8 Latest Search Marketing Trends for 2024 – A Look Into What’s Next Ahead

The “Great Resignation” post-pandemic does not only have implications for employers, but also for marketers that consistently strive to connect with consumers. This major shift in sentiments, which led to an increased focus on a sense of purpose, compelled marketers to rethink the way they converse with their audience, given the recent shift in customer intent and search marketing trends.

In search marketing, every transition must be factored in to remain relevant. these include not just the changes in search algorithms, but also the shifts in the way customers engage with search engines. As technologies become more sophisticated and human-like, marketers need to continuously improve search marketing strategies including the use of search marketing software to deliver optimal content and get top ranking.

Here we identify trends that will have a significant effect on search marketing. As advancements in AI continue to gravitate the web to new marketing frontiers, marketers should prepare early so as not to be left out in embracing another major shift.

There are approximately 7 billion Google searches happening every single day (Internet Live Stats, 2022). For search marketing, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. While it’s getting harder to rank organic content on Google, imagine the audience that you will reach if you get your content to rank on the first SERP.

Today, however, consumers are choosing to interact with brands on their own terms. Power has shifted to the consumer. Gone are the days when marketers created messages to develop the desired sentiments. Marketers today are decoding customer queries to provide the right answer to the right question, at the right time.

From the growth of voice search and visual search to the rise of the metaverse, marketers are facing one major hurdle after another if their brands are to thrive in the new digital landscape. The following important search marketing trends we have identified will significantly impact the practice of search marketing.

Search Marketing Trends for 2022

1. Aligning Content to Search Intent

In 2020, almost 65% of Google searches ended up without clicks (SimilarWeb, 2021). Crucial to the success of search marketing efforts is the creation of content that satisfies search intent. Aligning content to search intent should be at the core of every search marketing initiative as this has the potential to boost brand awareness and make your brand relevant to your audience.

Marketers should not only focus on keyword search but should also identify the intention behind the search so as to drive conversions and retention. Focusing on the intent and needs of users means paying attention to their search terms. Searches typically fall under three categories—to learn about something, to find something, and to take action. Once you have identified the intent, you can craft content that is aligned with the search intentions. In doing this, you can specifically address the needs of your audience and open opportunities for engagement.

It is important to note that AI plays a major role not just in analyzing consumer data, but also in handling complex searches. In fact, 41% of marketers agree that AI accelerates revenue growth and performance by predicting consumer needs and behavior with greater accuracy (Marketing AI Institute and Drift, 2021). When pulling results, AI factors in the intention of the user, which makes decoding the search intent crucial to creating content that stands out on the web.

Optimizing for search intent holds the key for your brand to benefit from this trend. This would entail tweaking your content by providing answers to possible queries related to the search intent, as well as ensuring that your title and meta description reflects the exact content that you want your audience to find. As search engines become more intelligent, content relevance and quality will be the ultimate differentiator that will generate traffic to your site.

2. Rise of Visual Search Optimization

The web is a visual landscape. One significant trend that continues to experience robust growth is visual search, and brands are catching up through visual search optimization. When it comes to finding the right product, more than 74% of online shoppers think that traditional text-based search is ineffective (InvespCRO, 2022).

Using AI, visual search helps people find what they are looking for through the use of real-world imagery. For instance, Pinterest’s visual search tool Lens recognizes 2.5 billion home and fashion searches (Social Media Today, 2021). Users may capture the image and upload it to the search engine, or just point the device camera to the object and an app will automatically identify and provide search results for similar items. With this capability, Pinterest facilitated more than 5 billion searches per month in 2021 (Social Media Today, 2021).

Visual search is particularly useful to ecommerce stores. In fact, 600 million visual searches are generated on Pinterest on a monthly basis, which enable users to discover products and brands (Oberlo 2021). Visual search encompasses searching via text, voice, and vision. Compared to image search which conducts a search through words, visual search uses images. In North America and Europe alone, the visual search market is expected to reach $21,107 million by 2027 (GlobeNewswire, 2021).

Your brand can benefit from the increasing visual search trend by using structured data in your images. Provide as much information about the image so that your site will appear in rich snippets on the search engine. You can also add alternative text to ensure that your image can still be searched in case it fails to load. Using descriptive filenames and choosing the optimal image size and file type will also boost search.

