SEO Trends. And that for 2024. Not so late due to busy periods like Black Friday or the holidays, but consciously because SEO is quite evolving. This year we saw a significant development of Generative AI. We see Google in America already working towards a Search Generative Experience (SGE). But not yet in Europe. We also saw other ‘trends’.
As you are used to from us, we don't just want to compile a list of developments happening in SEO land. Those developments are always there. Instead, we shed light on the developments within the Google platform and where we see Google (and the market) moving towards, but also where we think you as an organization should go to survive.
- Search Generative Experience (SGE)
- SEO KPIs
- Human Generated Content (and EEAT)
- E-commerce SEO
- Reviews
- Linkbuilding and Digital PR
Additionally, a list of trends you read in other lists, maybe true, but according to us, you could (and read: could) ignore. For good reasons. These are:
- Voice Search
- Visual Search
- Bing SEO
Search Generative Experience (SGE)
Of course, how Google looks depends on the complete rollout of Search Generative Experience.
What is that: SGE? This for example:
But also for Local:
Or for Ecommerce:
For some terms, Google does not yet show it automatically, but you get a generate button:
As you can see in the images above, that thing can have a significant impact on SEO. At least, how Google will look. The only question is when this will come to the Netherlands and Belgium. Incidentally, in the EU anyway. There is still the EU and their rules on privacy. To cut a long and legal story short: it has to do with European legislation on data processing. And Google is an American company.
This launched at the end of last year in America, after which it rolled out to more than 120 countries this year. The Google Way, so to speak. First test and then roll out. Here are also some facts about SGE and its development in Google USA:
- For 80% of the keywords, SGE is triggered
- 67% shows an automatically generated box (the one that is screen-filling)
- 14% of the keywords give a Generate button.
- The average number of sources (links) in the SGE has increased from 3.3 to 5.5
- That actually means that the rankings, and thus SEO opportunities, are increasing
- 85% of the SGE sources (links) come from links that rank in the top 10 of Google
- What was, remains: you still want to rank well in the top 10, to also get visibility in the SGE. And in that, the higher -> the better.
That Google is rolling it out is quite certain, because other platforms have executed AI (or let's say Generative AI) faster in their tool and/or search engines. The best example is of course Bing Chat. In terms of rollout, there are two things it depends on:
- SGE does not always give the right answers yet. Showing the best answer (the SEO algorithm) is what made Google big. A rollout
- Google's revenue model. Unlike Bing (Microsoft), Google is much, much more dependent on advertising revenue from the search engine. Microsoft earns more from Cloud and software/hardware.
Last but not least: not entirely coincidentally, Google also launched Gemini. To mix up some models from Google and make it easy: Gemini will become the basis of Google Bard (the counterpart of ChatGPT), which serves as the 'engine' of Search Generative Experience. In fact, Gemini will also play a major role in SGE. This version of Gemini, which comes in multiple variants, would also be trained on all Google data available. That is significantly more than the 'only' 500 billion words on which GPT-4 is trained.
TL;DR – Recap Google SGE
So is SEO going away? No.
Are we getting fewer clicks? Probably but not yet excluded
Do we need to do things differently to rank in SGE? Probably not much, you still want to create the best content.
Do we need to do things differently in general? Definitely, you need to look at the KPIs of SEO differently.
SEO KPIs are changing
We will have to see how we are visible in an AI-driven world.
Does anything change for us as SEO? In terms of optimization, no, because we are still optimizing to be visible.
About 85% of the results shown in SGE in the USA are also triggered from the first 10 organic results.
If the Search Generative Experience is going to roll out, depending on the extent, it is good to prepare for changing KPIs. Then rankings are less important because a ranking in such a box does not exist. Much more important will be 'brand mentions' in SGE. And for example, also links in SGE, which in fact becomes your 'new ranking'.
Visibility, or rather Branding, is anyway a KPI that is still too little focused on in Google. SEO delivers early in the Customer Journey, so SEO will become an (even) more important channel for your branding. With the emphasis on even more important. How long has the term Zero Click Searches been appearing in all trend lists? That is something that has existed for a long time. It will become much more important to ask questions like:
- How often am I visible as a company in People Also Ask boxes?
- Do I own enough Featured Snippets?
- How often is my brand mentioned in Search Generative Experience?
- Is my website (or source) often mentioned in SGE?
That means that the traditional SEO KPIs will remain, but become less important. Here is a recap of where we think it is going:
Rankings: will remain a metric, but less important. The ten blue links will remain, but pushed further down. Besides that: if you are still focusing on just rankings for the 10 blue links, something is going wrong... π
Organic Clicks: remains important, but may shrink somewhat. You are not the only one affected by this, but also your competitor. Is that really so bad?
