SEO improves a website’s rankings on search engines and drives more organic traffic. That much is always true. Another thing that is always true is that SEO never stays stagnant. Consistency in keeping up with what’s happening throughout the industry is a key factor in a successful SEO strategy. With this in mind, let’s take a look at what’s happening in 2024 and what trends we can expect to emerge soon.
AI Is Here to Stay
You can’t go anywhere these days without hearing about AI, and the world of SEO is no different. More and more websites are starting to use AI-based content. There are quite a few improvements that have happened in the last few years in making AI-generated content better and more natural sounding. In fact, 2023 so far has shown us that Google’s algorithms are having a tough time distinguishing AI-generated content from human-generated ones. Not only that, Google has recently started testing a beta version of their newest AI language model, BARD.
Google is Reducing Crawling and Indexing Frequency
Indexing and crawling are processes used by search engines (like Google but not exclusive to it) in order to discover and add web pages to their databases. Google is cutting down tremendously in 2024 on the frequency it crawls and indexes websites. Why? Google has been committed to its carbon-neutral policy, and they are trying to reduce the carbon footprint completely by 2030. Like any other form of computing, it can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental problems if the electricity used to power the computers and servers comes from non-renewable sources. They have optimized their algorithms and are using other technologies to reduce the amount of energy required for indexing and crawling. Less crawling means less greenhouse gas emissions, and that’s better for everyone.
E.E.A.T
E.E.A.T is the main Google algorithm update for 2023. This abbreviation stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. These are the things Google likes to see in a website and rewards accordingly. One thing Google likes to see is if the author, brand, or website has first-hand experience with what is conveyed in the main content. For instance, a lawyer should be writing a legal blog based on their expert industry knowledge. Think of it this way, would you trust a product review from someone who has not actually used the product? No SEO strategy in 2024 is complete without a serious focus on E.E.A.T.
Algorithm updates that Google launches from time to time are just the beginning! We encourage you to find a SEO-focused digital marketing agency in order to ensure you’re keeping up with all things SEO. Head over to third-party review websites, like this one for an Onthemap.com review, to see which agencies are out there wowing their current client list. You can bet if an agency has stellar reviews they’ll be able to produce the same results for you!