3. Continued Prevalence of Voice Search

In 2020, more than half of smartphone users engaged with voice technology on their devices (DBS Interactive, 2020). Younger generations, including the generations Z and Alpha, are more likely to use voice search because of the hands-free quality (The Manifest, 2021). As voice search continues to improve, optimizing for this type of search becomes a necessity. To increase inbound traffic to your website, voice SEO is a must.

Among the major drivers of voice search adoption are the continued improvement of smart speakers, voice AI and machine learning, voice search on local devices, and local and hyperlocal search. Global smart speaker sales reached 150 million units in 2020, with Amazon and Google capturing 50% of the market (Businesswire, 2021). Since there is a global movement to perfect voice technology, marketers also need to optimize their voice search strategy by fine-tuning SEO strategies.

Approximately 71% of consumers prefer to search by voice, with 61% of them using voice search apps when their hands or vision is occupied (The Manifest, 2021). Now that Google speech recognition supports more than 100 languages, the number of consumers using voice technology for general search queries will continue to rise.

Optimize for Voice Search Through Answer-Based Content

The continued prevalence of voice search commands more focus on the need for answer-based content. To gain more traffic, aligning keywords with content is a wise move, but will not suffice. For marketers to provide content that responds exactly to queries, there is a need to deep dive into how search engines rank search page results. The search intent becomes crucial in formulating answer-based content, more so in voice search.

The need to invest in creating answer-based content is crucial because Google is becoming more of an answer engine—people are asking questions to get the information that they want in real-time. Users are looking not just for information, but for answers to their specific questions. Answer-based content may be in a question and answer format, or by using specific headings. For your brand to benefit from the prevalence of voice search, be consistent in creating high-quality answer-based content.

4. Growing Importance of Featured Snippets

As the highly coveted “position zero” on a search page, the featured snippet is becoming more and more important in search marketing. Displayed above the organic search results, marketers are continually optimizing their websites to get to this position to gain more traffic and achieve higher click-through rates. In addition, featured snippets are the first thing that users see in the search results, thus providing superb branding opportunities.

Featured snippets have the most relevant content that matches the searcher’s query, which can be text, a list, a video, or a table. The search engine also includes the title and the URL of the website from which the snippet was drawn, which is what makes this a huge opportunity for brands to increase organic traffic.

In 2021, featured snippets appeared in paragraph format 69.6% of the time on desktops while 70.5% on mobile, with almost 70% of featured snippets starting with the word “why” (Stat Search Analytics, 2022). Compared to the Answer Box, the featured snippet provides a link to an external website. Aside from improving your website visibility, the featured snippet is an excellent opportunity to use content marketing and SEO to improve organic traffic.

While some featured snippets that satisfy a search query may not gain a click, still, getting to position zero will boost your ranking. For search marketers, however, creating content to qualify as a featured snippet is considered a huge challenge. While there is no exact trick to optimize a page for a featured snippet, a common observation among search marketing practitioners is that well-written, answer-based content optimized for search intent makes it to position zero.

5. Hyper-Localized Search Marketing

“Near me” searches have taken off in recent years, posting 500% growth over the last two years with 30% to 50% of all searches on Google being local (Ignite Visibility, 2021). This presents a significant opportunity for businesses to adopt hyper-localized marketing for customers to find them and increase foot traffic. Meant to target users in close proximity, hyper-localized search marketing targets a particular neighborhood or shopping district.

A recent survey revealed that 90% of consumers have used the Internet to find a business in their local area (BrightLocal, 2020). Hyper-localized marketing is meant to capitalize on the micro-moment behavior where users immediately turn to a device to know, go, do, and buy.  Hyper-local focus allows businesses to create strong local markets by providing personalized results based on the person’s name, address, and phone number.

Hyper-local in search marketing is a type of SEO that employs a granular approach through targeting the right keywords for your local area. Local startups and small businesses are able to use hyper-local search marketing by registering or creating an account with a search engine. Once the business has provided details such as an address, business type, and business hours, the business will be automatically included in search rankings.

