysis to see what's ranking and why. Your content needs to be more comprehensive and useful than what currently ranks, but also recognizable as the best answer. This often means including data, case studies, or original research that competitors can't easily replicate. Topic clusters matter here—create cornerstone content that covers a broad subject, then support it with deeper articles that link back intelligently.

Technical SEO remains a gating factor. Core Web Vitals aren't going anywhere, and while they're not the primary ranking factor, sites that ignore loading speed, mobile responsiveness, and visual stability lose ground to competitors who don't. Crawlability issues, duplicate content problems, and poor site structure still tank rankings regularly. Don't let your clients get distracted by shiny tactics when their site has broken internal linking or indexation problems. Fix the foundation first.

Link building requires a different approach now. Generic outreach campaigns perform poorly because everyone's doing them. Instead, identify where your clients' competitors are being mentioned and featured—industry publications, relevant bloggers, trade associations. Then either create something link-worthy (research, tools, resources) or find legitimate reasons to be in those same conversations. Relationship building trumps scalable link-building tactics. For web design clients especially, make sure your technical implementation enables proper link attribution and that your design doesn't accidentally hide important content or opportunities.

Finally, don't underestimate user experience signals. Pogo-sticking (clicking back to search results quickly) suggests content isn't matching intent. High bounce rates from organic traffic indicate messaging misalignment. These indirect signals matter because they reflect whether you're actually solving for real people. The agencies winning in 2023 are those thinking like searchers first and tacticians second—understanding the genuine problem their clients' customers face, then building a presence that credibly solves it better than alternatives.