Last year, I wrote about the latest SEO trends for 2023. But as with any good trend, things change fast.
Nowadays, large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Gemini are taking over with no signs of stopping. Not only are they affecting how you create your content. They're impacting the SEO game, too.
The good thing? Your blogs are still hugely important. But to stay relevant in a changing landscape, you have to remain up-to-date. Read on for the latest SEO trends to implement in your blog content this year.
#1. The Age of AI: The Attack on Spam Content
As of March 2024, Google’s latest update—the recent version of the Helpful Content Update—is all about prioritizing human-first content. In many ways, that means de-prioritizing spammy, AI-written content.
While you shouldn’t abolish ChatGPT or Gemini entirely, you SHOULD get a real human involved. My recommendation: use LLMs for research, ideation, and to spark the creative process. And definitely get writing and editing support from AI tools like Hemingway.
Ultimately, make sure LLMs aren't doing everything, and always target your content at real people. Otherwise, you might be penalized.
That’s the last thing you want after spending hours on a 2000-word blog to improve your rankings.
And speaking of the number of words…
#2. Word Count DOESN’T Matter As Much As You Thought
Previously, long-form content (1500+ words) was a must-do.
But lately, Google doesn’t care much about word length. Instead, it cares more about getting your point across. If you can explain your concept in 500 words, great! If you need 2000, that’s fine too.
Either way, as a good rule of thumb, aim for over 500 words. It’s hard to truly demonstrate your knowledge of a subject in less than that.
#3. A Key SEO Trend in 2024: Continue to Optimize Your Images
This isn’t a new "trend" by any means, but it’s still relevant in 2024. Optimize all your images for SEO.
This means updating image file names with relevant keywords, compressing images, using supported file formats, and adding appropriate alt-tags (without keyword stuffing). The little things go a long way.
#4. Prepare for SGE
In line with the AI wave, Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is on its way to the mainstream. While SGE rolled out in 2023, it's not quite commonplace in everyday search.
While SGE certainly won’t eradicate SEO, it will change things once it becomes the norm—which is only a matter of time.
Here’s how to prepare:
Demonstrate E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authority, Trustworthiness) in your content. Google evaluates content based on E-E-A-T, and SGE is no different. Here are some tips on how to demonstrate E-E-A-T in your content.
Write clearly and concisely. Speak your audience’s language, answer your audience’s questions directly, and don’t be too wordy. SGE pulls content from the web (i.e. your website). Make it easy for it to feature yours.
Update your content. Check your publish dates and keep your content up-to-date, as SGE will try to pull newer content.
Keep publishing new, high-quality content. Keep gaining greater market share online to gain visibility and stay ahead of the curve.
#5. Audit Existing Content
One of the most effective SEO “trends” of all? Audit your existing content. Yes, publishing new content is crucial, but auditing your content might be more effective from an SEO perspective. The content is already published, right? You just need to make a few tweaks to see better results.
Here’s what I recommend.
Step 1: go into your favourite SEO tool—Semrush, Ahreds, Moz… whichever you prefer.
Step 2: filter your blogs by positions 4-20. These are your low-hanging fruits, i.e., some of the best to optimize. They probably just need small changes to jump the ranks.
Step 3: research what’s in SERPs for those keywords. See what competitors are doing in higher positions, and apply those to your low-hanging fruits.
Step 4: optimize accordingly. This might mean adding more high-quality imagery, making your writing more scannable, restructuring your content, refining the target keyword, updating the title tag, etc. But with any changes you make, log your updates in a document so you can note what worked/didn’t work. A/B test when you can.
Step 5: monitor your results and see what makes an impact. Apply what works. Rinse and repeat!
Final Thoughts
While it’s hard to say where the future of SEO will go, as with all facets of digital marketing, the industry changes fast. To stay on top of it, you have to adapt. Stay tuned for my next SEO trends blog—it might come out sooner than you think.