Hyper-local marketing significantly increases search visibility. Businesses looking for a way to boost foot traffic can benefit the most from hyper-localized search marketing. While more businesses experiment with geofencing, small businesses have continued to benefit from hyper-local marketing. Hyper-local marketing yields impressive results when combined with smart targeting.

6. More Intuitive SEO Strategies

The increasingly advanced capabilities of search engines make SEO harder each day. Powered by AI, the ranking tools in search engines today have the ability to learn from user behavior. What’s more, there are more than 200 ranking factors that affect how your page ranks in Google SERPs (Backlinko, 2021). For this reason, more intuitive SEO strategies are required from marketers to succeed in marketing—which is the ultimate goal of SEO.

While the major search engine algorithm changes seem to throw SEO principles out of the window, one core principle that stays is content quality and relevance. Your content should be clear, complete, and easy to understand. In addition, your sources should be credible, accurate, and up-to-date. Most SEO experts identify the top four factors for ranking in Google as high-quality content, mobile-first, page experience, and page speed (Search Engine Journal, 2021).

The improved AI natural language processing (NLP) in Google’s algorithm focuses on understanding the context of Google searches, not just selected keywords. In employing syntax analysis, NLP is able to determine whether a piece of content is well-written and original, and not merely stuffed with keywords. The entity recognition of NLP is also capable of recognizing whether images and videos are relevant to your content.

User Experience At The Core of SEO Strategies

There is an increasing trend of focusing on what really drives business growth in SEO strategies. The emphasis on excellent user experience and less on SEO “hacks” and “tricks” has emerged in recent years. One study found that 79% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations (Salesforce, 2021). Providing meaningful experience to users is driving intuitive SEO strategies through conscious marketing.

This is what Google Core Web Vitals, a metric that measures the “well-being” of a site from the customer’s perspective, is aiming for—to put customer experience at the front and center of intuitive SEO strategies. Providing relevant information and a good user experience holds the key to getting a high ranking. This also paves the way toward customer retention, loyalty, and advocacy. Intuitive SEO means continually exploring new strategies and adjusting to new algorithms that aim to elevate user experience.

7. Optimizing for the Metaverse

The rise of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) is expected to impact the growth of the global GDP by $1.5 trillion by 2030 (PwC, 2020).  The future of the web will be dominated by virtual and augmented experiences, or what is now known as the metaverse. Facebook has placed a big bet on this transition by changing its name to Meta, and marketers have also begun looking for opportunities in these spaces.

From virtual games to virtual collectibles such as non-fungible tokens, marketing is entering the metaverse and there is no turning back. Again, these technological advances are enhancing user experience, and marketing is about enhancing the customer’s experience with your brand. At least 100 million consumers used AR to shop in 2020, while 71% of consumers said that they will shop more often if they used AR (Threekit, 2021). VR and AR offer new ways to engage, entertain, and interact with consumers.

Metaverse-associated technologies are already integrated into users’ everyday search experiences, such as visual and voice searches. The metaverse, however, has the potential to completely reshape the digital marketing landscape. This is because marketing in the metaverse is designed to help people connect and share virtual spaces for richer experiences.

Optimizing for the metaverse would entail a deep understanding of AR and how content serves the user’s needs. Images will also play a big role in driving SEO rankings and organic search traffic. Your search marketing strategy should be able to create a balance between the physical and digital worlds, allowing customers to transition seamlessly.

The convergence of AI, 5G, and edge cloud processing will soon improve AR and VR experiences, and presence in the metaverse will become a necessity for all brands. Just as marketers learned, and continue to learn, how to optimize content to reach top ranking in current search engine formats, optimizing for the metaverse would entail learning how to offer immersive experiences that are aligned with what users are searching for.

8. Responsive Search Ads

By the end of June 2022, Google will no longer be using expanded text ads (ETAs). Instead, responsive search ads (RSAs) will be the default ad type in Google Ads. Compared to standard Google paid ads that are structured with one headline and one description, with RSAs you can add anywhere from three to 15 headlines, and two to four descriptions.

Using multiple headlines and descriptions is very similar to A/B testing, and Google will be implementing this to simplify the creation of search ads and drive performance. The good news is that RSAs will complement your quest for the exact intent of the user because they adapt to the context in which they appear. Google will automatically test different versions of your ad and will choose to display the combinations with the highest click rates.

