The SEO landscape is trending toward delivering a seamless user experience.
Google prioritizes content that speaks of Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). With the advancements in AI and machine learning, it is curating search results that address user intent better than ever.
Staying ahead of the curve in SEO trends and best practices is crucial for bloggers, small businesses, writers, marketers, and anyone seeking online success. It can help you improve your search rankings, increase organic search traffic, and connect with your potential customers.
Let’s dive into the top SEO statistics for 2024 and explore how to use them to your advantage.
1. AI will Continuously Disrupt the SEO industry
A recent Semrush industry survey reported that 65% of businesses have seen an improvement in their search presence by using AI. And out of the companies that claim to be using SEO most effectively, 83% are using AI-powered tools.
You need to use the right prompts to let AI deliver great results. Here are two examples:
You should also invest in powerful AI SEO tools to get an edge over your competitors. Some of our favorite tools include:
- Semrush’s SEO Writing Assistant ⇒ SERP analysis, content optimization
- Ahrefs ⇒ domain analysis, backlink analysis, link building opportunities
- Frase ⇒ content briefs
- Jasper ⇒ AI writing assistant
2. Zero-Click Searches Are on the Rise
Have you always aimed to rank your content #1 on search results pages? That won’t be enough now.
When you search for the “best places to visit in April,” Google now curates and presents a list of places from different sources on the web. This list appears above the #1 ranking post by CN Traveller.
As a user, you’ll probably click the drop-down arrows next to the destination you like on the list, instead of moving on to blog articles. Google will show you more related results.
This means fewer clicks for top-ranking posts on the SERPs. As per stats by Semrush, 25.6% of searches on Google do not result in a click, also known as zero-click searches.
To prevent losing out on organic clicks and traffic, you should optimize your articles for places that Google finds worthy of featuring in the list. For example, Amsterdam.
When you create high-quality, helpful content for users willing to visit the place in April, Google will likely show your article under the drop-downs in their list. This means – you’ll still get your share of search traffic!
3. Pages with More Backlinks Rank Higher on the SERPs
Pages with a greater number of high-quality backlinks rank above pages that don’t have as many backlinks in the SERPs.
The page that ranks #1 in Google search results has an average of 3.8x more backlinks than those ranking in positions – #2-#10.
To dominate the search results for niche-specific queries, you should invest in contextual link building strategies for your web pages.
- Create valuable, informative content that people naturally want to link to. This helps you attract backlinks organically.
- Write guest posts for relevant, high domain authority (DA) websites in your niche and ask them to include a link to your website in your author bio or within the content.
- Find broken links on websites in your niche using Ahrefs and reach out to their editors, offering your high-quality resource as a replacement.
- Hire a link building agency to scale your backlink acquisition process without compromising your link profile health.
4. Search Generative Experience (SGE) Results Are Taking Over
Google SGE now offers an AI-generated result for many search queries, which is changing how people interact with the search engine.
SGE uses AI to directly answer user queries within the SERP itself, potentially bypassing your website entirely. It also lets users ask additional questions related to their initial query.
What can you do to feature in SGE results?
- Focus on creating high-quality content. While SGE might summarize existing content, it prioritizes well-written, informative, and trustworthy sources.
- Optimize your articles for diverse search intents to address all aspects of user queries.
- Target long-tail keywords that delve deeper into topics and are less likely to be directly answered by SGE summaries.
- Establish your expertise by creating content backed by research, data, and insights.
- Ensure your website offers a positive user experience (UX) with clear navigation, fast loading times, and mobile-friendliness.
- Embrace schema markup to improve how search engines see your website and potentially influence SGE summaries.
5. Google Wants Your Entire Site to Be Helpful, Not Just Your Content
Google’s helpful content update is more than optimizing each content piece you publish. You must ensure your entire website helps the users, not just individual posts.
You should ask yourself:
- Are all of your other web pages helpful and user friendly?
- Do you have many legacy pages with poor experience and thin content? This includes giant hero images, irrelevant shopping lists, and broken links.
Instead of taking the word “content” literally, think about making your entire website helpful. This should benefit all channels, not just SEO.
6. Users Are Trusting Top Search Results More Than Last Year
While Google has begun to roll out Gemini and SGE results, its impact on higher organic results click-through rates is slight.
A small increase in CTR for the top results shows that people trust the higher results slightly more than last year (39.6% → 39.8% CTR for #1 and 18.4% → 18.7% for #2).
However, ranking below #5 on Google brings you no or little gains in clicks and traffic.
Therefore, it is time to aim for the top 3 positions specifically. You should optimize your content for the most relevant keywords and users’ search intent to increase your chances of landing that top spot.
