Simply put, modern SEO prioritises excellent user engagement and experience. So, you no longer have to optimise your website or a focus page for bots and search engines. This means you can deliver great content without worrying about traditional SEO limitations. This also means that factors that influenced your rankings in the past won’t work anymore, and certain things that you could overlook cannot be ignored. However, like all the updates in the past, content quality is a priority. Google strives to deliver the ‘BEST’ possible answer to your questions. With the introduction of AI, the user behaviours have also changed. People are typing longer phrases as searches, and more Gen Z and Millennials are searching for their answers on Social Media platforms. Let’s not forget generative AI making cameos on SERPs. According to this article, 65% of people are still clicking on the organic section of the SERP, with 59% only visiting one page during their search session. Delivering a great user experience when they land on your page is even more critical. Remember that nearly all the recent updates in the algorithm prioritise mobiles over desktops as the focal device for users. So, having a responsive website is good, but more is needed. Make mobile experience your priority. Another critical factor for modern SEO is the use of Structured Data. Search engine crawlers crawl a considerable amount of web pages. To make things easy, they rely on an agreed set of Schemas. The schemas aim to make your page more digestible for the crawlers. There are many types of schemas available on the link above. You don’t have to use them all. But use the ones you need on your website. Here’s a handy tool for you to test your website for schemas. - https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data The way you build backlinks has also changed. Search engine algorithms now focus on WHO is writing the content. Their authority, expertise and experience in the niche. So, it’s not just about what you’re writing. Furthermore, guest blogs that once held a high moral ground (sarcasm) are no longer a thing SEO should do. If you have written a great piece of content that will genuinely help a specific pool of audience, any website in that niche would be happy to feature it on their page. This ‘vote of confidence’ and trust can certainly accompany a backlink to your website. This is the definition of modern guest blogging. In summary, modern SEO is more about substance and less about fluff. This is excellent news for an SEO Agency like us.
The rise of ‘Near Me’ searches has also rattled the SERPs recently. With every SEO optimising their websites for ‘near me’ searches, the results in many industries were masked with inaccuracies. The latest updates focus on delivering proximity-based results. This makes the results more authentic. Instead of getting a better optimised ‘best restaurant near me’, you can now get relevant results.
