I’ll start by saying SEO has felt like watching the stock market this past year. SO many ups and downs experienced. Traffic flipped upside down for better or for worse, as Google released several updates and also experienced bugs they had to fix too.
I am going to take a leaping assumption and say you probably didn’t catch Neil Patel’s webinar last week. He called it “The Biggest Opportunity of 2024”, I call it the State of Content SEO today in 2024. It’s OK, I don’t blame you for missing it. I took notes and screen shots to share with you here.
The highlights:
- Ditch the Robots in 2024 and Write Like a Human
AI writing tools are everywhere – search results and websites have become bloated with a lot of AI written sites. A lot of articles saying the same thing. It was a battle in 2023 of what will win in SEO-land… sites spun up with thousands of AI articles in a day vs a site that had 4 thoughtful articles post a month by a human with E-E-A-T: experience, expertise, authority and trust….
Although a survey showed humans can’t always smell an AI written article a mile away, there has got to be at the very least an apathetic type experience. A “Meh” shoulder shrug by the customer and google.
So don’t blend in with the robotic crowd. Infuse your content with your unique voice, experiences, and personality. Cite sources, in-depth analysis, predict trends, and offer fresh perspectives and recent events – things AI just can’t do right now. Make your article represent the hidden gem of intel that you have.
- Long-Tail Keywords – Your Secret Weapon
Forget chasing high-volume, short set keywords. Users are getting specific with what they type into google. Focus on “long-tail keywords” that reflect their granular search intent. Free tools like Answer the Public can help you build a knowledge graph of relevant terms you can write about in your next blog posts. Remember your site is here to serve your ideal customer’s queries and wonders.
- Go Beyond Text and Be Creative with your SEO Content in 2024
In the screen shot above, what was noteworthy to me was Marketing campaigns that use at least 3 channels have a 494% higher order rate compared to those launched on just one channel. That was stunning to read. But it makes sense given the crazy amount of retargeting I see these days!
Spice things up with videos, infographics, and even custom-made images (might want to skip the AI-generated images with their creepy eyes and extra digits on their hands). And offer what AI can’t: personal anecdotes, expert interviews, and the power of user-generated content from real people sharing their experiences. Forums are making a comeback with SEO ranking because its unique personal experiences entered straight from the first person.
You read that right – 1,760 video searches for the same query compared to 20 in Google.
- Backlinks Still Matter in 2024 – But Here’s the Twist
While backlinks aren’t the be-all and end-all, building relationships and authority presence on other reputable sites still counts. But do it with meaningful connections. Digital PR is your friend: find relevant, unlinked mentions of your business and reach out to them to add a link back to your site. Partner with publishers to create valuable content that links back to your site.
- User Experience Remains Critical
Its NOT all about speed. The only point they wanted to drive home about speed was it needs to take less than 3 seconds to load the page. You can simply just count. Yes there are other tools like pagespeed insights but from a user experience level which is important in the context of speed – 3 seconds is your max. And speed is just 1 of like 200 elements that affect SEO.
In all the SEO nerd forums I am a sponge in – they rarely talk about speed. Yes of course they’ll tell you what to RUN from as far as platforms or hosts go (ie Wix, GoDaddy, BlueHost). But there is so much more to user experience on a site.
The points driven home here were: 1. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly, 2. make sure it’s easy to navigate (and convert!), 3. and yes page speed load is less than 3 seconds.
- Bonus Tip: Using AI
AI is a fantastic time saver in so many ways a lot of which I have yet to learn myself! Using it as a writing tool of course is huge right now. If you use AI writing tools – treat them like your apprentice. Train them with specific prompts tailored to your business and target audience. You can even break down your AI content requests into sections so that you provide clear instructions to AI each time. Remember, you’re the expert on the topic so use AI as a tool and resource but not as a replacement for your human touch.
So I hope this helps you know the current tone for SEO content in 2024. This is how you can set your small business apart from a robotic mass and how you can catch Google’s EEAT wave. SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Keep learning. You’ve got this!
