The only thing that remains the same is change — which means now is the perfect time to start planning your digital marketing campaigns for the next months.
This includes all things related to search engine optimization (SEO).
However, what worked in the past for increasing your website’s ranking in the SERPs isn’t exactly what is going to get you through 2024.
There’s no such thing as a bad time to take a closer look at your going SEO strategy and consider what could use a little improvement.
But trends, best practices, and different approaches come and go, so it’s essential to keep your marketing knowledge super current.
Take a look at the following overview of some of the most important SEO trends to know in 2024 and beyond. Then, adjust your strategies accordingly.
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1. Optimize for Google SERP features
By now, you’ve no doubt noticed that you frequently don’t even need to click through to a search result to see the answers to your burning questions. In many cases, they’ll appear right there on the SERP, thanks to Google Instant.
The same may happen with information easily obtainable from a Google Map, a knowledge panel, or any of Google’s other on-page SERP features.
Naturally, this is super helpful for users, as they may not even need to click away from their search results to get valuable information.
Sites are seeing fewer organic clicks, though, especially if they rank toward the top of the SERP. But you can still get ahead by learning to optimize for different Google SERP features.
2. Improved Page Speed
While it seems like page speed is something that shows up in these SEO trends lists each year, there’s a good reason.
Think about it for a minute. New Android and iPhone models come out every year, right? As do the latest tablets, laptops, and desktop computers, too.
These devices have better processors, meaning they pull up websites faster than before. If you aren’t doing your part to ensure your website is ready, you could really be turning off your audience.
Furthermore, Google has already made it known that page speed is a factor taken into consideration for ranking.
This means improving yours helps both the overall user experience of your website visitors and your potential to claim a coveted page one spot in the SERPs.
Not sure where to start?
There are tons of great SEO plugins for WordPress and other platforms that can spot areas in which you can improve page load from the technical side.
If that doesn’t solve the problem, then you might need to upgrade to a better plan with your web host.
3. Expanded User Experience
Let’s face it. Expanded user experiences are not necessarily a trend that will come and go as time passes.
However, focusing on giving your site visitors the best possible impression when they’re on your page is growing as a driving force for search marketing.
To really understand this concept, we need to break it down.
First, keep in mind that a website with tons of errors, an aged aesthetic, and a terrible navigation structure is one that people will likely click off of the moment they arrive.
Next, you need to remember that Google tracks and takes into consideration time spent on a website when linked from a search.
As they see it, a website that people aren’t going to stay on to get the answers they need is likely either irrelevant or spammy.
And, as we already know, those are two things that can really turn off Google in terms of selecting links for that first page of results.
That means people click off right away because poor UX does indeed affect your chances of ranking high in the Google SERPs.
So, how do you fix this?
Start by going through and using your website as a visitor would. If you find anything annoying or generally unpleasant in the process, don’t be afraid to switch it up.
Likewise, a new site design might also be a wise idea, depending on the current status of your page.
4. Better Focus on User Intent
When discussing SEO trends for 2024, it is also vital to talk about increasing your website’s focus on user intent.
While that might sound like a mouthful of jargon, it really comes down to this: people searching the web are looking for a very specific answer to a very specific issue, question, or problem.
Your job as a digital marketer and content creator is to think about:
- How these individuals are going to look for that solution
- And how you can format your content to give them what they need.
Focusing on how to make your solution the best for their needs is going to bring in more organic traffic, ensure they stay longer on your website, and help build trust with your target audience.
Besides that, Google is already expanding its search to include more AI-driven and intuitive results.
5. Refreshed Existing Content
What’s another big one on the list of SEO trends to pay attention to in 2024?
Refreshed content, of course.
Back before the internet, making changes to a story or news article was stupidly cost-prohibitive.
At that time, publishers had to consider material costs, distribution issues, and then get that refreshed information into the hands of readers.
The good news? The internet is changeable at any time.
This means that all website owners should go back and assess their current content to make room for additional details, longer copy, or more focused keywords.
Think of it as your way of taking the really good stuff that’s already there and beefing it up for a bigger and better version.
The result is the ability to rank higher and really outshine the competition for organic traffic in the coming year.
One reliable way to keep your best content fresh, compelling, and performing well is to outsource the task of updating it to the right freelance talent.
WriterAccess is a top-tier content production platform where marketers can browse, vet, and hire some of the best freelance content writers in the business.
6. More Evergreen Content
While it is a great idea to go back and refresh your existing content, let’s talk for a moment about adding more evergreen content.
Both ideas go back to one core value — content is still king of the SEO trends, no matter what the year.
This means you absolutely cannot depend on just your existing content alone to bring in new traffic for you this year.
Instead, have a plan to add more evergreen content to the framework of your website.
After all, the more pages you have with different keyword focuses, the easier it is for someone to find the information you provide.
When you provide more information, you position your brand or company as an expert in your field.
Experts in a given industry are deemed more trustworthy, making it easier to collect first-party information like quote requests, lead generation forms, and email marketing signups.
