Absolutely Not. But It Is Going To Change.
I think most SEO experts, business owners, and growth managers were a little spooked when they saw the initial Search Generative Experience rollout in May of 2023. It has led to some disheartening discourse and even the sentiment that SEO is going away altogether. I can most assuredly promise you two things: The need for search engine optimization is never going to go away and SEO is simply evolving, as it always has evolved every decade. Like clockwork.
What this means is that your team, SEO lead, or digital marketing guru will have to pivot for the predictions of what is to come in 2024 and onwards.
Where Is The Future Of Search Headed?
For marketing pros, it is important to look at other tools and platforms to get a feeling for where search engine optimization is going.
For Google, we have seen the growth of carousels and the Discover platform. Google Ads has performance max campaigns and dynamically creates ads for your keyword phrases and target audience. TikTok has disrupted search engine market share by becoming a popular, useful platform for younger generations to receive answers to their queries. Consumers want their platforms to be tailored to their needs. Everyone wants what they want, and wants to be entertained faster.
What does this mean? To a certain degree, Google is going to have to incorporate a bit of everything to keep up and while SGE is a nifty addition, Google might actually remain the same for some.
For A Company To Survive It Has To Create An Immortal Product
As Google has evolved in the past 20 years, it has become one of the most massive tech companies in the industry. But with the post-covid era, and the rise of TikTok, we saw just how quickly decades of work and search engine development can be undone overnight.
So, what is going to be Google’s answer for 2024? As it has been doing already, dynamically generating SERPs for the most engagement based on the user’s and/or consumer’s behavior. This will inevitably make Google’s search engine last forever as it is a product that adapts in real-time based on your behavior. With the sunsetting of third-party cookies, Google is going to try to get you to opt into a TikTok-tailored experience with all the answers and precision of the world’s greatest search engine.
For example, I theorize that if you are a baby boomer and very much like the performance and appearance of Google right now, it might not change for you at all!
Try looking at your SERPs, your friend’s SERPs, and your partner’s search engine results pages. What do you find? While everyone is Googling the same queries, you have received varied listings. This is not because some information is better than others, this is because some information is better than others to you.
SEO Is Never Going Away
With Google creating an immortal product for the masses, the best way to get yourself ready for the Search Generative Experience (SGE) is to focus on two pillars that are often overlooked in SEO: User Experience (UX) and Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO).
These pillars specifically focus on high engagement rates and driving up the time spent on your pages – much like how TikTok factors view time into whether or not a post continues to be shown.
These two pillars will ensure your website stays in the hunt for competitive rankings against other brands in 2024 and ensures your website is equipped for the “searchquake” right on the horizon.