Search Engine Optimization - 29 Nov 2024

What’s Trending in SEO and What it Means for Ranking in 2025

As we draw nearer to the end of 2024 it’s a good time to reflect on the current state of SEO and what we can expect in the New Year.

There was no shortage of shake-ups and surprises over the last year. We saw generative AI explode in ways some people might have predicted but nonetheless took most by surprise with the sheer speed with which these AI-powered tools became mainstream.

Then there was the Google API leak. This may not have been the first time information was revealed about Google’s highly secretive inner workings, but it will go down in SEO history as one of the most impactful, the effects of which SEOS are still discovering. We are also waiting to see how a string of highly publicized anti-trust lawsuits and appeals plays out and what that means for Google, its competitors, and access to Google’s prized algorithm data.

Certainly a busy year and no doubt lots more to come in 2025. But what does all this mean for your SEO strategy? Let’s dive in.

Could Another Competitor Emerge as a Challenger to Google?

While Google isn’t the only search engine out there, it is by far the most popular and widely used. Of all global internet traffic, over 90% of searches originate from Google. However, with the prospect that the internet giant might be forced to share its propriety search engine algorithm, we could see a future where emerging players can leverage Google’s technology to create stiffer competition.

For SEO the effects of this hypothetical future are twofold. With everyone having equal access to Google’s hidden data, SEOs will have never before insight into how Google ranks webpages and will leverage this information to optimize their sites in ways they simply can’t right now. Unfortunately, there is also a strong likelihood that this information will be used to manipulate rankings and artificially boost otherwise unrankable content. This might produce results in the short run, but long-term ranking success will require a careful balance of optimizing based on newly available signal information while continuing to put users first.

With competitors also free to access Google’s data to build or improve their own search engines SEOs may find themselves in a situation where they need to optimize not just for one engine, but for multiple platforms.

Generative AI Is Reshaping the Internet (And It’s Not All Good)

If 2023 was the year that the masses became aware of generative AI, then 2024 was the year that it became embedded in just about every corner of the digital landscape. The number of AI tools has surged with new ones seeming to pop up almost daily.

As an SEO or content creator, it’s hard not to fall down the rabbit hole of GenAI or become overly reliant on tools that make the job easier, but it’s a slippery slope. Recent data from Amazon Web Services AWS AWS) AI Lab found that a shocking 57.1% of content on the internet right is now AI-generated generated ¬—and the problem is getting worse. By some estimates, as much as 90% of all sentences on the internet will be AI-generated by 2026.

Unfortunately, as the internet becomes increasingly saturated with AI-generated text and media new language models consume more AI-generated content than human-written material, and using this as the basis for their training, compromising the quality, originality, depth, and accuracy of online content.

In this ostensible race to the bottom, high-quality, human-written content will become increasingly important in helping websites rank. Google hasn’t been quiet about the fact that user experience and delivering high-quality, highly relevant results for any given search query is its main goal. One of the keys to satisfying this requirement is producing original, valuable, and engaging content. This will continue to be critical to success in 2025 and well beyond. The takeaway: in the age of AI, people will be more important than ever.

Is Experience the Most Important E in E-E-A-T?

Google is notoriously selective (and sometimes purposefully misleading) in what it discloses about its algorithm and how it ranks search results. Unsurprisingly, a huge part of SEO is dedicated to analyzing, testing, and deciphering patterns to optimize content in alignment with what we assume is part of Google’s ranking signals.

Well, the curtains were thrown wide open with a recent Google data leak. In March 2024 swaths of documents were released from Google’s internal Content API Warehouse. Included in the leak was evidence that despite previous objections, Google does monitor click data — bad clicks, good clicks, last longest clicks, unsquashed clicks, and unsquashed last longest clicks — as part of its web results ranking. The documents also shed light on how user engagement metrics are crucial for determining content quality, highlighting how crucial the “Experience” aspect of E-E-A-T is to how a webpage will rank.
To satisfy search engines, SEOs will have to place a renewed focus on the user, crafting people-centric content and prioritizing real-life experiences that resonate with audiences and showcase genuine expertise. By doing so, they’ll not only improve engagement metrics but also align with Google’s emphasis on providing content that’s grounded in first-hand experience and authenticity.

This is not to downplay the significance of Expertise, Authority, and Trust, which all remain crucial to ranking well on Google’s search results. For SEOs, 2025 will require a continued focus on creating original content that not only meets users’ informational needs but also leverages personal experiences, expertise and insights to engage audiences, build authority, and foster trust.

On-Page, Off-Page, and Technical SEO: What to Optimize for Results in 2025

SEOs will continue to take a holistic approach to optimizing webpages, but certain areas will be especially important to ranking in 2025.

On-Page SEO

On-page, SEO efforts should focus on creating valuable content for people and not on optimizing for search engines. Keyword selection and how we craft content around these words will be increasingly important. There is often a disconnect between the keywords SEOs are targeting and how these terms are applied in searches. Single keywords and short phrases no longer accurately capture how people search; we’re seeing more voice searches, long-tail keywords, and even complete phrases. To win more results, SEOs should look to address specific pain points or challenges users might be facing, how they would search for answers to these problems online, and then help solve them with relevant, high-quality content.

Off-Page SEO

Backs will continue to be an SEO priority in 2025. The Google data dump confirmed what SEOs have long known to be true: links are key to establishing authority and increasing authority to critical to ranking. However, we now know more about how backlink quality and relevance impact results. Google evaluates backlinks and gives higher weight to more authoritative sources than it does lower-quality pages.

For SEOs, earning even a few high-quality backlinks will be significantly more valuable than a dozen low-quality links. But it’s important to note that these links must be earned naturally (or as organically as possible). Buying, trading, or otherwise trying to manipulate backlinks could result in a downgrade of your link profile and authority.

Technical SEO

On the technical side, anything that makes a website easier for search engines to crawl and understand will be a top priority for most SEOs. This includes ensuring that websites are mobile-friendly and fast-loading, both verified ranking signals. Good website organization and structured data will also be increasingly significant. These areas are crucial in enabling search engines to interpret content and also impact how this information is presented in search results which might not impact ranking but will influence clicks.

As we step into 2025, crafting SEO strategies that combine a solid technical foundation with on-page and off-page efforts will be key to not only improving search engine crawlability but also enhancing overall user experience.

Navigating a Dynamic SEO Environment

With new AI tools set to resume shaking up the digital landscape and the potential for more search engine competition shortly SEOs will have to continue to learn and adapt to a rapidly changing landscape. Tactics that might have worked last year are not guaranteed to continue producing results as search engines become more attuned to the needs of today’s users.

Staying ahead of the competition will require more than optimizing for algorithms; SEOs must understand user intent deeply, create authentic, experience-driven content, and build a technically solid foundation that satisfies users’ needs and expectations.

In the coming months, the real winners in SEO will be those who balance the art and science of search optimization—leveraging insights and tools while never losing sight of the user at the core of every search query. As the digital space grows more competitive and complex, this human-centred approach will be key to achieving lasting results in rankings and relevance.