Quick summary:
In this introductory article, we’ll explore the exciting and dynamic world of SEO trends to keep a close eye on in 2024. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, staying updated with the latest SEO strategies is essential for businesses and website owners looking to thrive in the competitive online space. We’ll dive into the key trends, technologies, and strategies that are expected to shape the future of search engine optimization and help you stay ahead of the curve.
Importance of staying updated with SEO trends
Staying updated with SEO trends is the key to maintaining a competitive edge in the ever-evolving digital landscape. It ensures your eCommerce website remains optimized, relevant, and effective.
Adapting algorithms:
Google’s ever-changing algorithm means what worked in SEO a year ago may not, today. Staying updated with SEO trends helps your eCommerce website maintain or improve its search engine rankings.
Evolving user expectations:
Online users have ever-evolving preferences due to advancing technology. Staying updated with SEO trends helps you understand and meet changing user expectations.
Competitive edge:
Online markets are highly competitive. Staying updated with the latest SEO strategies gives you an edge over competitors and helps retain potential customers.
Enhanced user experience:
SEO aims for a user-friendly website. Google values factors like page speed and mobile-friendliness. Staying updated with SEO trends ensures a top-notch user experience, benefiting both visitors and search rankings.
Related read: 5 SEO hacks to rank high on Google
Overview of the SEO landscape in 2024
The world of search engine optimisation is undergoing significant changes this year, and it’s essential to grasp the emerging trends and strategies that will influence how websites are ranked and discovered.
Upcoming sections will describe every SEO trend to look out for.
Let’s see a more in-depth explanation of these:
1. User experience and Core Web Vitals
In 2024, User Experience and Core Web Vitals are the SEO game-changers. They boost your rankings and create an enjoyable site visit, driving more traffic and building loyal customers.
Why does it matter?
Google relies on these metrics to decide who ranks where. A user-friendly website means higher rankings, more visibility, and more success.
Core Web Vitals on the other hand show a website’s health. It tells google important things like if your website is easy to use, how long a user stays on your page, if you have relevant content and if all external and internal links are functioning and healthy. Here is a detailed guide on what these Core Web Vitals are and how to improve them!
Strategies
Here is a checklist to ensure your website user experience and Core Web Vitals stay excellent:
- Optimise your site for faster loading times. Resize images, minimise scripts, and use browser caching
- Ensure your site works flawlessly on mobile devices
- Consider a Content Delivery Network for lightning-fast content delivery.
- Keep layouts stable to avoid annoying shifts
- Use structured data to enhance search results
- Monitor your site’s performance using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and Search Console.
2. Voice search optimisation
Voice search optimisation is a key trend to watch in SEO for 2024.
With the rising popularity of voice-enabled devices and virtual assistants, businesses need to adapt their SEO strategies. Here’s how:
- Conversational keywords: Optimise for conversational keywords and long-tail queries to provide direct and informative answers
- Featured snippets: Optimise for featured snippets to stand out in voice search results and offer quick, concise answers
- Mobile optimization: Ensure your website is mobile-friendly and loads quickly, as voice searches are often performed on mobile devices
- Voice search in eCommerce: eCommerce businesses should offer structured product data and a seamless shopping experience for voice search users
3. Mobile-first indexing
With our smartphones becoming extensions of ourselves, search engines like Google noticed the mobile obsession and decided to shake up the SEO world with “Mobile-First Indexing“
Imagine over 50% of internet traffic comes from mobile devices, and it’s set to grow in 2024. Google said, “Let’s prioritize mobile-friendly sites.” Your mobile version is the star of the show now.
So what do you need to do to ensure your website ranks at the top of Google even on mobile phones?
- Mobile responsiveness: Your site must look and work great on any screen size.
- The speed: Google cares about how fast your mobile pages load, so keep them swift
- Mobile SEO tricks: Optimise for voice search, use structured data, and create mobile-friendly content
- Mobile-friendly content: Keep it short, use bullet points, and clear headings for easy mobile reading
With the Instamojo online store builder, you can see a live preview of how your online store will look on the website vs. mobile phones giving you plenty of opportunities to optimise for the mobile screen!
4. Content quality and E-E-A-T
In 2024, when you search the web, “Content Quality” and “E-E-A-T” (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) are the game-changers you need to know.
For your content to rank, it needs to follow the EEAT guidelines set by Google.
- Experience: The way your content is presented matters to the user experience
- Expertise: Your content needs to link to expert authors, especially for topics like health, where knowledge is crucial.
- Authoritativeness: Be an industry authority with quality content and trustworthy backlinks.
- Trustworthiness: Build user and search engine trust with clear policies, contact info, and fact-checked content
See how Neil Patel masterfully breaks down the importance of EEAT in content!
5. Video SEO
Videos have taken the online content world by storm, and this isn’t just a passing trend. It’s a seismic shift in how people engage with information.
Here’s our analysis of why videos are grabbing all the spotlight!
As videos rise in importance, Video SEO is becoming crucial. It involves optimising video content for better search engine rankings. Here’s why it’s a game-changer:
- Enhanced visibility: Optimised videos are more likely to appear in search results on general search engines and platforms like YouTube.
