2024 SEO Trends and Insights

4. Zero-click searches

The essentials

A zero-click search is where the search engine displays the answer the user is looking for directly at the top of the search results. This means they don’t need to click into a website (unless they want more information).

In May 2022, Semrush ran a study in the US that identified that “25% of desktop searches and 17% of mobile searches end without a click”. As an SEO, that is a scary number of users not reaching the content that you have spent time carefully crafting.

How to get ready

Preparing for zero-click searches starts with keyword research. Use your favourite SEO tool to understand what search engine result page (SERP) features are available for a keyword. I use different methods of keyword research, but Semrush is our main tool for position tracking and monitoring. It offers a helpful function that shows what features are available in that SERP.

When saving your keywords into your Keyword Manager, there is also a metric that shows the click potential for keywords.

The Click Potential metric shows how likely a user is to click your page if you hold the top position. Avoid falling through the trap of zero-click searches and damaging your website’s click-through rate by finding keywords with a high click potential.

Instant answer SERPs are traps for zero-clicks and targeting keywords that already contain instant answers and will make it difficult for you to gain clicks. When using Semrush, you can filter out SERPs with an instant answer SERP feature to avoid losing clicks when holding the top spot.

However, instant answer SERPs can also be used to raise brand awareness, so they’re not all bad.

6. Improving PageSpeed

The essentials

PageSpeed is not new, it has been a ranking factor since April 2010, but it’s still an ever-important part of SEO. Technical SEO is not a straightforward journey at the best of times. Putting in the effort to create a strong technical foundation for your business’ website can mean that you can sit back and focus on what is important;

In March 2021, Vodafone improved their LCP by 31% which led to an increase of 8% in conversions.

How to get ready

Currently (as of December 2023), Core Web Vitals consist of:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) which represents the load time of the main content of a web page. This could be an image, a heading block, or a content block.
• First Input Delay (FID) which measures how quickly a web page responds to a user’s first interaction.
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) which is when an element on a page moves unexpectedly, causing a user to either not be able to complete an action, or complete an action accidentally. One of the most common causes of CLS is images without explicit height or width elements.

In March 2024, Interaction to Next Paint (INP) will be replacing FID as one of the three core web vitals. INP measures how quickly a web page responds to user actions, like clicks and taps, over the lifetime of their visit to the page.

How to optimise for INP

As with all things SEO, analyse first, reviewing the code that makes your website less responsive. You can do this with Chrome DevTools by selecting the performance panel.

We specialise in bespoke WordPress websites and there are tools such as Hummingbird that your SEO team can utilise to individually manage the loading of certain code files.

8. Local SEO

The essentials

As search engines become more personalised, local SEO is imperative for any business with a brick-and-mortar location that wants to drive more local traffic to their site. There are a number of interesting statistics around the importance of local SEO:

• According to Search Engine Roundtable, 46% of all Google searches have local intent.
• In the UK, around 16% of all mobile SERPs contain a local pack SERP feature*:

*Statistic taken from Semrush Sensor on 14th December 2023.

How to get ready

To improve your online presence for your local business, here are some steps to take:

Optimise your Google My Business profile

1. Fill out every field on your profile and give as much detail as possible.
2. Select the correct category for your business. You can add more than one but make sure your main one is the most general.
3. List all of your products and services.
4. Ask your customers to leave reviews. They’re important for improving brand reputation and be sure to respond to those who do to show you value their opinion.
5. Add a Q&A list. Collate your most frequently asked questions and add them to your profile.
6. Show your most important attributes, such as whether you take card payments or if you require appointments to be booked.
7. Create a unique business description that shows your brand message.
8. Add posts to your Google My Business profile regularly.

Make sure your NAP profile is consistent

Your NAP profile consists of your business name, address and phone number. It is important for search engines to provide accurate information to their users. According to Yext, the listings management platform, a consistent NAP profile across all your listings helps search engines to see your business as trustworthy and open for business.

Post and engage on social media

If you’re wondering what social media has to do with local SEO, it has everything to do with it. Although it isn’t a ranking factor, content shared on social media provides social signals to search engines which have a relationship with organic rankings.

Posting your content on social media can help to drive traffic to your website. When you put time or budget into creating new content or optimising older content, not sharing it is a waste.

Posting on socials also provides necessary backlinks from high-authority social media domains. The more your posts are shared, the more backlinks you gain naturally. Engaging with your audience on social media can encourage users to share your content.

Optimising your social media posts for keywords also gives your profiles the chance to rank in organic search engine results.

14. Improve your topical authority with E-E-A-T

The essentials

Topical authority refers to a website’s perceived expertise and credibility on a particular topic. E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.  Google has extensive guidelines on E-E-A-T, mentioning that Trust is the most important member.

How to get ready

Experience: Does the content creator have first-hand experience with the topic? Pages that have content created by someone with experience are seen as trustworthy.

Expertise: Does the content creator have the necessary expertise to create the content?

Authoritativeness: Is the author or website a go-to known source for the topic in question?

Trustworthiness: Pages with a low trust rating will have a low E-E-A-T score no matter what. Take into consideration what the website says about itself, what others say about the website, and what is visible on the page.

You can read the full guidelines on E-E-A-T here.