ve Biggest SEO trends to watch in 2024

Marketers have experienced a transformational year in the past 12 months. Artificial intelligence has made it easier to create content. As PPC costs rise in most industries, organic searches are still the most cost-effective way to reach your audience online.

Knowing the top SEO trends for 2024 will help you to stay on the cutting edge of your SEO strategy.

Table of Contents


  1. The search intent will be the king

  2. Increased question words and answers

  3. Creators share their first-hand experiences

  4. Topical authority is important

  5. Topical maps will play a huge role in content strategy

  6. The AI content created by     will be at a scale

  7. Content must be updated regularly

  8. Brand signals will become more important

  9. Google will focus more on engagement metrics and user interaction

  10. The performance of mobile pages will remain a major ranking factor

  11. Businesses must update their page experience

  12. The importance of SEO communities

2024 SEO Trends

The focus of this year will be on how Google and the users react to the massive influx AI-generated content that is flooding the internet right now. AI will be used by some marketers to generate AI-generated content, but in 2024 those who go the extra mile to create the best-quality content will dominate the rankings.

With the influx of AI generated content, backlinks will be a big part of this year’s trends. Brand signals, authority indicators, and backlinks are also likely to see a rise. Google wants users to receive the best possible search results, from the most trusted, reputable and authoritative sources.

You can ensure that your content will meet the quality and authority signals Google is looking for by following these important SEO trends in 2024.

1. Search intent will be the king

This year, organic marketers will continue to create content based on search intent.

The true intent behind a user’s search is. Understanding how your audience uses search engines is key to meeting search intent.

Marketers have traditionally used four categories to describe search intent: navigational, transactional, commercial, and informational searches. Recent research shows that commercial and transactional keywords are on the rise while navigational and informational queries are decreasing.

You can now understand your keyword target’s intent by using keyword tools that display the search intent along with metrics such as search volume and click-through rate.



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It’s important to look at the top results, however, to find out what Google believes users are searching for. The four categories of search intention are useful, but it’s important to consider what kind of content users expect and what their needs are.

Do they want a quick response? Are they looking for a detailed explanation? A product page? A guide to action? A video tutorial? Compare multiple options in a list? You can ask them if they have any questions about their search query.

Artificial intelligence tools are capable of replicating the top ranking topics, but a human touch is still required to understand users’ needs.

Google recently simplified its Search Rater Quality Guidelines in regards to how it defines content that is helpful and meets the needs for users. This does not mean, however, that your content is any less valuable or high-quality.

Google is very concerned about the relevance and usefulness of results and wants webmasters who understand quality content to do so. Your content must show you have a thorough understanding of what users are searching for in order to reach the top SERP results.

Do you need help choosing the best keywords to target for your website? Try out our free keyword tool.

2. Question keywords and answers are increasing

In 2024, answering questions will remain a major SEO trend. According to – MozCast, results for People Also Ask appear in more than 90% of searches.



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Answering questions is a great way for to get to the first page in search results, even though Google has simplified the way they display answers to your questions. In 2023, Google got rid of the FAQ as well as the How-To rich result .

You can also use the People Also Ask feature to find out what questions people are asking.

Use a keyword tool to easily identify question keywords related to a seed keyword.

You can use strategies like:

A question keyword strategy is also beneficial for those with newer sites, as they have lower Key Word Difficulty.

Using Google Ads in conjunction with organic strategies? Get a free instant audit >> Ads Performance Grader

3. More first-hand experiences will be shared by creators

Google added “Experience”, to its E.E.A.T, a little more than a year ago. First-hand experience is a key factor for ranking content in 2024, as more AI-generated content will be available on the internet.

You can use your experience to enhance your strategy. The first is your creation. Add the following elements to show off your experience.

By including author bios and links to the social media profiles of your creators, you can show that your content was written by experienced writers.



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By writing articles, updating my website and posting to social media regularly, I have worked hard to establish myself as a SEO professional.

Google has now recognized me as a professional SEO and that I am an expert in the field.

