What Does SEO Look Like in 2024? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

In 2024, the Digital Marketing world is evolving, bringing fresh opportunities to Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO. With rapid technology advancements, we’re seeing user behaviours shifting; that said, businesses and marketers must adapt to stay ahead of the times.

In this blog, we will break down the future of Search Engine Optimization based on current trends and predictions as we work towards implementing these changes for our client base. Let’s get into it.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Let’s start with the basics – what is SEO, and why is it so important? The goal of SEO is to drive organic traffic to your website by ranking within the top search engine results for your brand. Search engines include Google, Bing, Yahoo and others. I’ll share an example – let’s say you own a makeup brand. As a business, your goal is to be among the first to appear when someone searches keywords related to your industry, such as “best makeup brands” and others that resonate.

SEO works in different ways; first is your website design. It is crucial to have a well-optimized website following all of the best practices like meta descriptions, schemas, alt tags, mobile optimization and much more. In addition, featuring valuable content on your website, which includes blogs, videos, and backlinks, is a huge part of SEO. Following the best SEO practices will drive organic traffic to your website, increasing your chances of getting sales, whether you are a service-based or product-based brand. Organic traffic is extremely valuable, and we always acknowledge this at our digital marketing agency.

Now that we know the basics of SEO and its importance, let’s get into the 2024 SEO trends, including user experience, high-quality content and voice recognition.

Trend #1: Emphasize User Experience with Everything You Do

First and foremost, we know how important user experience is in 2024. Your priority should be to keep your (potential) customers happy, making user experience (UX) a major trend this year. In recent years, Google has emphasized UX, ensuring users of its search engines are satisfied with their results. As a business, you’ll want to ensure your website has fast page load times, mobile optimization and intuitive navigation.

Fast page times mean users expect web pages to load quickly. A delay of even a few seconds can lead to an increase in bounce rates. This is an unfortunate error, as users are likelier to abandon a website that does not load promptly!

Mobile optimization is crucial in 2024, as there is an increase in smartphone users who are often using Google as their primary search engine. Ensure your website developer focuses on responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes and touch-friendly interfaces. The last thing you want is for a potential customer to visit your website and leave because it didn’t offer a good mobile experience. Mobile-first in 2024!

Intuitive navigation essentially means offering a well-structured website that is simple to understand. The menus should be seamless so users can easily visit and find what they want. Additionally, the entire website should reflect the navigation – pure simplicity. The simpler the experience, the better it is for user satisfaction. These are all essential elements when it comes to ranking well. Your priority for your website must be to provide a seamless experience for higher visibility and engagement.

An example of a brand that does this extremely well is Airbnb, a brand that is known for its outstanding UX design, which focuses on simplicity throughout. The platform is optimized for desktop and mobile, offering quick load times, intuitive navigation and a seamless booking process. They also use high-quality images and easy-to-read property descriptions.

All of this is a major contribution to a seamless user experience.

Another great example of a brand that does a fantastic job is Spotify, which offers an exceptional user experience by providing a personalized, easy-to-navigate interface allowing users to easily discover their favourite music and podcasts. The platform adapts to users’ listening habits, offering customized playlists and recommendations. Spotify mobile and desktop apps always have fast loading times; hence, it is a favourite of many music lovers.

Trend #2 Focus on Producing High-Quality Content to Build Trust

Content has always been king – and it still is in 2024. Google has a guideline called  E-E-A-T, known as experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness – all keywords you want to focus on when producing content for your website. Your content needs to be credible and genuinely provide your user with value. Let’s break down E-E-A-T in more depth.
Firstly, experience emphasizes the importance of creating content based on personal experience and direct knowledge of the subject matter. Content from actual experience will resonate more with readers because it includes practical insights, personal stories and real examples that theory alone cannot provide. As we know, authenticity is a significant trend in 2024. Storytelling is key – connecting with your audience is a great way. So when producing content that showcases your experience, take the time to emphasize your experience by telling actual stories. Your audience will love it!

Next on the bill is expertise, which refers to the depth of knowledge and skill in a specific industry or topic. As a business, you want to showcase your expertise by providing a detailed, accurate and informative piece of content reflecting a thorough understanding of the subject. This is especially key in industries that require technical knowledge and specialized skills, like business strategy, medical advice, law firms, real estate and others.

Third is authority, which is established when content is not only informative but also recognized by peers, institutions or the public as a reliable source of information. Authority can be built through the consistent publication of high-quality content, as well as getting actual endorsements from reputable sources or organizations within your industry. Recognition through awards, citations and press coverage can be very useful in showcasing your authority.

Last but not least, we have trustworthiness, which is one of the most important factors in building credibility. Trustworthiness is about creating honest, transparent and ethical content. It’s important to cite sources with accuracy, present information objectively and always avoids misleading content. Trust is so important when building a loyal audience and ensuring that users feel confident in the credibility of the information provided.

Trend #3: Voice Search Optimization

As smart devices become more common, voice search is becoming very popular. This trend requires a shift in SEO strategies to include more conversational keywords and questions that are likely to be asked by voice assistants. As of 2024, smart speakers, smartphones, and more are equipped with voice assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri, optimizing for voice search.

As a business, our agency highly recommends understanding voice search behaviour. It is quite different from traditional text-based queries. When people use voice search, they tend to use natural, conversational language language and longer phrases. For example, instead of typing “weather Toronto,” a user might ask, “What’s the weather like in Toronto today?” This shift towards more natural language results in businesses focusing on SEO tactics to target these conversational phrases and questions. Here are key strategies that we recommend focusing on when it comes to voice search optimization.

First and foremost, be sure to focus on long-tail keywords that mimic how real people talk and ask questions. This approach helps in ranking for voice searches and also addresses more specific queries, which can lead to higher conversion rates!

Next, you’ll want to optimize for questions. Many voice searches are phrased as questions. Therefore, we recommend optimizing content to answer who, what, where, when, why, and how regarding your niche. Don’t hesitate to add a FAQ (frequently asked questions) section to your website, as it is an excellent way to add these conversational keywords.
Next is local SEO optimization. Voice search finds local information like directions to nearby stores or services. We highly recommend ensuring your business is always listed on Google My Business and other relevant online directories like Bing, Yelp or others – to enhance visibility regarding voice search results. 

Similar to what I mentioned earlier, improving site speed and mobile responsiveness is important. Voice searches are predominantly performed on mobile devices. The types of websites that Google will recommend to its users through voice search are fast-loading and mobile-friendly, as they provide a great UX. This, as we know, is a crucial factor in SEO.
Be sure to focus on structured data and schema markup. Utilizing structured data will help search engines understand your website’s content, making it easier to surface relevant information in response to a voice search. The schema markup can highlight specific types of content, such as events, recipes and business information, which can enhance your visibility.

Lastly, we always recommend creating conversational content! Tailor your content to be more conversational to improve its chances of being picked up by voice search.

Are You Ready to Implement Modern SEO Tactics This Year?

As voice search continues to become popular, optimizing for this trend is essential. We highly recommend focusing on these new SEO trends to stay competitive in the digital world within your industry.