Ever remember the days when sprinkling a few keywords on a page was like hitting the SEO jackpot in search results?
In 2024, the world of SEO is the exact opposite of easy.
However, for those of us who enjoy solving SEO puzzles, it’s an exciting time as we face massive new challenges and opportunities.
This year, it’s all about delving into the technical side of SEO, getting comfortable with AI tools for content, and figuring out how to manage rising costs without breaking the bank.
Let’s look at five vital SEO business insights in 2024 to help you get a bird’s eye view of what to expect.
1. SEO keeps getting bigger and harder
For those of us who have been in SEO since the 90s, we remember the simple days of ranking web pages.
Every year, SEO becomes more complex and harder to win.
Just look at all the changes that occurred in SEO in 2023 alone, not the least of which was Google’s generative search experience, which may turn SEO on its head again.
In addition, the ranking algorithm continues to evolve annually to discover the most relevant web pages as Google refines its technology.
Bottom line: There is no “easy button” in SEO. You can expect to work a little harder to compete in 2024 than last year.
2. Technical SEO is growing in importance
A highly competitive search environment means every little bit counts. The more you perfect your website for users, the better you can compete.
Without technical SEO, creating an optimal user experience is impossible.
Therefore, there will be a greater reliance on technical SEO to succeed.
If you’re still relying only on surface-level on-page SEO tactics (keywords, meta information, etc.) and ignoring the technical background of your site, you won’t stand much of a chance.
And even if you do moderate technical SEO, the skill level you need to win at technical SEO is increasing.
Take things like Google’s “page experience” initiative and all the minutia that went with it.
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3. AI will change your content strategy
AI tools are change the future of content creation – How the future of SEO will change remains to be seen.
We’re in massive experimentation mode with AI content creation tools.
After many months of seeing how AI content can help (or hinder) businesses, one thing is clear: get it right and you can create quality content and increase your profits. Get it wrong and you’ll generate nothing but spam.
says Google You will violate their spam policies with the wrong AI content:
“When it comes to automatically generated content, our focus has been consistent for years. Using automation, including AI, to generate content with the primary goal of manipulating search rankings is to violation of our spam policies.”
But if your AI content is user-centric, it’s perfectly fine to use AI tools to help your content creation efforts:
“That said, it’s important to recognize that not all use of automation, including AI generation, is spam. Automation has long been used to generate useful content, such as sports scores, weather forecasts and transcripts. AI has the ability to drive new levels of expression and creativity, and serve as a critical tool to help people create great content for the web.”
So how do you strike the right balance when using AI-generated content?
Today, the gold standard is the right AI tools combined with expert human content analysis and editing.
For more information, read Creating AI Content: A Beginner’s Guide.
4. Prices are rising
It’s no secret that the cost of everything is going up.
Most face increasing business costs by 2024, according to Kiplinger, including interest rates, inflation, energy costs, transportation, insurance, travel, construction costs and technology.
The cost of attracting and retaining top digital marketing talent will also be an issue for some.
Kiplinger predicts that some industries may restrict wage increases next year, with some implementing modest wage increases of up to 4.2% for employees.
You can do the math on how much it can cost to retain experienced search marketers by viewing this search industry salary survey from Search Engine Land.
If you want to retain people with more than 10 years of experience (for my agency, that’s the minimum amount of experience we allow for client-facing staff), you’ll need to offer an attractive salary and benefits package.
The cost of doing business will also affect many service-based SEO companies, so the cost of hiring SEO companies is likely to increase.
5. Hiring the best will be important
With rising costs, many businesses find themselves in a difficult situation with their SEO. Fortunately, the bigger players can invest in the best SEO services.
Businesses (many in the range of $26 million to $2.5 billion annually) will increase digital marketing spending by around 9% by 2024, the Deloitte CMO Survey predict
Unfortunately for smaller players, the question will be: do I want it cheap or do I want it good?
And as we know, cheap SEO is a near death experience.
However, this does not mean that the little one does not have a chance. Larger companies may have more resources, but they are less agile.
And for all the resources these larger corporations have, they may not be implementing the best (or some of the lesser-known) SEO strategies.
Regardless of the size of the company, hiring the best SEO help will matter, whether it’s in-house or an external SEO company.
Companies that prioritize SEO because they know its value can be creative in diverting budgets (eg advertising budgets) as needed to retain the best and most SEO talent.
To learn more about this, find out what percentage of your budget should go to SEO.
The key word for 2024: Adaptability
As we head into 2024, we rely on the same SEO mindset of years past: adaptability. SEO demands the flexibility to turn on a dime.
Getting creative with budgets so you can hire the best SEO talent to guide your business through 2024, while focusing on innovative strategies and technical website analysis, will allow you to weather any storm this year throws your way.
Congratulations on a successful 2024.
The views expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
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