The future of SEO

SEO as we know it has drastically changed since the beginning of the 21st century. In 2012 Google completely removed most on-site SEO factors in its algorithm, such as keyword density and image attributes. I think it will go even further in 2024 with stronger integration between artificial intelligence and search engine algorithms, which are already used by social media platforms. There will be progress in personalization, the ability to predict searchers’ needs before they even ask for it, and reinforcement learning for user behavior analysis.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing how we live, work, and play. It's in our phones, cars, homes, and offices. It's sure to change SEO too. So how will AI impact SEO? What are the implications for SEO in the future? How will SEO evolve in 2024? Let's take a look at how much of an impact AI will have on SEO over the next few years.

It's all about the algorithms

The big challenge for search engine optimizers today is that search engines change their algorithms so frequently. The fluctuations are so dramatic that some SEO experts claim they can predict when Google will update its algorithm by simply observing the traffic patterns on their sites.

Search engines are getting better at their jobs all the time because they're using algorithm updates to find ways to optimize results even better than before. This makes it even harder for SEO experts like you and me to try to optimize our websites. There's only one solution to this problem: Artificial intelligence (AI).

AI will become stronger than humans

Google knows that if it can create a machine that can do a better job of optimizing websites than humans can, it'll be able to provide more relevant search results than ever before. That's why Google has created AI.

The rise of voice search

Soon enough, voice search will be the most used search engine in the world. And it won't be long before every retailer will have to optimize their site for voice search. In fact, according to Search Engine Watch, Google has already stated that it will not show desktop results on mobile devices in response to voice searches. A few years from now, people won't want to sit in front of a computer screen to shop online. We'll just ask our computers what products we want and they will give us the best options available.

So how will SEO evolve in 2024? The answer is simple: SEO is going to become VESO (Voice-based Search Optimization). When people shop online, they'll no longer rely on typing keywords into a search box. Instead, they'll use their voices to tell their computers what they want.

The implications of this shift are huge: Content needs to be more useful and engaging, On-page optimization needs to be more focused on answering questions instead of keyword stuffing

As VESO matures, there will be more focus on developing engaging content with a conversational tone so that it's easy for users to understand the answers that the page offers or provide additional value by connecting them with other pages.

Page Experience

The page experience measures whether a website is suitable for mobile devices and safe to use. It is one of the hundreds of ranking signals used by Google.

With the page experience update, three new indicators have been added, namely the Core Web Vitals.

Core Web Vitals are designed to measure how users experience the speed, responsiveness, and visual stability of a web page. There are three types of Core Web Vitals:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

• First Input Delay (FID)

• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

In your Google Search Console account, you can check which URLs of your website have passed the site vitality test. This site vitality test measures the URLs score on Core Web Vitals on mobile and desktop.

Are some pages not scoring well? Then use Google's PageSpeed Insights to analyze where you can improve these pages.

Suggestion from Google? Use the three Core Web Vitals as a guide to the best user experience on all pages of your website. You may not notice anything immediately in the optimization of the page experience you implement. Many websites do not do this in order. But this is no reason to let go.

Content is still one of the most important factors, but when Google sees two similar sites, the page experience can be the deciding factor. If you rank well, you may have a greater advantage than your competitors.

SEO A/B testing

Make the best decisions based on data. This, of course, is what we are going to do. Although A/B testing for conversion optimization in websites and advertisements has become very common, we have not seen so much of it in search engine optimization.

This is mainly because it is more difficult to test reliably. Because for search engines, there is always only one version of the page in the lead, so you automatically get before and after testing. Therefore, you can never be 100% sure that the location of the improvement is related to your change.

Moreover, it can take a while before search engines have processed your changes. And a one-page test usually does not provide enough data to draw reliable conclusions. In short; simply set up a test via Google Optimize, Optimizely or VWO is not suitable for SEO A/B testing.

Fortunately, there are more and more tools and possibilities to set up A/B tests for SEO. We will see this situation more often.

Sometimes it is difficult to estimate in advance what impact your website changes will have on organic rankings and traffic. With SEO A/B testing you can test whether optimization has the desired effect. You can then make changes on all comparable pages.

Think for example of the SEO A/B test:

• Content

• Metadata

• Link structure

• Headings

• Structured Data

• Technical adaptations to improve the loading speed

SEO A/B tests work differently from A/B tests that focus on conversion optimization. In the CRO test, website visitors are divided into two groups, whereas in the SEO test they are divided into pages. One group of pages remains unchanged, which we call the "control" group. Another group of pages is changed, which we call the "variant" group.

What do you need to start testing?

Are you going to do SEO A/B testing? Choose a group of similar pages, such as blogs or product detail pages, and make two groups of them. A control group and a group where you make the SEO adjustment. The test must be then active for at least 30 days, in connection with indexation by Google.

You also need sufficient traffic on the pages to be able to guarantee a statistically significant conclusion about the impact of your test. The success of the test can be determined by statistics such as organic impressions, organic clicks, organic sessions and transactions. Is your SEO A/B test positive and significant? Then you can apply the changes of your variant page group to all similar pages.

Seasonal effects, Google changes, and external factors such as SEO tweaks on rivals' websites are all taken into consideration, depending on the SEO A/B-testing tool used.

Because Googlebot can now crawl JavaScript, client-side A/B testing may now be used instead of a server-side solution. Client-side solutions like RankScience and SplitSignal have an entrance price of less than a thousand euros per month, however server-side technologies can easily cost thousands of euros per month. This makes doing an A/B test a lot easier and less expensive! Although, because we created a script for SEO A/B testing through Google Tag Manager, it may be much cheaper.

Ready to elevate your website's performance through strategic A/B testing in web design? Explore our insightful blog post, "A/B Testing in Web Design," to discover how data-driven decisions can transform your online presence.