SEO trends keep shifting every year with the changing market dynamics and the rise of new technology.
To stay ahead of the competition, you need to quickly adjust your marketing strategies by adapting to these trends.
The year 2023 has seen many big developments, from the rise in AI tools to Google’s new algorithm.
This means your old SEO strategies won’t give the same results as before. If you want your website to appear on the first page of Google search results, it is important to keep up with 2024 SEO trends.
In this article, we are going to discuss the future of SEO and show you how to adjust your strategies.
If you don’t have time to manage your website’s SEO on your own, contact Digital Nomads SEO Agency. They offer full-suite SEO services and even help you to develop successful future of SEO campaigns.
The Future of SEO: 10 Key Trends in 2024
Here are the 10 important 2024 SEO trends predicted by experts. Understanding them will help you shape your SEO strategy, rank higher and gain more leads.
1. Video SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
The future of SEO lies in optimizing your video content. If you have been using social media, you might be aware of the craze short videos have. Making videos that rank on Google and YouTube has become a big deal for marketers.
People can’t get enough of videos these days. There could be almost 3.5 billion digital video viewers worldwide by the end of 2023. And guess what? Search engines are catching on.
A report shows that 51% of people are more likely to share videos than any other content. This is the main reason why 91% of businesses are using videos for online marketing. Also, 89% of people say that watching a video convinced them to buy stuff. This makes Video SEO one of the biggest 2024 trends.
However, simply creating and adding videos is not enough. Before you start filming, get a solid video SEO plan. There is high competition in the video market, so you need to do something extra. A good strategy helps your videos stand out. It makes sure your audience sees, likes, and keeps coming back for more.
You need to use the right keywords in your video title, tags and description. It helps more people find your video. Once you have your keywords, focus on making and sharing your video.
2. The Rise of Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE)
One of the biggest 2024 SEO trends you can expect is the full-fledged use of Google’s generative AI search. It was launched by Google as an experiment in early 2023, but looking at the current results, there is a very high chance that Google will adopt it fully all over the platform.
Generative AI search will change the entire future of SEO. Now, Google will use AI to offer users better search results. It presents AI-generated results at the top of search engine result pages for various queries. This might have a tremendous impact on visibility and traffic.
As it becomes more widespread, it’s likely to change how people use the search engine and how websites optimize to attract attention and visitors. SGE enhances user interactions by providing clear answers to search queries. It includes relevant visuals and uses a conversational approach.
This trend signifies a shift towards a more interactive, user-friendly search experience where the algorithm understands and predicts user needs. It’s not just a concept, as businesses are heavily investing in this technology.
It’s early to have a definite strategy for optimizing content for Google’s SGE. However, focusing on content that thoroughly answers user queries is key to staying relevant.
But don’t disregard traditional SEO practices due to SGE. Although AI-generated results might change user behaviour, SERPs still contain traditional results, keeping them relevant in SEO.
3. Technical SEO and Website Security
Technical SEO and website security matter a lot for website owners when it comes to the future of SEO. Having HTTPS is still super important now and in the future. Websites using HTTPS are safer, and that’s a big deal for SEO.
Technical SEO means tweaking your website and servers to help search engines understand and rank your site better. It is one of the top 2024 SEO trends. Doing good technical SEO not only boosts security by keeping out bad stuff but also makes your site easier to use and better for visitors.
A checklist for technical SEO can help you check your site, improve your rankings, and bring in more people organically. Security for your site and doing good technical SEO work together. A safe site is awesome for visitors, ranks higher on search engines, and keeps out bad stuff.
4. Zero-Click Searches
Zero-click searches are becoming more common and are predicted to be one of the top 2024 SEO trends. That means users aren’t clicking on any of the search results they see. There are various reasons why users don’t click on search results.
For local businesses or services, Google often gives all the necessary info right on the search page, like contact details and location. For quick conversions or calculations, Google provides tools directly on the search results page, like currency conversions or unit conversions.
For public figures, a knowledge panel with basic information like age and occupation often appears. These searches often end without a click because Google’s search features, like knowledge panels and quick tools, provide instant answers that meet user needs without clicking a link.
For example, if you search for a celebrity like “Angelina Jolie,” Google shows her occupation, age and movies without needing to click a website link.
To deal with zero-click searches, you can focus on getting featured snippets for queries that don’t lead to clicks. But will targeting these keywords bring more traffic?
Not directly, but getting the featured snippet (called “position zero”) puts you in a good spot. It increases your chances of getting clicks from users who explore the results and also boosts brand recognition.
