8 Digital Marketing Trends 2024 That Will Affect Your SEO
In a dynamic and ever-changing arena, websites risk being invisible without informed digital marketing and sound SEO strategies.
However, you don't have to be an SEO specialist to tell that the SEO landscape constantly evolves. Many digital marketing trends also have a role to play in determining how to optimize your website.
While running a digital marketing campaign, you have to create high-quality content, and what works in the content creation field directly impacts SEO. In most cases, SEO helps you devise strategies for your digital marketing campaign by finding the right keywords and topics that work for your target audience.
With recent trends affecting content creation, especially after the introduction of generative AI, it's essential to consider how it will change your SEO strategy.
But ultimately, you have to decide which digital marketing trends matter the most to your business. So, what should be on your radar?
Click on each corresponding link to jump ahead to that section:
- Voice Search and SEO
- Mobile-First Indexing
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and SEO
- Video Content and SEO
- Chatbots and AI-Powered Assistants
- Local SEO and Google My Business
- Social Media
- High Quality Content
If you are looking to enhance your digital marketing campaign through the use of SEO contact us! We are your local SEO experts.
Simplifying Analysis and Tracking
One way to learn about new trends in SEO and discover what SEO strategies work for your digital marketing campaign is to use well-rounded SEO software. These software solutions can help you in many ways, from finding keywords and optimizing content to tracking progress and auditing the whole website.
The problem is that many of these tools are available now, which is why you must compare them before deciding to take a plunge. You can always begin by exploring comparison sites like Top10seosoftware.com. Check those features and compare them with what you can spend, and you will be able to find a good SEO tool to keep tabs on your digital marketing campaign.
But, even when you have SEO software with you, it's important to learn about the latest trends reshaping the world of SEO. Here are a few of them to get you started.
1. Voice Search and SEO
By 2024, the voice recognition market is expected to be worth almost $27 billion. 4.2 billion voice assistants are currently in use, but by 2024, the number is expected to exceed 8 billion, with 50% of voice assistants used daily. This trend is expected to continue.
Because people have changed the way they engage with the internet to conduct searches, SEO strategies have to change, too.
With advanced technology as the driving force, users now prefer smaller portable devices with instant access to the search engine. They input their inquiry equally fast using natural speech, expecting equally fast results. This preference for instant information access presents challenges and fresh opportunities for effective SEO.
2. Mobile-First Indexing
The 2022 estimate for global e-commerce sales was over 5.7 trillion dollars, with 2.64 billion using the digital marketplace. More are expected to join them, accessing the market on small screen devices. It's the online shopping equivalent of the Big Bang. Google has already responded to the move to small screen technology by adopting a mobile-first indexing policy.
It has developed a specialized type of crawler, the smartphone agent. It applies SERP priority to websites that are optimized to be mobile-friendly. The idea is to encourage developers to design for the small screen but use code to adjust the layout to suit any device.
The Impact of Mobile-First Indexing on SEO
For Google, mobile-first is the default, which means:
- Responsive designs with large buttons
- Simple navigation
- Long tail keywords with more snippets
- Descriptive URLs
For SEO, mobile-first indexing seriously increases a site's chances of being seen, ranked, and indexed by Google as long as it competes with older desktop-first versions.
3. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and SEO
AI is revolutionizing the digital marketplace. It has helped shift the focus onto the personalized user experience, building trust in websites and helping it retain its visitors.
AI has many applications in digital marketing, and it is driving future SEO trends in a big way. It helps with the following:
- Understanding of your target audience
- Marketing automation
- Personalized marketing campaigns
- Visual and voice search optimization
- Predictive analytics
Similarly, AI tools can also improve SEO effectiveness by identifying poorly performing pages, analyzing written content, or providing feedback on trends.
Examples of AI Tools Used for SEO Optimization
Here are some AI tools that continue to impact digital marketing and SEO in 2024:
- SemRush SEO Writing Assistant (SWA) with tools Rephraser, Compose, and Ask AI.
- ChatGPT – a processing tool that learns and adapts
- Frase – its algorithm provides insights based on the focus keyword’s previous results.
- AlliAI – amongst many features, on-page SEO for site-wide optimization
- Surfer SEO – with natural language processing (NLP)
The thing with AI writing tools is that they often lack that “personal touch” that writers often incorporate. Therefore, when you try these tools for yourself it is essential that you do not lose sight of your overall writing style.
4. Video Content and SEO
Including video content on a website has always increased the chances of its ranking.