7. Google’s Shopping Graph Has Over 35 Billion Product Listings
Google’s Shopping Graph lists over 35 billion products to help you find what you want. This signifies a shift towards a more product-centric search experience for transactional and commercial search queries.
Here’s how it impacts SEO and what you can do:
- You should add rich and accurate product data to rank in relevant search results. This includes detailed product information, including titles, descriptions, categories, attributes, and high-resolution images.
- Optimize your product pages for product keywords and long-tail keywords that describe specific product features and benefits. This increases your chances of ranking for relevant user searches.
- Tag your product images with relevant keywords.
- Ensure your product pages are optimized for mobile devices with fast loading times and a user-friendly layout. A smooth mobile experience is crucial for conversions and SEO.
- Encourage customers to leave reviews and ratings that play a bigger role in influencing purchase decisions and search rankings. Also, address negative feedback promptly.
8. Digital Video Viewers Will Reach 3.78 Billion in 2024
Videos capture user attention more effectively than text alone, potentially leading to longer dwell time on your website, a positive SEO factor.
Most marketers report success with short-form videos — 30-60 seconds is the most effective length.
Here’s how you can leverage this trend:
- Grab your camera and start recording. But don’t do it without a plan. High-quality and informative video content tends to attract backlinks from other websites, further boosting your SEO ranking. So, focus on quality always!
- Use YouTube keyword research tools to find target keywords for your video SEO.
- Add transcripts to your videos and optimize these for voice search queries, making your content discoverable through a growing search trend.
- Add metadata and descriptions to help rank your video content faster.
- Track video performance metrics like views, engagement, and click-through rates. Use these insights to refine your video strategy for SEO success.
9. Most Google Search Queries Are 3-4 Words Long
This SEO statistic highlights the shift towards search intent and conversational search. Users are asking questions and seeking specific information, not just browsing generic keywords.
For SEOs and businesses, this means:
- You should focus on researching long-tail keywords (3-4 words or more) that are more specific and reflect user intent. Aim for a balance between search volume and competition.
- Develop topic clusters around broader themes, creating a comprehensive resource for users and improving website relevance.
- Structure your content to answer user questions directly and succinctly. This can help you secure a featured snippet, increasing website visibility.
- Analyze the “People Also Ask” and “Related Searches” sections on Google to identify additional long-tail keywords users might be searching for.
10. Consumers Use Online Searches to Find a Local Business
93% of consumers search for a local business online. This SEO statistic underscores the importance of investing in local SEO strategies. It can help you increase the footfall of your local stores and boost purchases from local consumers.
Here’s what you can do:
- Claim and optimize your Google Business listing.
- Build local citations.
- Target long-tail keywords that include location qualifiers — “best coffee shop in [city name]” to improve your local rankings.
11. Mobile Drives 57.87% of All Google Search Visitors
With 57.87% of searchers worldwide using mobile devices, optimizing your website for mobile is no longer optional. This SEO statistic 2024 emphasizes the need for a responsive website design that provides a seamless user experience across all devices.
Ensure your website loads quickly, has a user-friendly layout, and is easy to navigate on smartphones and tablets to cater to mobile-first audiences.
Master the SEO Game with These 2024 SEO Statistics!
Understanding the SEO statistics and behaviors shaping the search landscape helps position your website for success.
Remember, SEO is an ongoing process that requires adaptation and optimization. Implement these SEO findings, prioritize user experience, create high-quality content, optimize for local search, and build a strong backlink profile for your business.
If you are overwhelmed by the complexities of SEO, you can hire our experts to help achieve your search goals.
FAQs
Will AI kill SEO?
AI will not kill SEO; it will only transform how it works. AI helps deliver advanced insights and a more personalized user experience to searchers.
How to do SEO in 2024
With the evolving search landscape, here’s how to optimize your website and content for the top-ranking search results positions:
- Research long-tail keywords with good search volumes and low keyword ranking difficulty scores.
- Analyze Google’s first-page search results to identify sections these articles cover and understand search intent.
- Create well-researched, optimized content that addresses users’ search intent and offers value. Include screenshots, examples, and other visuals for easy scanning.
- Acquire backlinks from authoritative websites relevant to your niche and the article topic. Analyze the link profiles of competing pages/websites.
- Optimize your website for on-page SEO factors and user experience.
- Regularly improve and update your content and build contextual links to your pages.
Will SEO exist in 5 years?
Yes, SEO is here to stay. Only the form and channels users leverage to search for information may evolve.
For example, conversational searches using voice assistants are more popular than before today. Similarly, Google SGE is offering AI-generated search results.
However, high-quality content that offers value reigns supreme even today.