5. Answer Engine Optimization
AI and chatbots are changing how people search for info. To keep up, you need to use Answer Engine Optimization and adapt your content for the future of SEO.
AEO focuses on tweaking content for ‘answer engines.’ These engines, mostly AI-powered, give quick answers to conversational queries, like ChatGPT or Google SGE.
As chatbots and voice search become popular, people want fast answers without clicking links. To stay ahead, you need to develop an AEO plan to go with your regular SEO strategy.
AEO is all about making content that answers questions directly. So, create clear and short content that AI can easily use in its responses. One way is to add FAQs in your articles or organize your content around common questions users might ask.
To make your content easy for answer engines, add words and phrases people might use when talking, not just searching. Structure your content to answer common questions. Format your content for snippets, like lists or short paragraphs.
Use schema markup to help engines understand your page. AEO also means making the content fit for SERP features that show direct answers. SEO and AEO aren’t the same, but you can combine them to get the best results according to 2024 SEO trends.
6. Voice and Mobile Search
Voice search is the future of SEO as more and more people are using voice assistants to search online. It went from zero to 10 per cent of searches in just a year, hitting around 50 billion voice searches monthly. By 2026, over half of U.S. internet users will be using voice search.
With voice search, two things change how we find stuff. First, when we talk, we say more than when we type. So, longer phrases become more important in searches. Those long-tail keywords matter a lot.
Second, people often use voice search to find things nearby. That’s where local SEO becomes super important. Voice search is also tied up with mobile phones. Google cares a lot about mobile versions of websites when it ranks them. So, having a mobile-friendly website is a big deal in SEO.
7. Emphasis on Topical Authority
SEO is getting more about proving you’re an expert in your field. They call it topical authority. It’s about being the best source for info on a certain topic or niche. Your content needs to cover that topic from every angle.
Search engines, especially Google, love content that shows you’re the boss. They measure that with experience, expertise, trustworthiness, and authority (E-E-A-T).
Getting that top spot for your topic needs a smart content plan. You need to start with creating expert and top-notch content about your topic.
Make sure you make a lot of content about related topics and organize your site so it’s easy for people and bots to find all your related content. For example, have a main page about your topic, with links to more detailed pages related to it.
8. Changing Search Engine Ranking Factors
Search engines are changing how they rank content. Now, they prefer trustworthy and expert answers to users’ questions right away. But what really matters in ranking your content is understating the evolving ranking factors.
Understanding these factors helps you keep a high spot in search results, even with tough competition. Start your SEO strategy with one main thing—the user experience. That’s always been the heart of Google’s search.
Even if what makes a good user experience changes, Google always wants the best for users. Your content needs to give the best and most accurate answers in an easy-to-understand way. That’s key to keeping or boosting your search rankings while things change.
Make content that shows you know a lot about your topic. Get experts to help with your posts to make them more trustworthy. Improve how users see your website by focusing on Core Web Vitals. These are important things Google looks at for a good user experience on a webpage.
9. Change of User Search Intent
People are changing how they search online. Now, they’re looking more for things they can buy rather than just information. You’ll see more things about buying stuff or doing transactions rather than informational guides. This is one of the biggest 2024 SEO trends you need to keep up with.
Search intent, which means why someone is searching, has always been big in SEO. It’s about making sure your content fits what people want. But now, with AI and more talking to search engines, things are changing faster.
People are talking to search engines like they’re talking to a person. They want quick answers, especially using voice search. To keep up with this change, you’ve got to rethink how you make your content.
10. Updating Present Content
As more and more content gets pumped out fast, updating your content regularly becomes very important to maintain the ranking. Content velocity means how much new stuff gets put out in a certain time. Take YouTube, for example, where creators upload around 30,000 hours of new content every hour.
All this new content makes things change super quickly. What people think is useful today might not be tomorrow. So, content doesn’t stay relevant for as long as it used to.
To keep up with the future of SEO, you’ve got to work on refreshing and updating your old stuff regularly. But refreshing content isn’t just about updating facts and figures. You’ve also got to make sure it still fits what people are looking for, follows the best SEO tricks, and stays competitive with newer stuff on the same topic.
Conclusion
The future of SEO may seem uncertain, but understanding and keeping up with the trends will help your website survive in the long run. This year, we have seen some of the biggest changes in SEO and 2024 is going to be a roller-coaster to navigate.
If you don’t want your site’s ranking to fall drastically in the coming few months, it is best to use these 2024 SEO trends and adjust your marketing strategy. Your focus should be on offering a better user experience by creating quality content that answers all the questions.