Since improvements in small-screen viewing on mobile devices, video content has become even more popular and is now 65% of all internet traffic. People are more willing to engage in information presented via video rather than read. Videos under a minute have the highest retention rate of around 68%. This is why we see TikToks, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels absolutely taking off!
The Influence Video Content Has on SEO Rankings
Video content influences SEO ranking by:
- Attracting traffic,
- Increasing TOP, revisits, and backlinks
- Increasing interest in a business, organization, product or service
- Enhancing the user experience
- Delivering easily digestible information
If you haven’t already started to incorporate video content in your SEO work, now is the time to start.
5. Chatbots and AI-Powered Assistants
Chatbots run on simpler algorithms than their counterparts, virtual assistants. They give simple, scripted answers to predictable inquiries. AI has given them new capabilities and usefulness beyond repetitive tasks such as information retrieval or tracking.
Capabilities of AI-Chatbots
AI-Chatbots can:
- Analyze user data for behaviour, tastes, and preferences
- Provide data-driven vital insights to business leaders
- Guide customers through their purchasing
- Respond to FAQs
- Collect feedback
Once again, these tools can not completely eliminate the need for personal contact but they can give answers to predictable inquiries.
Capabilities of AI-Powered Assistants
The use of AI-powered assistants is also rising. These assistants are more advanced and, therefore, able to take on more. AI-powered assistants are”
- Versatile
- Able to process complex inquiries
- Able to handle multiple interactions simultaneously
- Good at analyzing big data
- Schedule appointments, set alarms, retrieve information, fact check, and search
- Capable of managing office or home smart devices
Chatbots and AI assistants can enhance user engagement and boost SEO. Their personalization and quick responses help develop the relationship between sites. This creates trust in both its content and its processes.
6. Local SEO and Google My Business
One aspect of personalization is user-relevant content, which includes ranking websites higher when they are local.
Benefits of Local SEO
Local SEO actively increases:
- Local traffic
- Increased visibility in an area
- Brand awareness
- Personalized searches for ‘near me’
If you are a small local business looking to expand your reach within your community, local SEO is a great tactic.
How Does Google My Business Affect Local SEO?
Google is the most dominant search engine used by three-quarters of all consumers in the US, UK, France, and Germany. With its connection to Google Maps, this makes Google My Business an effective marketing tool.
In local SEO, Google's local search algorithms use 3 factors to find the best matches for local inquiries. These are:
- Relevance – how closely a Google Business Profile result matches an inquiry
- Distance – how far the user is from the location of the result
- Prominence – how important Google thinks the website is to search inquiry
By using these 3 factors, Google is able to share your business with the right consumers.
7. Social Media
Social media has transformed the way people all over the world find and interact with one another. Some sites offer better SEO marketing opportunities than others. YouTube videos, for example, being owned by Google, tend to surface more often.
The intricate elements connecting social media and SEO can be distilled into 7 key factors.
- Boosted Brand searches - users who engage with a brand on social media are more likely to follow up on the interaction with a search for the website using Google.
- More organic clicks - users who first engage with a brand on social media are more likely to click on that brand when they see it via a search result.
- Greater Authority – captured in E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness), a principle Google encourages.
- More Generated Backlinks – content performing well on social media attracts backlinks to websites, boosting ranking.
- Valuable Insights – insights into user behaviour and trends that can be used to improve an SEO strategy further.
- Drives engagement – when the content is relevant, the social media traffic migrating to the website gives a boost to the SEO.
- Improves local rankings – Followers and positive reviews on social media help rankings on Google Maps.
These 7 factors are the main reasons why you need to be using social media to boost your SEO.
8. High Quality Content
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it accessible to all.
Their aim is for their search engine to be a reliable tool that helps people better understand the world. To provide credible E-E-A-T results, its search engine seeks out those websites with high-quality content.
With Google dominating the search engines, content reigns supreme in SEO and modern digital marketing. It takes on a myriad of forms, all of which Google aims to present to its users in the most helpful way.
In addition to relevance, Google also looks for:
- Evidence of expertise
- Accessible design and navigation
- An informative yet concise use of language
Therefore, the quality of your content does matter, so take some extra time to make the best content you can.
Conclusion
It comes as no surprise that the competitive digital landscape is evolving. Part of Google's mission is to continue to help people find information that is relevant, reliable, and up-to-date. To gain and keep a competitive edge, it is vital to stay updated with SEO-related trends and be ready to adapt strategies. With the right SEO tools, these new strategies can be data-driven and focused on the user experience to have a better chance of success in the modern digital marketplace.
