The State of Search: SEO Trends in 2024
The past year has brought major changes to the online marketing landscape and in order to succeed in 2024, service businesses need to change the way they think about SEO. If your current marketing strategy revolves around link building and blog posts, you need to begin reassessing your plans as soon as yesterday!
Today we’re going to look at how the changes Google has made to its search are making it harder to rank organically and talk about what you can do to ensure your website continues driving leads to your business. Finally, we’ll touch on some changes in the SEO scene that you need to pay attention to if you want your digital marketing to succeed!
The Shrinking Search Engine Results Page
Ranking on the first page of Google has always been the goal of search engine optimization. The justification was simple: if your site didn’t rank on the first search engine results page (SERP), you received vastly fewer clicks.
Fundamentally, this hasn’t changed, however being able to get your site onto the first page has become more difficult. Instead of presenting 10 different organic search results, Google is now showing as few as 7, with the average SERP only delivering 8.64 organic results, down from 8.97 just three months ago.
The reason behind this phenomenon is Google’s increasing inclusion of other search features such as sponsored links, local panels, featured snippets, images, and videos.
What this means for businesses trying to rank organically is simple: instead of having 10 chances to make it onto the first page you can expect 8 or 9, but possibly as few as 7.
The Uphill Battle of Organic Search Results
Having already addressed the simple fact that getting onto the first page is more difficult, we come to the elephant in the room: Google itself.
It isn’t just that real estate for organic results is shrinking, but it is being pushed further down the page. When you perform a Google search the top results are almost always going to be paid advertisements, followed by Google’s other SERP features like local results, related questions, or knowledge graphs.
It isn’t uncommon for a user to need to scroll 1 to 2 screen lengths before seeing their first organic result. And, unfortunately, these top organic results are frequently dominated by online directory juggernauts like Yelp, Homeadvisor, or Angi (formerly Angie’s List).
Getting the Most from Google Search in 2024
It’s indisputable that Google owns the lion’s share of search traffic and within their platform they make the rules. But, this doesn’t mean that small service businesses can’t succeed with SEO, it just means that you need to learn how to play the game!
Remember, the goal of SEO has always been to have your business displayed on top and organic results were simply a means to an end. Nothing has changed about where the hottest screen real estate neighborhood is – you still want to be on top!
Here are the best ways to get there:
Google Guarantee
Google Guarantee ads are a type of local service ad (LSA) and are a great option for getting local services businesses to show up on top of the search results. Google Guarantee ads are a solid lead generation machine and are billed on a cost per lead basis rather than the traditional cost per click.
These ads show up on top of the search results underneath a green check mark with the Google Guarantee title, and show how many reviews you have and your average rating. The program is more than just a name and provides the customer with insurance if anything were to go wrong during their contractor’s visit.
Traditional Search Ads
Traditional search ads are nothing new, but they remain a great way to prominently display your brand on top of the search results page. These ads are pay per click, which means that your website should be optimized for conversions in order to get the most bang for your buck! Even small improvements in your conversion rate make a meaningful difference in your cost per conversion:
100 clicks @ $10/click
2% Conversion Rate = 2 Leads generated at $500/lead
5% Conversion Rate = 5 Leads generated at $200/lead
10% Conversion Rate = 10 Leads generated at $100/lead
Depending on how the Google algorithms feel, there may be multiple, smaller ads per search, or a single large ad. The large ads are an amazing opportunity to reach customers as they capture a significant amount of search real-estate. Here’s an example from one of our clients that shows the best case scenario:
[image from Dragon Insulation]
When paired with a website that is optimized for conversion, traditional search ads are one of your most powerful and cost effective ways to generate leads on demand.
Google Map Pack
Next up is the Google Map Pack – a search tool which we have covered in depth in the past. In short, a Map Pack is likely to show up any time a customer performs a search which contains local intent. The only way for a business to show up in the Map Pack is for it to have a Google Business Profile (GBP) – so if your business doesn’t have one you are missing out on this opportunity.
The Map Pack results usually display an ad followed by the top 3 results and there is a completely separate ranking algorithm used when compared to traditional search. Thankfully, proximity and review velocity are two of the most important ranking factors, so the path leading to organic leads is straightforward.
While getting the most from your Google Business Profile requires a significant amount of effort, the payouts are huge. Some of our clients are getting upwards of 40% of their conversions via their Google Business Profile, on top of their already robust lead generation.
We are strong believers in Google Business Profile as a SEO tool and any service business looking to increase their leads should invest time into optimizing their GBP.
Organic Search isn’t Dead, It’s Just Different
While organic search isn’t the panacea that it once was, it is still an essential component of digital marketing strategy. Over the years the algorithm has seen some pretty big changes, and while traditional factors and keywords may be able to push you to the second page, to be truly competitive you need to focus on how users interact with your site.
Google rewards sites that terminate searches. Search termination means a user clicks to your site and does not return to Google search. The implication here is that they didn’t need to go back to the search because your website presented them with the information, product, or service they were looking for.
What this means for service businesses is simple: you need to be designing your service landers for conversion. Optimizing websites for conversion is multifaceted and requires a fast loading webpage, an intuitive user interface, and engaging content.
In general, a service page with a good conversion rate will become a service page which ranks well on Google!
Other Changes in the Sphere of SEO
In addition to organic search losing ground to paid search and Google’s own search results panels, 2023 brought about some additional changes that small businesses should be aware of:
Universal Analytics Has Been Replaced By Google Analytics 4
Google’s old analytics tool, called Universal Analytics, was retired as of July 1st, 2023 and is no longer tracking your website’s data. If you want to be able to track your website traffic (and, if you want to be able to have an effective digital marketing strategy, you surely do!) then you must upgrade to Google Analytics 4.
The Increasing Significance of Short-Form Video
It feels like yesterday when TikTok was just an incomprehensible social media platform that only high schoolers understood, but the passage of time is relentless. Today, short form video is everywhere, with YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and Facebook Stories hopping on the bandwagon of 60-second clips.
TikTok, arguably the social media platform which brought short-form video to the mainstream, has enjoyed a meteoric rise. According to Pew Research, a third of Americans use TikTok, and the platform’s reach is only growing.
These short videos are a great opportunity for small businesses to create and reinforce their brand identity. Unlike longer videos which typically need to be actively selected by a viewer, short-form content is delivered algorithmically and thus is a powerful tool for gaining exposure to a wider audience.
Staying Relevant in Search
The biggest change that small businesses need to be aware of in terms of digital marketing is the diminishing importance of organic search. It is more challenging to rank as there are fewer organic results being displayed and even a high ranking SERP result sits well below Google’s own content. This means that search ad campaigns should be a part of any new digital marketing push.
Keep in mind that pay per click campaigns become more cost effective when your service pages have a high conversion rate. Going from 5% conversion to 10% conversion halves your cost per lead!
Finally, business owners need to be staying abreast of changes like the deprecation of Universal Analytics and mainstream popularity of short-form video content. Failing to acknowledge these changes will put any business at a disadvantage and make future success harder to come by.
Is your digital marketing strategy getting you the best results? Get a free search performance evaluation and learn how you can improve your online marketing!