Let’s do a quick recap of SEO throughout the years to give you an idea of where it is going
The History Of Search
Courtesy of the Standford programming wizards Larry Page and Sergey Brin, PageRank was released in 1998, setting in motion the beginnings of SEO, spider bots, and the World Wide Web.
As search engine optimization turned from ranking mythos and black hat SEO techniques, Google also turned the page and evolved with RankBrain in 2015. RankBrain revolutionized authoritative, white-hat SEO techniques and is a fundamental factor in almost all user search queries.
If we fast forward just a bit more, we have found ourselves with the Search Generative Experience (SGE) being tested in 2023 and the internet at the edge of its seats as it awaits a 2024 full launch of SGE – this time without cookies!
Where User’s Searches Are Headed In An AI And SGE Dominant World
Google will be able to, and currently can, speak back to the user. It is the same search model, a lot more highly complex ranking signals, but the goal is the same: The best content for the right user. That is Google’s purpose paraphrased and your job as an SEO. So, how the heck do you rank for the search generative experience?
At the end of the day, we are looking at long-tailed, bottom-of-the-funnel SEO keyword phrases, relevancy, user signals, and conversational topics.
Google Discover is going to try to become a version of TikTok’s “For You” page. The difference is that Google is integrated into most phones and is most individual’s default browser (as TikTok continues to creep up for the younger generations). To compete with developing, evolving search engines and AI, Google is going to try to anticipate what you want to read, watch, and engage with. Think of it like Minority Report but for content, you are going to read. Google has already been moving forward with this leveraging ads, caching, and cookies. However, I truly believe Google is going to take this one step further. You need to know exactly what your target audience wants from content.
Content Is The Emperor
The ages of “content is king” are now days of old.
Content is now the emperor.
Good, user-driven content can help you circumvent your competition and any areas of SEO you might be lacking. There are two distinct areas you will need to develop to be ready for SGE: User Experience (UX) and Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO). To which you say, “But wait? I’m not an e-commerce website. Why do I need UX and CRO?”
Ease of use, clearly defining user outcomes, and assisting in seamlessly guiding the user through your website is the future of search. Make your website fast, make it clear, make it valuable to the user, make it tailored to who they are, and make it so Google wants users to physically visit your website and stay there. We will talk about this in future posts, but I will leave you with one line:
To rank for the search generative experience, you will need to create an ecosystem that users do not want to leave.
*Looks at Reddit*