It not only improves the organic ranking of my content on my website, but it also makes me a more valuable guest blog or writer on other websites.

If you plan to write your own content by 2024, you should make the most of your experience. If you’re looking to hire content writers make sure that their experience is part of the vetting process.

4. It is important to build topical authority

Google has long been a proponent of topical authority, especially for websites in the news, finance, health and politics sectors.

Google’s Topic Authority System gives priority to websites with more expertise on specific topics or coverage areas.

Even if your niche is not one of these categories you should still strive to establish topical authority within your industry.

Topical authority can be displayed through:

Take a look at this pet website as an example. They spent a lot of time creating hundreds of articles about dogs, including subtopics like dog breeds and health, nutrition and dog nutrition.

What is the value of such a wide range of content? This website ranks over 1.1 millions organic keywords.

Backlinks of high quality can show your brand as an authority in its field. Google will see that many websites within your industry link to your content. This shows Google how your website is viewed as an authority in your field.

Promoting your content on Public Relations, Digital PR and Social Media in the hope that others will link to it is also an excellent strategy for building authority in your niche.

5. Topical maps will have a huge impact on content strategy

Topical maps are going to be a big SEO trend in 2024. Why? They provide a guideline for building topical authority.

Topical maps outline all the content that you will need to produce to cover a topic in depth and breadth. This is an example of a spreadsheet topical map for technical search engine optimization.

Topical mapping is a laborious process that requires hours of keyword research, keyword clustering and manual topical mapping. Artificial intelligence can help complete topical mapping quickly.

Search Atlas, a SEO tool, allows you to create topical maps.

Topical maps are a great way to quickly create a comprehensive strategy for SEO content. Your content team knows exactly which topics are needed to establish authority within your niche, and what keywords to optimize the content for.

You can then use AI tools to generate content ideas around these topics. You can also send the topical map to your content writers. Repeat the topical mapping process for each primary topic area that is relevant to your website.

By adding these content pieces to your site and demonstrating their relationship via internal hyperlinks you can earn up to thousands of organic keyword rankings by 2024.

6. AI content is created on a large scale (for the better or for the worse).

Experts are estimating that by 2026, 90% of online content will be synthetically-generated. Some AI tools allow marketers to create large amounts of content. This can be done by generating the entire content of a map of topics (AKA, hundreds of articles) within a few short hours. By 2024, the collective velocity of our content will be at an all-time high.

But bulk content creation does not violate Google guidelines as long as it is useful, of high quality, and helpful for users, and it meets their E.E.A.T guidelines. According to their guidelines, this is only illegal if the content is created “primarily for the purpose of manipulating Google search rankings.”

Google’s vague guidelines will become harder to understand and enforce as AI becomes more intelligent and capable of producing high-quality content. Will some marketers use the power of automated content to create average content with a high focus term density but low value in order to gain organic traffic? Certainly.

It’s best to view AI outputs only as a starting place, and not as the final destination. In 2024, the most efficient content writers will use AI in order to speed up their writing process, while still taking the time necessary to satisfy search intent, demonstrate their experience, as well as provide the most useful, helpful, content to users.

Marketers need to understand that AI content will be the next frontier in SEO. This year, some of your competitors are likely to use AI content tools in order to create hundreds or thousands of new pieces. You will be left behind if you do not start using these tools.

Are you unsure of what tools to use or where to begin? Find the best options for you by browsing this list.

Do you want to use AI in the right way? Download free >> A guide to AI for marketing

7. The content will need to be updated regularly

The competition for our keywords is going to be fiercer this year with the influx of AI generated content. Protect your top rankings by updating content regularly.

Google’s ranking algorithm has some recency indicators that may cause fluctuations in top rankings as new content is published. However, backlinks and topic authority will outrank recency over the long-term.

Updates to content were usually enough in the past for ranking maintenance, but by 2024, an annual refresh will be a standard part of your workflow.

