How Web Search Behavior Is Changing In 2024
How Web Search Behavior Is Changing In 2024
A 2024 Outlook on Search / SEO Trends
Last week’s post was a primer on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Daniel—from Digital Media Ninja—talked about the core elements of SEO for organically growing a brand online.
The material for there is foundational and evergreen—but the nuances of SEO change with consumer behaviors.
Navigating the Latest SEO Trends: A 2024 Outlook
As we step into 2024, SEO trends are increasingly influenced by changing user search behavior.
From the early days of the web until 2017, users were mostly1 constrained to a specific desktop-based keyword search.
No more! Now users can—and do—search for information in different ways.
This post will explore the latest search / SEO trends in:
Mobile-First Indexing
Voice Search Optimization
Local SEO
1: Mobile-First Search Focus
The majority of web traffic now comes from mobile devices, so a mobile-first ranking approach now makes sense.
Google's algorithm updates in recent years have placed a heightened focus on mobile user experience (UX)—so should you.
Page speed is more and more important in the age of mobile browsing. A slow site on mobile can dramatically affect mobile rankings, because mobile devices often have less powerful hardware and might be on a slower network compared to desktops.
Slowly loading pages impact how crawlers access the content. If the site is very slow to load, crawlers might not end up indexing all the pages.
This is because crawlers use a crawl budget to allocate a certain amount of time for crawling any given site. If your pages take too long to load, the bots might leave before indexing all of them.
—Simmer’s Technical Marketing Handbook, emphasis mine
40% of customers will abandon a page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load—neither Google nor you want that.
What Does Mobile-First Mean?
Google's mobile-first indexing means the search engine predominantly uses the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking. A mobile-first page development means the same thing.
This change reflects the increasing use of mobile devices to access the internet.
Websites not optimized for mobile are at a significant disadvantage.
This shift means websites that offer fast loading times, mobile-friendly interfaces, and intuitive navigation are favored in search rankings. This has always been true, but is becoming more important.
How Should I Work On Mobile-First?
MarTech tools can help ensure your site is mobile-friendly, from responsive design to optimizing load times and mobile UX.
Integrating MarTech tools that analyze and improve UX is crucial for SEO success.
Tools like heatmaps can provide insights into how users interact with your site—enabling you to make data-driven improvements.
For example, Tealeaf2 and Smartlook3 will record your customer’s interactions.
You can analyze that data to understand your customer. You can figure out where they struggle, succeed, and where to prioritize changes.
2: Voice Search Optimization
With the rise of digital assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, optimizing for voice search has become an important channel.
Over half of all adults use voice search daily worldwide, so this segment can’t be ignored.
Voice searches tend to be longer and more conversational than typed queries.
Users might ask “Where should I go to get the best haircut for women nearby today” to a voice assistant. But they would type “Womens haircut near me”.
How Should I Work On Voice Search?
Marketers must adapt by targeting long-tail keywords, framing content in a natural tone, and adding relevant structured data.
Study your inbound traffic and capturing the extra-long-tail keywords (more than 5 words) relevant to your content. You can rank quickly and stay there instead of fighting highly competitive two word combos.
Write (or generate) content in a natural tone that could be read from a voice search device. Given Google’s effort to improve the Home and Nest, they’re likely gauging conversational tone for ranking.
Adding relevant structured data within your webpage that a voice assistant could read out loud will drive traffic—For example, hours of operation, next reservation opening, aggregate ratings.
If you want more information about structured data, check out the link below.
This approach not only aligns with voice search trends but also enhances the user experience by providing direct, actionable answers to queries.
3: Local SEO: More Crucial Than Ever
For businesses targeting local markets, local SEO is vital.
Especially paired with the increased mobile traffic, location data in your browser is even more relevant.
Local SEO includes optimizing for "near me" searches, promoted offerings on maps, and ensuring your business appears in local listings.
Tools that manage local listings and monitor local search performance are helpful for businesses looking to capitalize on local search traffic.
But the fundamentals of SEO still undergird the effort.
Futureproofing for increasingly visual SERPs in 2024 involves:
Enhancing your landing pages to include various elements like images, hours of operation, address, FAQs, video, PDFs, reviews, etc.
Ensuring you have a meaningful number of high-quality, authentic images that will boost search visibility and conversions.
Making sure images are optimized and pass Google’s safe search standards.
Matching images with search queries and customer intent.
Avoiding the use of stock photography.
—Search Engine Land Maximize Local SEO Impact
Don’t go out of your way to try to cheat your way to the top of the local rankings either.
According to Andrew Shotland, it's pointless to create unique, optimized pages for every business location—if the content doesn't actually serve the user's needs.
Google has penalized high-quality business location pages if they seem designed more for SEO purposes than for benefiting the user.
Conclusion: Where Is 2024 Taking SEO?
As we conclude our exploration of SEO trends for 2024, it's evident that the landscape is evolving, with enduring SEO principles at its core.
Trends such as mobile-first indexing, voice search optimization, and the importance of local SEO highlight a shift towards a more user-centric approach to digital marketing.
The future of SEO isn’t finding artificial ways to rank well in SERPs, but anticipating the real needs and preferences of your users.
By embracing 2024’s trends proactively, we can ensure our digital marketing strategies are both effective and user-centric.
Approach 2024’s SEO with a commitment to adaptability and user-centricity.
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