Savannah is a content marketer with editorial experience spanning several businesses. Specializing in social media and marketing trends, she loves talking about the latest developments in online marketing. When she’s not writing, Savannah loves traveling, hoarding books and coffee mugs, and adoring her cat. Please don’t ask her about famous true crime cases, or else she’ll tell you all about her theories and get absolutely no work done.
The best way to stay ahead of the curve with these shake-ups is to look ahead at emerging SEO trends, which is why today, we’re exploring eight key SEO trends, why they matter, and what they mean for your SEO strategy in 2024. Along the way, we’ll drop in some expert insights from one of our web marketing consultants, so stay tuned!
Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is changing how users browse the Internet and interact with search results. Instead of browsing search results lists after entering a query, people can get generative AI snippets in seconds without even glancing at the results list. This AI-powered feature scours the Internet in seconds to generate all-encompassing answers to simple queries like “best record players.”
While this is a major user experience (UX) improvement for Google (who doesn’t want an immediate answer to a question?), the recent emergence of Google’s SGE presents some unique challenges for SEOs in .
What this means for your SEO strategy in 2024:
In a nutshell, Google’s SGE acts as a suped-up featured snippet, offering topic snapshots and summaries, suggested follow-up questions, product recommendations, and more.
That said, the key to contending with Google SGE in is simple: create audience-focused content. WebFX’s Web Marketing Consultant, Sarah Berry, explains more:
Expert insights from
Sarah BerryWeb Marketing Consultant
Lean into what Google’s SGE wants to deliver — helpful content with unique perspectives that users can trust. Google’s emphasized its focus on people-first content with its helpful content system, E-E-A-T, and YMYL, and we can deliver on its expectations by producing content that follows SEO best practices while also:
Letting experience vs. the SERPs inform content (in some cases, this might even mean addressing why a frequently-mentioned tip, step, or tool doesn’t work).
Including videos and/or custom graphics, so users can experience the content in a way that works for them.
Incorporating trust signals, like certifications, awards, author biographies, etc., into content or page designs.
Are you leveraging video content for your 2024 SEO strategy? If not, now is the time to do so. You’ve likely already seen video SEO in action, with some Google searches displaying videos as the top result.
While traditional web content like blog posts or articles are still sought after by searchers, video content is also on the rise. Adults in the U.S. spend roughly 3.5 hours per day watching videos online. With people regularly viewing video content at that frequency, it’s not hard to believe that 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool. But what does this all have to do with 2024’s SEO trends?
What this means for your SEO strategy in 2024:
Optimizing your video content for SEO is crucial. By doing so, you’re giving your web content another chance to show up in search results while showing off your multimedia skills.
If you haven’t already established a video marketing strategy, we suggest you bust out those cameras. If you have, optimizing them for video SEO only takes a few simple extra steps. Take advantage of this SEO trend in 2024 by doing things like:
Filming video content that’s relevant and helpful to your audience
Using YouTube keyword tools to help you understand what your audience is looking for
3. Voice and mobile search
Voice search on mobile devices is a convenient, fast way to get answers to search queries. In fact, over one billion voice searches are conducted each month, and by 2024, voice search sales are projected to reach $60 billion, making it a key SEO trend to watch.
This increased reliance on mobile voice search, like Apple’s Siri, rather than traditional typed queries, will change how search results are ranked and shown to users. So, how can you optimize your website for voice search?
What this means for your SEO strategy in 2024:
Leveraging voice search for your SEO is all about optimizing your website for mobile search queries and long-tail keywords. Why? Because when people pose queries via mobile search they’re conversational.
Instead of typing something like “gifts under $20,” the voice search query may look something like “Hey Siri, what are some holiday gift ideas that are under $20?”
Optimizing your website for long-tail question keywords and conversational phrases can help you increase your chances of landing better visibility on voice searches. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and identify common questions they might ask to find your site. Then, optimize your header tags for those keywords.
Also, most voice searches happen on mobile devices, so you’ll want to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly. That includes responsive web design and fast page speeds.