RSAs drive four times the impressions of a typical ETA (Optmyzer, 2021). Aside from enhancing the search experience by providing what customers are looking for, responsive search ads allow marketers to personalize conversations with customers. Your search marketing needs to be optimized for responsive search ads. To create variation, you need to write original headings and descriptions that are, once again, aligned with the user intent.

In addition, brands that rely on paid search marketing could look into combining RSAs, Smart Bidding, and broad match keywords. You can also find customized suggestions on the ‘Recommendations’ page of your account to improve headlines and descriptions. Focus on the purpose of your ad, as well as its relevance. Remember, enhancing user experience is the ultimate objective in creating your responsive search ad.

What are the key challenges in search marketing today?

Search marketing continues to evolve, presenting various challenges that marketers must navigate to maintain visibility and competitiveness. Here are the key challenges businesses face in today’s search marketing landscape:

• Algorithm Updates: Search engines like Google frequently update their algorithms, making it difficult for businesses to maintain consistent rankings. Marketers must stay on top of these changes to avoid sudden drops in search visibility, often by continuously adapting their SEO strategies to align with the latest algorithm updates.
• Rising Competition: As more businesses invest in digital marketing, the competition for search engine rankings is fiercer than ever. In industries with high demand, securing top positions on search engine results pages (SERPs) is becoming increasingly difficult, requiring more advanced and strategic approaches.
• Paid Search Costs: Due to increased competition, the cost of running paid search campaigns is rising. This is particularly noticeable in highly competitive keywords and industries. Companies are finding it harder to maintain a profitable return on investment (ROI), pushing them to be more precise in their targeting and bidding strategies.
• Evolving Search Engine Features: Search engines are constantly introducing new features, such as featured snippets, voice search, and AI-powered tools, which require businesses to adjust their SEO and paid search strategies. Marketers must optimize their content for these features to maintain or enhance their visibility.
• Mobile Optimization and Mobile-First Indexing: With mobile-first indexing becoming the norm, businesses must ensure their websites are fully optimized for mobile devices. A lack of mobile optimization can result in poor user experiences and lower rankings, making it a crucial factor in SEO and paid search efforts.

Get Ready to Embrace a New Era in Search Marketing

The latest search marketing trends highlight the shift of power to the consumer.  The emphasis on search intent underscores the importance of knowing the context of each search, rather than merely identifying keywords used by the user. Advancements in search technology have accelerated the capability of machines to understand the nuances of language and provide an enhanced customer experience.

The transition to the metaverse has begun with the proliferation of visual and voice search, and is also evident in the ongoing race among brands to secure a presence in both virtual and augmented reality. The endless possibilities of all these trends in giving a seamless customer experience will continue to fuel changes in the search marketing landscape.

For your search marketing efforts to thrive in Web 3.0, focus on objectives and outcomes by sticking to the results that you are aiming for. Always pay attention to user behavior and conduct regular experiments to ensure that your content is always synchronized with the search intent of users. The search marketing environment might be changing, but the fundamental principles will remain focused on enhancing customer experience.

Key Insights

• Aligning Content to Search Intent
  • Critical to create content that satisfies search intent to boost brand awareness and relevance.
  • Focus on understanding the intention behind user searches to drive conversions and retention.
  • AI plays a crucial role in analyzing consumer data and predicting behavior for accurate content delivery.
• Rise of Visual Search Optimization
  • Visual search helps users find products using real-world imagery, significantly benefiting e-commerce stores.
  • Brands can optimize visual search by using structured data, alternative text, and descriptive image filenames.
  • Visual search market is expected to grow significantly, reaching $21,107 million by 2027 in North America and Europe.
• Continued Prevalence of Voice Search
  • Voice search adoption is driven by improvements in smart speakers and voice AI technology.
  • Optimizing for voice search requires creating high-quality, answer-based content.
  • Google speech recognition supports over 100 languages, facilitating global voice search usage.
• Growing Importance of Featured Snippets
  • Featured snippets provide a branding opportunity by displaying relevant content above organic search results.
  • Well-written, answer-based content optimized for search intent increases chances of achieving position zero.
  • Featured snippets are a key factor in improving organic traffic and visibility.
• Hyper-Localized Search Marketing
  • Hyper-local searches have seen substantial growth, with significant opportunities for businesses to increase foot traffic.
  • Local SEO strategies involve targeting specific neighborhoods and providing personalized search results.
  • Hyper-local marketing benefits small businesses by increasing search visibility and driving local engagement.
• More Intuitive SEO Strategies
  • Advanced search engines require SEO strategies that prioritize content quality, relevance, and user experience.
  • Google’s algorithm improvements emphasize understanding search context and delivering meaningful content.
  • Focus on customer experience is essential for intuitive SEO, aligning with metrics like Google Core Web Vitals.
• Optimizing for the Metaverse
  • AR and VR are expected to significantly impact global GDP, transforming digital marketing landscapes.
  • Metaverse marketing involves creating immersive, user-centered experiences that blend physical and digital worlds.
  • AI, 5G, and edge cloud processing will drive the evolution of augmented and virtual search marketing.
• Responsive Search Ads
  • RSAs will replace expanded text ads, providing multiple headlines and descriptions for better performance.
  • Automated ad variations in RSAs enhance search experience and align with user intent.
  • Combining RSAs with Smart Bidding and broad match keywords can improve ad relevance and engagement.