Visibility: measuring visibility was already important. But what do we mean by that? At Follo, we have seen visibility as an SEO Metric for a long time. We measure the presence of websites/web pages in the SERP features that are important for the industry of that organization. Are People Also Ask Boxes important, then we track visibility there. Do we see many Image boxes or Local Packs, we track visibility there. The same applies, or better will apply, to the Generative Search Experience.
Brand Mentions / Sources: can partly be classified under visibility, but you want to track how often your brand/website is mentioned in that box.
Attribution: clicks may become less, but better visibility or more brand mentions can eventually ensure that a searcher still ends up with your organization. That is not something very new, as SEO has been delivering early in the Customer Journey for a long time. Much organic content ranks for informative terms, the PPC channels (Ads Search and Shopping) often hit the final phase. We need to approach SEO more like this because the number of SERP Features, with GSE in particular, will make this even more important.
So (!): do not lose confidence in the SEO channel when you see the number of clicks and euros in GA4 stabilize or decline for this channel. Take a good look at the Data Driven Attribution model.
But also visibility in features like People Also Ask boxes:
Human Generated Content (and EEAT)
Since the arrival of AI generated content, Google has been fighting all automated content. They also see the shortcomings in the 'truth' that models are still telling at the moment. Both ChatGPT (hallucination) and their own Bard. And let's face it: quite a few have emerged this year that are polluting the web with automated content.
We see a lot of pushback from Google in that. Last year it was already E-E-A-T, so more real content with real human influence. This year it goes much further.
This year is perhaps the most bizarre year when it comes to algorithm updates. Now Google does that every year, but this year we see a clear pattern. So pay attention to the reason why Google is rolling them out:
April 2023: The April 2023 Review Update was launched on April 12, 2023 and is a significant algorithmic update regarding reviews about products, services, destinations, games, movies, and other similar topics. – Focused on reviews, so Experience content.
August 2023: The changes are about improving how Google assesses content overall. The changes may cause some pages that were previously under-rewarded to do better in search results, or it may have the opposite effect. – Another extra check on the authenticity and relevance of content.
September 2023: Google released the September helpful content update. This algorithm update focused on improving their classifier to identify helpful content. The last helpful content update was in December of 2022. – Focused on the quality of the content.
October 2023: Spam update that is targeted to improve its spam detection system and improve its coverage in many languages – Focused on filtering out spam (not helpful content).
November 2023: This algorithm update is designed to reward high-quality reviews with insightful analysis and original research, authored by experts or enthusiasts. – Focused on content (with Experience) created by experts.
Besides algorithm updates, rollout of new features within the platform:
Google Perspectives: has played a significant role in the Google search platform since the arrival of ChatGPT. Real people with real opinions and experiences is what Google has focused on significantly throughout the year. Our prediction is that this will only continue in 2024. Also to the Netherlands.
StructuredData: new markup for forums and profile pages. Purely where content (created by people and opinions of real people) can be found.
GOOD TO KNOW
Human Generated Content and all developments that Google rolls out are not done by Google not because they want to counter ChatGPT. They already found E-E-A-T important long before the whole AI boom.
Human Generated Content (but also Helpful Content) is important because Google is a machine, a crawler, a robot. It has never visited Amsterdam to know that restaurant x serves the best pasta. It has never laid on the beach in Ibiza to tip us off. Google has never tested Adidas sneakers for every gender, size, and color. Google can only do that when they start discovering patterns. Those patterns are actually provided by people.
Ultimately, when Google has enough information, they can start modulating an opinion, but the fact remains that it is based on human experiences and input.
Besides that, every marketer also knows that consumers value the opinion and experience of others. That is something that has always worked to increase conversion.
The added value has always been in the value you as a human (or Authority and Expert) add to your content. That makes content unique.
E-commerce SEO
SEO purely focused on products is not very new. However, we think that if Google brings some features from America to the Netherlands and Belgium, it will require a different skill set from an SEO specialist.
Organic Shopping on the regular tab of Google is a feature that has been in America for quite some time. This year we also saw these features frequently appear in the Netherlands and Belgium.
This will also become important in the GSE:
There is still no full rollout, but the fact that Google has a different approach for products in the form of Organic Shopping, Product Knowledge Panels and also Popular Boxes is a fact. That requires certain skills from us as SEO specialists.
- Google shows a bar with specs, which can be filtered. These specs need to be in your products
- Also specs like free-delivery and reviews stand out
- Good product images are key
- Different variants in your products, in this case Color
There are many features to be found on the SERPs of Google USA. These features can be influenced with the following two 'tools'.
Feed management: the presence of products is partly determined based on the feed sent to Merchant Center.