4. Local SEO
Optimizing for local searches has always been a key component of SEO strategies, and in 2024, that’s not going to change. Improved local SEO strategies will become more important, with an emphasis on hyper-focused optimizations for local queries that target niche local keywords.
What this means for your SEO strategy in 2024:
Optimizing your SEO in 2024 for local searches is all about being precise with the areas you’re targeting and staying on top of your Google My Business (GMB) profile.
Niche and hyper-focused local queries can help you attracted highly-targeted audiences and better understand who you’re marketing to on search engines. To find the right niche local queries, use tools like Ahrefs or KeywordsFX, WebFX’s own keyword research tool, to find and target specific local SEO keywords.
Use our proprietary keyword research tool, KeywordsFX, to help you find high-quality keywords for content and PPC campaigns.
Identify Top Keywords for Free
For your GMB profile, enhance your local visibility by ensuring your business’s information is up-to-date and accurately reflects where you’re located, the areas you serve, business hours, your offerings, etc.
You’ll also want to put a renewed focus on collecting and displaying customer reviews. 2024 SEO will lean into rewarding sites and businesses with verifiable experience, expertise, and credibility, so start encouraging customers and clients to leave reviews that highlight your work.
5. AI tools
Along with reshaping how search results are delivered, AI also affects how businesses create web content and complete tasks. With AI tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, and Copy.ai readily available for people to use, web content is generated at faster speeds than ever before. It’s safe to say that AI tools are a major SEO and web marketing trend:
It’s mentioned a lot, but it’s the ultimate sidekick: AI. If you haven’t already, look into how AI could benefit internal or external operations. For example, could teams streamline certain SEO tasks with AI (think generating schema markup) or could the business’s website use AI in a way that helps users shop (think Amazon using AI to summarize overall product reviews).
Sarah Berry
The emergence of AI copywriting tools has unfortunately prompted many people to forgo the content creation process and instead rely on AI to create copy. As a result, search engines like Google have implemented safeguards to combat AI-generated content and reward original content that’s helpful to users.
With all of this in mind, how can SEOs and businesses leverage this SEO trend in without being penalized?
What this means for your SEO strategy in 2024:
Rather than conducting research and creating content outlines from scratch, other businesses and content teams will likely use AI copywriting tools to kickstart their content creation efforts and generate content faster. Keep up with them by using AI writing tools like ChatGPT and Jasper to assist you throughout the content creation process by:
Helping you gather research
Brainstorming content ideas
Generating potential content outlines
Proofreading content
Looking to try out different AI tools but don’t want to feel forced to commit to any? Try out TeamAI, a free AI workspace featuring some of the top AI tools like GPT-4, Claude 2, and more.
Using AI copywriting tools is all about assisting you with content creation, not replacing your content creation process altogether. To get started, try some of these prompts when creating SEO content:
What are some examples of how can I use [long-tail keyword] in a sentence?
Create an outline for an article on [topic].
Generate an outline for a series of blog posts on [topic].
Suggest related keywords for [target keyword].
Identify places where I can expand the attached blog post into a longer article.
Suggest a list of blog content ideas for a [industry] company.
6. Multi-channel optimization
Arguably the most dynamic SEO and web marketing trend to watch out for in 2024 is optimizing your web content for different channels to accommodate new search methods. Don’t get us wrong, traditional search engines are still a go-to spot for answering search queries, but as technology and social media evolve, more people are turning to less traditional search methods. Along with places like Google, people are using alternatives like TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, and more to find information.
What this means for your SEO strategy in 2024:
With people turning to other search methods besides Google, it’s imperative that businesses take extra care to optimize their content for multiple platforms and expand their SEO data collection efforts to include these alternative channels.
In doing so, marketers and SEO specialists can get a more accurate picture of how their content is performing across the web, not just on Google. Increasing the scope of marketing efforts in 2024 will help businesses stay on top of these emerging search trends and accurately evaluate the success of their SEO campaigns.