FAQ

1. What is the significance of aligning content to search intent in search marketing? Aligning content to search intent is crucial because it ensures that the content satisfies what users are looking for, which can boost brand awareness and relevance. By understanding the intention behind user searches, marketers can create content that drives conversions and retention, making their brand more relevant to the audience.
2. How does visual search optimization benefit e-commerce stores? Visual search optimization benefits e-commerce stores by enabling users to find products using real-world imagery, which is more effective than traditional text-based search. This can lead to higher engagement and sales, as users can quickly find what they are looking for through images. Additionally, structured data and descriptive filenames can improve search visibility and user experience.
3. Why is voice search becoming more prevalent, and how can marketers optimize for it? Voice search is becoming more prevalent due to improvements in smart speakers, voice AI, and machine learning technologies. Marketers can optimize for voice search by creating high-quality, answer-based content that aligns with user queries. As voice search continues to grow, it is essential to focus on providing content that responds accurately to voice commands and questions.
4. What are featured snippets, and why are they important for search marketing? Featured snippets are short, concise answers displayed above organic search results, providing users with quick information. They are important for search marketing because they increase a website’s visibility and click-through rates. Optimizing content to appear in featured snippets can significantly improve organic traffic and branding opportunities.
5. How does hyper-localized search marketing benefit small businesses? Hyper-localized search marketing benefits small businesses by targeting specific local areas, increasing foot traffic, and improving search visibility. By focusing on local SEO strategies and providing personalized search results, small businesses can attract more customers and build strong local markets.
6. What are the key factors for successful SEO strategies in today’s advanced search engine environment? Successful SEO strategies today require a focus on content quality, relevance, and user experience. Marketers should prioritize creating clear, complete, and accurate content. Understanding search intent and providing meaningful experiences to users are also crucial for intuitive SEO. Constant experimentation and adaptation to new algorithms are essential for staying competitive.
7. How will the rise of the metaverse impact digital marketing? The rise of the metaverse will impact digital marketing by creating new opportunities for immersive, user-centered experiences. Technologies like AR and VR will allow brands to engage with consumers in more interactive and engaging ways. Marketers need to understand how to optimize content for the metaverse, balancing physical and digital experiences to meet user needs.
8. What are responsive search ads (RSAs), and how do they differ from expanded text ads (ETAs)? Responsive search ads (RSAs) are a type of Google ad that allows marketers to provide multiple headlines and descriptions, which are automatically tested and optimized by Google. RSAs differ from expanded text ads (ETAs) in that they adapt to user intent and context, providing more personalized and relevant ad variations. This leads to better performance and higher click-through rates.

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By Nestor Gilbert

Nestor Gilbert is a senior B2B and SaaS analyst and a core contributor at FinancesOnline for over 5 years. With his experience in software development and extensive knowledge of SaaS management, he writes mostly about emerging B2B technologies and their impact on the current business landscape. However, he also provides in-depth reviews on a wide range of software solutions to help businesses find suitable options for them. Through his work, he aims to help companies develop a more tech-forward approach to their operations and overcome their SaaS-related challenges.