Search engine optimization, or SEO, is evolving rapidly yet again. With how things are going right now, the future of SEO seems to be heading into an approach where users and AI-related practices are at the forefront. It is essential now more than ever that you, as a digital marketer or as a business owner, pay attention to SEO trends.
As you develop an SEO strategy for your digital marketing efforts in 2024, you need to think about SEO trends. This is crucial for a couple of reasons:
- Adaptability to Algorithm Changes: Search engines frequently update their algorithms to improve the relevance and quality of search results. Staying informed about SEO trends helps you adapt your strategy to align with these changes, ensuring that your website remains visible in search results.
- Competitive Edge: SEO is a competitive field, and keeping up with trends allows you to stay ahead of or at least on par with competitors. Implementing the latest SEO techniques can give your website a competitive edge and help you outrank competitors in search engine results pages (SERPs).
- User Experience Improvement: Many SEO trends are centered around enhancing the overall user experience. Prioritizing these trends not only aligns with search engine algorithms but also improves the experience for your website visitors.
- Targeting Emerging Search Behaviors: Search behaviors evolve over time. They are influenced by technological advancements and changes in user preferences. By staying updated on SEO trends, you can identify and target emerging search behaviors and adjust your strategy accordingly.
- Content Relevance and Quality: Search engines increasingly prioritize high-quality, relevant content. Understanding current trends helps you create content that meets user expectations and aligns with search engine algorithms. This ultimately improves your chances of ranking well in search results.
- Maximizing Opportunities: New technologies and platforms may present new opportunities for visibility. For example, if video content or a specific social media platform becomes increasingly popular, incorporating these elements into your SEO strategy can help you reach a broader audience.
- Effective Resource Allocation: SEO resources, including time and budget, are limited. By focusing on current trends, you can allocate resources more effectively. You can prioritize strategies that are more likely to yield positive results based on the current search landscape.
- Ensuring Long-Term Success: SEO is not a one-time effort; it’s an ongoing process. This means adapting your strategy based on trends to ensure that your SEO efforts are not only effective in the short term, but also sustainable over the long term.
Here are a few SEO trends 2024 that you need to consider:
#1 AI on Search
The emergence of AI, or artificial intelligence, is a significant one, able to impact industries and businesses at large. AI and machine learning are being increasingly integrated into search algorithms. This includes using AI for content generation, chatbots, and personalization to enhance the user experience. This time, AI will continue to impact SEO and the user’s search experience. Google has rolled out a new AI-powered search algorithm called the Search Generative Experience (SGE).
SGE is available for users who signed up specifically for the program in the United States. It’s important to note, however, that it’s not exactly a chatbot like ChatGPT. Instead, using SGE can provide AI-powered overviews, let you ask follow-up questions, and let you explore high-quality search results or take the next steps. SGE reinvents the search experience and leads users to the exact information they were looking for.
Digital marketers need to continue optimizing content on their website pages. Make sure information on blogs, case studies, and other content are comprehensive, relevant, and updated. This will help ensure that your content ranks and shows up in the search results or overviews by the SGE.
#2 Mobile, Mobile, Mobile
Mobile-first indexing, on the other hand, will continue to be a priority for search engines in 2024. This is one of the SEO trends that have now become standard since the world has truly embraced mobile devices and mobile phones. For example, in the second quarter of 2023, worldwide internet users spent 57% of their time browsing the internet via mobile phones. This increased from 55% last year, and it will only continue to increase next year.
This means that ensuring that your website is optimized for mobile devices is essential. This includes having a responsive design, implementing fast-loading mobile pages, implementing web design elements that look good on mobile, and more.
#3 Off-page Going “Linkless”
While off-page SEO is considered one of the SEO trends to look out for next year, there is a slightly different and specific change that digital marketers need to consider: the “linkless” backlink.
Backlinks typically refer to links from other websites or pages that redirect to a brand’s website. However, linkless backlinks will rise slowly as Google experiments with using unlinked brand mentions as one of its many ranking factors. Google will most likely take these linkless backlinks as brand signals. These will help boost brand awareness, thought leadership, and more.
#4 Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
As AI and chatbots continue to influence search engines and the user experience, new practices are also emerging. This includes Answer Engine Optimization, or AEO. AEO is the practice of optimizing content specifically for answer engines. Answer engines are those AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bing, or even Google’s SGE.
AEO also impacts zero-click answers to specific search queries. A zero-click answer is when users don’t click on any results since they’ve already gotten the direct answers or instant information at first glance on the page. Most likely, this is because they don’t need any other information from specific results or entire pages anymore.
Digital marketers and SEO specialists will surely be focusing on AEO as a technique in 2024. This will help secure featured snippets, boost brand awareness, and drive traffic to your website.
#4 Video SEO
Video content continues to be popular and will continue to dominate search results and platforms in 2024. According to Statista, at the end of 2023, digital video viewers worldwide will reach nearly 3.5 billion people. Meanwhile, Wyzowl reported that 95% of video marketers say video marketing has helped increase brand awareness, and that 89% of consumers admit watching a video has convinced them to buy a product or service.
This means optimizing video content for search engines will remain an emphasis on most digital marketing strategies. This includes using relevant keywords and providing detailed descriptions. These are crucial to ensuring video content is optimized for SEO.
#5 All About Topical Authority
Topical authority is beginning to be a significant factor in search engine ranking and therefore one of the most significant SEO trends to consider. This focus on topical authority is also brought about by the emergence and implementation of generative AI in the content creation process.
Search engines will now prioritize content that shows authority and experience. Specifically, search engines are implementing E-E-A-T, which refers to experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
Digital marketers and content marketers need to focus on comprehensive, high-quality, and highly shareable content. This will help boost your brand exposure and highlight your industry expertise and authority to both viewers and search engines.
#6 Going Local in SEO
Local search optimization continues to be important, especially for businesses targeting specific geographic areas. Local SEO will help brands above from local competition this 2024, and take advantage of hyper-local searching. This is one of the SEO trends that shouldn’t be ignored, especially for local brands and small businesses.
To optimize for local SEO, digital marketers will need to focus on optimizing Google My Business profiles, local citations, obtaining positive reviews, and leveraging customer testimonials.
There is no doubt that taking SEO trends into account is critical. Keep these SEO trends in mind as you formulate your approach for 2024. If you need more help, talk to Twin Rams Media experts now.
References:
https://onceinteractive.com/blog/seo-trends/
https://www.semrush.com/blog/future-of-seo/
https://www.bluecorona.com/blog/2024-seo-trends/