To ensure content is optimized for multiple search channels, consider the following best practices:
Ensure you’re effectively answering user search intent at the beginning of your content
When using video and photos, remember to add meta descriptions, metadata, transcripts, and proper file names
Repurpose longer content for social platforms for increased visibility and accessibility
Share content across different platforms
7. E-E-A-T
We briefly mentioned this topic earlier, but it’s worth mentioning again in more detail because it’s another key SEO trend for 2024 — E-E-A-T, also known as Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
Search engines are increasingly focused on showing people pages that feature “user-focused” and “helpful” information. The key to having your content deemed helpful for users by search engines is to demonstrate the four aspects of E-E-A-T.
What this means for your SEO strategy in 2024:
So, how do you demonstrate E-E-A-T to search engines? By following some of the best practices we talked about earlier when discussing Google SGE:
Answering user search intent and directly addressing other related queries
Letting experience inform your content
Using multimedia to give people options on how to experience your content
Signaling trust and authority (certifications, awards, author bios, case studies, etc.)
This should help you create helpful, trustworthy content that attracts backlinks from reputable sites — which is easier for unique and run-of-the-mill content, and critical to earning a top spot in search results (and in the SGE).
Sarah Berry
8. Demonstrating topical authority
On the topic of E-E-A-T, let’s talk a bit more about expertise. As search engines become more competitive in 2024, it’s increasingly important that businesses demonstrate topical authority within their industry to help their content outrank competitors and draw in users.
What this means for your SEO strategy in 2024:
Demonstrating topical authority and expertise for SEO doesn’t mean reinventing the wheel with industry content or going viral — instead, it’s all about adding elements to your content that show who you are and why you’re a trustworthy source of content.
For example, say you’re in the manufacturing industry and just wrote a blog post on best practices for creating an efficient assembly line or team. Alongside your tips, sprinkle in some tidbits about why you’re sharing specific tips. Maybe you’ve been in manufacturing for 30+ years, or maybe you’ve worked alongside high-profile figures in the industry.
Whatever the case, be transparent with your audience about who you are to help demonstrate your position as a subject matter expert in your industry.
These are real SEO results driven for a WebFX client.
SEO is an ongoing process that doesn’t stop once you’ve implemented the trends we’ve just discussed. It takes continuous time and effort to monitor and adjust, and when you’re already running a business, that can feel like a lot. Enter an SEO agency like WebFX.
When you partner with WebFX for SEO services, you’re not getting a one-size-fits-all strategy that temporarily solves your SEO needs — you’re getting a custom SEO solution that’s scaled to fit your business and foster long-term growth and success. With a dedicated team of SEO by your side, adjusting your campaign for the latest SEO trends will be a breeze.
Get in touch with our team today to learn more about how you can leverage the latest SEO trends along with WebFX’s custom SEO services in 2024!
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Try our free SEO Checker
Boost your site’s search performance with our free SEO Checker. Analyze your website for optimization tips on titles, headers, content, speed, and more. Get a free report now to enhance rankings on Google, Bing, Yahoo, and beyond!
Lean into what Google’s SGE wants to deliver — helpful content with unique perspectives that users can trust. Google’s emphasized its focus on people-first content with its helpful content system, E-E-A-T, and YMYL, and we can deliver on its expectations by producing content that follows SEO best practices while also:
Letting experience vs. the SERPs inform content (in some cases, this might even mean addressing why a frequently-mentioned tip, step, or tool doesn’t work).
Including videos and/or custom graphics, so users can experience the content in a way that works for them.
Incorporating trust signals, like certifications, awards, author biographies, etc., into content or page designs.
Savannah is a content marketer with editorial experience spanning several businesses. Specializing in social media and marketing trends, she loves talking about the latest developments in online marketing. When she’s not writing, Savannah loves traveling, hoarding books and coffee mugs, and adoring her cat. Please don’t ask her about famous true crime cases, or else she’ll tell you all about her theories and get absolutely no work done.