- Better user experience: Video SEO ensures easy discovery and a seamless viewing experience, boosting user satisfaction.
- Competitive advantage: Not all businesses have embraced Video SEO in 2024, giving you a chance to outshine competitors and connect with a broader audience.
- Google loves videos: Google’s algorithms favour video content, often presenting video results prominently
- Embedded video in blogs: Blogs or websites with videos embedded in them have a higher chance of showing up in featured snippets or ranking at the top.
Tips for effective video SEO in 2024
Ready to harness the power of Video SEO for your brand? Here are some tips to get you started:
- Keyword research: Identify what your audience is searching for and strategically use keywords in titles, descriptions, and tags. Here is a guide on keywords.
- Engaging thumbnails: Create enticing and relevant video thumbnails to increase click-through rates.
- Quality content: Produce engaging, informative, and entertaining videos that resonate with your audience.
- Mobile optimization: Ensure your videos are mobile-friendly and test their appearance on different devices.
- Transcriptions and closed captions: Enhance accessibility and search engine visibility with transcriptions and closed captions.
- Promotion: Promote your videos on social media, email marketing, and your website for increased exposure.
6. Artificial intelligence and Machine learning
In 2024, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are reshaping SEO. These technologies boost rankings, widen audiences, and personalise user experiences.
Impact of AI and ML on SEO
- Predictive analytics: AI and ML drive data-driven SEO strategies.
- Natural language processing: Improves content relevance by understanding user intent.
- Voice search: Optimizes for voice and local businesses.
- Visual content: Enhances image and video visibility.
- Content generation: AI aids content creation.
- Algorithm updates: Adapts to changing search engine algorithms
7. Local SEO and Google My Business
Local SEO is often neglected by D2C brands and small businesses. But 2024 is set to bring exciting changes to local SEO and Google My Business (GMB).
First, understand what is Local SEO here.
Here’s how you can leverage Local SEO and GMB to rank higher:
- Engage: Use GMB’s messaging, bookings, and orders for customer interaction
- Super local optimisation: AI and machine learning enable hyper-local SEO. Ensure precise location info in your GMB profile for enhanced visibility
- Reviews: Manage them actively and respond promptly to boost local SEO
- Video showcase: Utilise GMB video support to highlight your offerings
- Mobile-friendly: Optimise for mobile users for a seamless experience
8. Rich snippets and schema markup
In 2024, an important part of technical SEO will take centre stage. Presenting: rich snippets and schema markup.
These trends are set to redefine how your website appears in search results. Let’s learn more:
What are Rich snippets?
These are pieces of content that are “rich” in information. So if your content ranks on Google, then the rich snippet is the additional information you provided that helped enrich the search query.
For example, recipes, reviews, infographics etc. It gives the reader more incentive to click on your website’s link.
What is schema markup?
This is also technical. Your website is essentially a bunch of code that is put together artfully. This structured data that form your website forms the Schema markup. it is the hierarchy in which data is presented that makes it easy for Google or any search engine to read your website and index it.
See a complete guide by Semrush here.
11. Content clusters and topic authority
It’s vital to monitor emerging trends, for sure! Looking ahead to 2024, two promising developments stand out: content clusters and topic authority.
These approaches are poised to revolutionise how websites structure content and establish themselves as authoritative sources in their respective niches. Here are the important things to know:
- Develop content clusters: Organise related content, with a pillar piece on a broad topic supported by smaller articles
- Show topic authority: Establish expertise and trust through content clusters
- Improve user experience: Enhance navigation and engagement with organised content
- Enhance search visibility: Improve rankings and drive organic traffic with authoritative content
- Ensure mobile-first indexing: Ensure a mobile-friendly format for a seamless user experience
- Long-term SEO: Build lasting authority with consistent, valuable, evergreen content
12. Social-SEO integration
As the SEO landscape continues to evolve, the synergy between social media and SEO is becoming more crucial. In 2024, social-SEO integration is poised to be a pivotal trend that will shape the success of online businesses.
Here’s how social SEO works:
- Content amplification: Social media boosts content visibility and attracts backlinks and user engagement, positively impacting SEO
- Social signals and ranking: Likes, shares, and comments on social media can improve your search rankings
- Influencer marketing: Collaborating with influencers can expand your brand’s reach and create valuable backlinks
- Content syndication: Sharing content on social media can lead to syndication on authoritative websites, broadening your reach
- User-generated content: User reviews and discussions on social media enhance your online reputation and search rankings
Navigating SEO trends to look out for in 2024 with Instamojo
In 2024, staying ahead in SEO is essential, and Instamojo, a platform empowering small businesses, plays a vital role.
Instamojo offers tools for seamless online operations, aligning with key SEO trends such as creating high-quality content, optimising for mobile, focusing on Core Web Vitals, and demonstrating Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T).
Instamojo online stores and landing pages are pre-optimised for search engines. Update meta tags, meta descriptions and meta titles on your store or landing page and see it rank higher on Google!
