A Game Plan for Mastering SEO in 2024

Author: Filip Ruprich, Head of SEO

In 2024, the world of SEO presents us with new challenges and opportunities due to the growing importance of artificial intelligence (AI). Your SEO strategy must be prepared for these changes.

A question that has become increasingly common in the marketing community over the past year with the resurgence of the Super Generalised Engine (SGE), is whether SEO is dead in 2024? Not at all! This is still a key element of the marketing strategy, but you need to adapt or update your approach accordingly, to continue to dominate the SERPs and gain organic traffic.

Check out what will be significant in 2024!

Key findings:

• SEO still holds great importance in 2024, although it requires adaptation to new trends.
• There is a need to update keyword strategies according to intent and opportunities due to the development of the Super Generalised Engine (SGE).
• The quality of content will play an even more significant role than before.
• Digital PR and acquiring high-quality industry-specific backlinks are key to assessing E-E-A-T
• Implementing CRO as part of your SEO strategy is a necessity.
• It’s time to embrace AI and start collaborating.

Keyword Verification & Intent Analysis: The Start

Google SGE is expected to significantly reduce organic website traffic for many keywords as searchers will be able to get their answer directly from the AI-generated response.

It’s worth reconsidering your keyword strategy. Some of the traffic from informational queries may decrease, so your focus should be more on keywords with commercial, transactional or navigational intent. These keywords generate more conversions and can become the main source of organic traffic.

Our research indicates that YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) content remains entirely unaffected when it comes to informational intent. Google avoids queries that could lead to legal issues. Therefore, there is a significant opportunity for queries and websites primarily operating within the YMYL area.

Furthermore, it’s essential to regularly track trends and monitor changes in user intent. SERPs are constantly changing, and the keywords you’re targeting may have already shifted their intent.

Stay up to date with user behaviour, analyse traffic data on your website, and adapt your content and strategy to better meet the needs of your current target audience while maintaining competitiveness in the SEO field.

Content: Focus on Quality

Programmatic SEO is gaining momentum, and the creation of thousands of pages in a matter of seconds is becoming a reality. However, this presents a challenge for search engines, as they must carefully select what to index and what to discard. 

To meet these challenges, focus on creating high-quality content. Avoid creating more subpages on general topics that already exist in large quantities. 

Instead, create unique and valuable content. Base your articles on various content formats, such as infographics, videos, ebooks, or even podcasts. If possible, prioritise providing data-driven content. It’s essential to understand the significance of evergreen content.

Additionally, don’t forget about helpful content. Ensuring that your content consistently delivers valuable, accurate answers in a user-friendly format is essential to maintaining and improving your SERP rankings as ranking factors continue to evolve.

It is also worth exploring new opportunities and adapting your content marketing strategy. Researching your target group and analysing the potential associated with implementing the Tangential SEO strategy can help you reach a larger audience and build authority in the industry. This strategy is based on creating content thematically related to your main field, but going beyond its framework.

Imagine you run a cafe. Instead of writing only about coffee, you can create blog posts titled “Best study spots in [your city]” or “Best spot to work in [your city]”. This post attracts students and remote workers looking for a good place to work who may also be interested in coffee. This way you will attract a wider audience, not just coffee lovers.

E-E-A-T: The Role of Trust & Authority

Google will continue to place a huge emphasis on E-E-A-T, rewarding websites that consistently address these factors. As we’ve already mentioned, many of these factors are based on content quality. Including information about the experience of people behind the site. 

Backlinks remain and will continue to be one of the strongest and most impactful signals of a website’s E-E-A-T. They allow Google to assess which websites and brands are trustworthy quite easily and without much cost.

That’s why in 2024, we suggest you focus on digital PR strategies. Strive to gain positive publicity and authority in your industry. Connecting with experts and reputable brands in your field can significantly impact Google’s perception of your website. Answer the question – “Do I want to have 10 backlinks from meaningless websites or 1 backlink from an expert in my industry?”

Another important aspect is the analysis of potential backlinks. Don’t just focus on one metric that can be manipulated relatively easily. Instead, compare at least a few different metrics from different tools.

Use the table below for simple link analysis:

This multidimensional analysis will allow you to obtain a more comprehensive picture of the quality of the backlinks you are acquiring or want to acquire.

UX: Take Care of the User

If your website drops traffic from informational keywords, every visitor to your site will be more valuable than ever before. It is important to make the most of each traffic and ensure a high conversion rate.

Monitor user behaviour on your site using tools like Hotjar and Microsoft Clarity to understand what they expect from your site and what their intentions are. Adapt the website to their needs.

Integrating SEO activities with CRO is extremely profitable. Conversion optimization affects the efficiency of converting traffic into customers or leads. Increasing your conversion rate can significantly impact your website’s bottom line.

Ask yourself: “What would my revenue look like if I increased my conversion rate by a few percent?”

AI: It’s Here to Stay

By using AI, you can speed up your SEO strategy, but remember that there is still a need for human verification. Artificial intelligence provides valuable guidance, but the final decisions should be made by humans. Regardless, it greatly optimises your multitasking time. 

Without accelerating your SEO strategy with AI, you are actually falling behind because your competition is already using AI extensively. See how you can get started yourself by using ChatGPT for SEO.

The Bottom Line

SEO isn’t disappearing anytime soon—there’s simply too much revenue at stake. It is a constantly evolving area. However, remember that quality is becoming more and more important compared to quantity.

Dear SEO specialist, consider whether your current strategy is ready for the revolution that is coming. Could this be the last moment to rethink your approach and adapt to changing conditions?

Dear Client, don’t be afraid to challenge your SEO agency and ask for a strategy tailored to your website. Ask questions and be actively involved in the campaign for your website.