Will traditional on-page SEO still work in 2022-23?

Yes!

In fact, Google's own How Search Works report states: And there is data to back it up.

An analysis of 11 million Google search results found no correlation between keyword-rich title tags and first page rankings.

But if you look for competing keywords, you'll find that almost all of the top ranking pages use the exact same keyword in their title tag. Still,

On-Page SEO is more than just stuffing your page's HTML with keywords.

To rank your content in 2022-23, you also need to enhance your content:

User Experience

Bounce Rate & Dwell Time Page SEO instead of stuffing your site's HTML with keywords.

To rank your content in 2022-23, you also need to enhance your content for:

Google pays maximum attention to terms that appear early on the page.

I see. Imagine you just published an article about any diet. If your article was really about the diet, would it make sense to use the term "diet" in the middle of the page first?

Of course not

For this reason, keywords should be placed somewhere in the first 100 words or so. This is one of those little things that help Google understand what your page is about.