StructuredData: the correct product markup is essential. The more, the better Google understands your products and specs in it. We mention a few Schemas you can (read: must) take into account:
- ProductReturnPolicy gtin, MerchantReturnPolicy, OfferShippingDetails, deliveryTime, doesNotShip, shippingDestination, shippingLabel, shippingRate, shippingSettingsLink, transitTimeLabel, ShippingDeliveryTime, DefinedRegion, PostalCodeRangeSpecification, OfferShippingDetails, ShippingRateSettings, size, pattern, ProductGroup, variesBy, hasVariant, productGroupID, isVariantOf, ProductCollection, hasEnergyConsumptionDetails, EnergyConsumptionDetails, hasEnergyEfficiencyCategory, EnergyEfficiencyEnumeration, EUEnergyEfficiencyEnumeration, EnergyStarEnergyEfficiencyEnumeration, energyEfficiencyScaleMax, energyEfficiencyScaleMin.
The difference? The Merchant Center Feed is actually real-time. For StructuredData, Google needs to crawl your pages.
Feed management seems to also need to become a real SEO skill. Google's guidelines seem to increasingly encourage delivering feeds in a structured way:
- Google Merchant Center
- Google Manufacturer Center
- Google News
- Google Business Profile
Reviews
Reviews are really everywhere. At least, when we look at the features that appear in Google USA. Just a screenshot on a regular search query in Google there:
- The reviews in the Organic Shopping results
- The Seller Ratings (general store reviews). It is also becoming more important to be rated as an organization, not just the product specifically.
- Reviews collected webwide about the product
What are Seller Ratings then? Google Seller Rating are originally review stars displayed with your Google Ads and Google Shopping ads. Soon also with Organic Shopping and there it becomes a ranking factor.
And of course also Local. Where you can filter (1) on ratings, you also see them very prominently as the first 'spec' in the local results (2).
In general, reviews are not a trend for 2024 and not so much for SEO either. We do see that Google is increasingly showing reviews in more and more different
Think about it: Ultimately, E-E-A-T is an important factor for SEO. And let Reviews fall under the E of Experience π
Linkbuilding & PR
This paragraph is not so much a trend, but more intended to indicate that Linkbuilding will still play an important role in SEO. In fact, it is as simple as the following:
With Generative AI and Programmatic SEO, it should also be quite feasible for the smart engineers among us to completely replicate a website. Suppose you would recreate Coolblue.nl. All pages the same, except for the domain name and the logo. Would Google then have a reason to position your replicated website low? The answer is yes, but not because you are committing Duplicate Content. The real reason is that Coolblue has built a reputation as a name (Branding & PR), but also for Google (Linkbuilding & PR). No way that linkbuilding is no longer important. Also ask the question the other way around. Wouldn't it be very logical for Google to show you in the Search Generative Experience when you are much better filled with good sources (links and citations) from very authoritative domains.
Our money is on:
- Digital PR (also a form of linkbuilding)
- Qualitative Links (industry-related)
- Do not exclude forum links, as they become more important in Google's eyes.
The assessment that Google uses of links is in the core of what Google has always had in the algorithm. And that has always had a heavy weighting. So that will remain so for quite some time.
Generative AI
Not a trend, because 2023 was already the year of this development. At least, the way we got to know Generative AI.
This is not a trend, this is a way of working. Specialists who are not connected to AI will probably miss the boat or have already missed it. Easy tasks like writing meta titles or alt tags will be done via AI. In many software or tooling, that is already implemented. That gives specialists more time for the 'important' things and that is adding value to your content. There is still an infinite amount to write about the added value of Generative AI, which is why this blog post is not intended for that. Get started with it, because Google is doing it too. (Generative) AI is here to stay.
SEO Trends you read about, but you can (partly) ignore
Of course, you read more lists with SEO Trends, we do too. In them, we see remarkable things returning every year. That is why we also shed our vision on it and with good reason indicate why we do not see this as SEO Trends
Voice Search:
We have been dismissing it in the trend lists for a long time. Honestly, in 2022 UpCity already indicated that Voice Search is used by more than 50% of respondents. That percentage is probably even higher in 2023.
Why not a trend? 75% of the results of Voice Search come from a top 3 ranking, and 40.7% come from a Featured Snippet. If you are good (π) you are already optimizing for this, so there is not much more you can do.
Visual Search:
This is also quickly adopted. Searching with Google Lens. According to research already almost 25% of Americans use this.
Why not a trend? Just like with Voice Search, there is no real way to optimize for Visual Search. Of course, it helps to have good quality product images, optimized file names, and alt texts, StructuredData etc. on your pages – but you should already be doing this anyway, as it has been a best practice since forever.
Bing SEO:
This year Bing for the first time surpassed 100 million users per month. Of course, due to developments within Bing, ChatGPT, and Microsoft.
Why not a trend? Bing may be more popular than ever, but the market share is still between 3% and 5%. Google's market share is around 92%, so you should optimize for that. Moreover, it is often the case that if you rank in Google, you also rank in Bing – so it really does not deserve special attention.
Conclusion
As you could read, a lot of trends. We prefer to call them permanent changes. Because we know this is going to be the new Google. And in that, content and links play an important role. Only probably in a different form from next year.
Want to know more about the above trends or do you have another online question? Feel free to contact us.
```