See where we are going with this?
If you do nothing out of this list of SEO trends for 2024 but this one thing, make sure to add more evergreen content to your website.
7. Omnichannel Digital Campaigns
For a lot of digital marketers, it can be far too easy to compartmentalize different aspects of your overall strategy into separate buckets — each with its own branding, goals, messages, and more.
The problem with this is that today’s consumers are everywhere, all at once.
Need an example? Think about the average person. They’re on social media pages like Instagram and Facebook. Maybe they’re even on Snapchat, TikTok, or Pinterest.
Then they’re looking for answers to questions or solutions to problems on Google.
If you aren’t working with an omnichannel strategy, these same people can overlook your page after they just saw you on a different channel.
Why?
Different branding on different pages can be confusing, meaning they’re likely overlooking your website in the SERPs because they don’t see how everything is connected together.
This means that it is more important than ever to have a cohesive, streamlined approach to all of your digital marketing campaigns.
8. Interactive Experiences
One unique addition to the list of SEO trends for the coming year to really pay attention to is the use of interactive experiences.
These are things like quizzes, guides, videos, or anything besides basic text that draw a visitor in and give them a way to engage with your page.
What makes this type of content better for search is that it gives the user the information they’re looking for in a format that’s more memorable and easier to navigate.
Interactive experiences are also a great way to boost user experience and stand out from competitors within your niche.
While it might not be possible to switch to an interactive format for every evergreen topic on your website, it is a good idea to analyze which pages and keywords already bring in a lot of organic traffic.
Then brainstorm ideas for expanding them with a form of interactive content.
9. Understanding the Role of AI in SEO
Last year, the idea of AI-generated content existed, but it still had a long way to go before it was more than a distant blip on anyone’s radar. Then, options like ChatGPT came along and took the world by storm.
Now there are multiple programs capable of producing AI-created content that sounds like a human wrote it.
But while it may be tempting to take a content production shortcut and simply use these programs instead of creating content the old-fashioned way, you shouldn’t.
Google’s algorithms can’t always tell the difference between human-written and AI-generated content (yet), but your human readers likely can.
AI content tends to be shallow, unoriginal, and error-prone, so innovative human writers will always have a clear SEO edge over AI.
10. Format Videos for Google search
If you haven’t already seen a Google SERP that includes a featured snippet with a video in it, it’s only a matter of time until you do. Videos are red-hot these days. People want to see them in their search results, and Google’s been delivering.
As a result, smart marketers in 2024 need to know how to optimize video posts so that they potentially appear on standard SERPs.
How-to themes work best for this, so brainstorm video content to match. Make your videos easier to digest by adding chapters and closed captions. Ensure all of your details – tags, description, title, etc. – are optimized for SEO.
Don’t be afraid to take things a step further and embed your videos into your blog posts and standalone web pages, as well. It’s excellent for improving your dwell times and bounce rates.
11. Develop Your Topical Authority
Digital-age consumers expect more from the websites they turn to for help than simple information. They want answers from seasoned experts who genuinely know their stuff when it comes to their niche of choice.
That’s where topical authority comes in.
Resist the urge to try to cover every possible topic under the sun. Instead, decide on a couple you’d like to focus on and start building topic clusters to match.
Not only will you find it easier to win the trust of your visitors, but Google will love your site from an SEO standpoint.
12. Add Experience to Your “E-A-T” Checklist
Most marketers know about Google E-A-T by now, and with good reason. E-A-T has been Google’s going reminder to create content reflective of expertise, authority, and trust, respectively. But in 2024, there’s a new “E” to add to the mix – experience.
In December of last year, a new algorithm update officially made a creator’s experience a ranking factor, so any content you create in 2024 should leverage yours to the fullest.
And if you don’t have firsthand experience, consider reinforcing your ideas with information and insight from other trusted authorities who do.
13. Focus on Local SEO
The larger the collective online marketplace becomes, the harder it’s ultimately going to become to rank for the keywords you want. That’s why so many businesses are turning local SEO into a major priority since 2023.
With inflation at dizzying highs, 2023’s consumer is more frugal and more likely to want to see products in person before putting their money down.
But they’re just as likely to use Google to zero in on fantastic local businesses that might have what they’re looking for.
Start with a local SEO audit. Then start seeding your website with localized content your potential visitors will love. Be sure to keep an eye on your Google My Business page and customer reviews, too.
14. Build Content Around Search Intent
Winning content that flies to the top of the SERPs is never written with Google crawl bots in mind. It’s written for people first, so doing it right requires content creators to get into the headspace of their target audiences.
That said, don’t stop researching and using the right keywords when you create SEO content. Consider search intent, too – the underlying reason why the person is performing the search in the first place. What problems, pain points, and concerns are they looking to address?
Now that you know which SEO trends you should address in 2024 and beyond, it’s time to focus on raising the bar regarding your content with the right freelance help.
Sign up for a free two-week WriterAccess trial today, and find out what a difference the right content writers can make!