Here are some suggestions to refresh your content and maximize SEO:

8. Branding will become more important

Your brand’s name, reputation, and your brand name will still be important in 2024 if you have done your work to establish it online.

Google does not give priority to big brands when ranking search engines. Google looks at signals such as branded anchor texts and branded search volumes to determine whether your site is authoritative and trustworthy.

Google is increasingly valuing expertise and experience to sort out the wheat from the straw in content. There’s no better time than now to leverage your brand.

Here are some simple ways to improve your brand signals in order to optimize SEO:

The efforts to build your brand will also help you appear more in Google’s rich search results. Want to be included in more lists?

Google collects data on these brands “from all over the internet”, not just the websites of the brands.

You can help Google to understand your brand by establishing your brand on reliable websites across the web.

9. Google will focus more on engagement metrics and user interaction.

SEO professionals have been divided on how much Google considers engagement metrics when determining its ranking algorithm. Documents from the recent antitrust lawsuit against Google reveal that user engagement is more than just a ranking factor. It’s also a pillar in ranking.

Google’s “3 Pillars of ranking” presentation lists “User Interactions” among the core ranking factors. The slide clarifies that user interactions include “clicks, attentions to a result or carousel, and entering new queries”.



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It’s crucial to consider how you can allow users to interact with your website content.

Interactive modules such as jumplinks and rotating carousels are good for improving experience. But when users click on them, it can also tell Google that your content is engaging and valuable.

In your efforts to increase interaction, be careful not to become spammy. These interactive features are meant to enhance the user experience, not ruin it.

10. The performance of mobile pages will continue to play a major role in ranking factors

Google has announced that will be officially finished in October 2023, after years of implementation.

It’s unlikely that you’ve heard about mobile pages in the past few years. However, it is important to know that only your mobile pages () and are what counts for rankings.

This still applies if you have a website with a high desktop traffic. Attention must be paid to the performance and functionality of your mobile web pages.

Here are some “musts”, for your mobile page:

11. Page experience will be updated by businesses

Google has expanded its guidance for page experience to include a discussion of the importance of page experience.

A bad page experience is not helpful. Your pages must be responsive, fast loading, and meet Google’s Core Web Vitals.

Google will add Interactive to Next Paint in March 2024 to its Core Web Vitals metrics. This metric measures the response of a page to a user interaction, such as a keyboard stroke or a click.

Google has added this feature to its overall page quality measurement system because of the importance of user interaction in ranking. Review your INP report in your Google Search Console right away to make sure you’re ready for this change.

12. SEO Communities will be Crucial

SEO is a long-standing industry that has been fueled by crowdsourcing and shared information.

SEO professionals, SEO agency owners, and entrepreneurs who are taking control of their SEO must have a strong sense of community.

SEO community groups are one of the SEO trends that I think will be most beneficial and important for organic marketers in 2024. We can navigate this year’s changes by sharing our insights, strategies or experiences.

You can connect with SEO-minded people in many ways. You can connect with other SEO-minded people through events, Facebook groups, courses on the web, podcasts, LinkedIn, and forums.

These SEO trends will help you succeed in 2024

Here are the top 12 SEO trends to watch in 2024 if you want to succeed with SEO this year.

  1. Create content that is tailored to the needs of your users
  2. Answer any questions users may have about your industry, products, services or topics.
  3. Make sure your content creators are able to showcase their first-hand experiences.
  4. Create topical authority by creating lots of content with high quality that covers topics in depth and breadth.
  5. Topical maps can be used to develop comprehensive content strategies for 2024
  6. Use AI content tools to improve your content workflow and increase the velocity of your content.
  7. Update your content regularly to ensure relevance and freshness
  8. Brand signals can be improved on third-party sites and aggregators
  9. Engage your users with your content by giving them the chance to interact.
  10. Your mobile pages should be fully optimized
  11. Prepare for Core Web Vitals update and continue to focus on the page experience.
  12. Join the SEO community and experience the power of collaboration.

The article 12 SEO Trends for 2024 first appeared on WordStream.

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