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Core update every other month. Replaced the top SERP results with AI Overviews. Added an extra E to the E-A-T signals. Promotes AI but hates AI-generated content.
There’s so much going on in the SEO industry that climbing to that #1 Google spot seems like a Tom Cruise mission.
Impossible.
But it doesn’t have to be.
To cut through the noise and identify what really matters for ranking high on Google, we sit down with Jono Alderson, former Head of SEO at Yoast, for a quick session to discuss:
And last but not least, answer some frequently asked questions and bust even more myths.
Read on for the webinar highlights and an actionable checklist for building a future-proof SEO strategy and getting your website to Google’s first page.
In 2024 alone, Google:
And all of this happened while releasing two core updates and a few minor ones.
The question that stands before all website owners, bloggers, and SEO specialists is:
Is optimizing for any of this stuff worthwhile?
Let’s see what the experts say.
AI Overviews use generative AI, a type of artificial intelligence that learns patterns and structures from the data it is trained on and uses that information to create better search results.
In May 2024, AI Overviews was available for the U.S. only. Fast-forward to October 2024, and after receiving a lot of positive feedback, Google decided to roll out AI Overviews in more than 100 countries and territories around the world, reaching more than 1 billion global users every month.
In other words, what once was hot news is on its way to becoming the status quo. And as Jono said:
“This is huge. This is a transformation to the entire SEO landscape and we all need to be aware of it.”
So, while AI Overviews is not fully out of the testing phase, you should definitely knuckle down and start working on ways to be featured in the generative AI results.
How can you do that?
In February 2024, Google announced they were expanding their partnership with Reddit. As the official announcement states:
“This partnership will facilitate more content-forward displays of Reddit information that will make our products more helpful for our users and make it easier to participate in Reddit communities and conversations.”
In pursuit of further enhancing their algorithms using Reddit’s Data API, Google has started prioritizing Reddit threads over expert opinion. While it was a short hiccup, we cannot ignore the fact that the biggest search engine in the world is considering real-world forum discussions a valuable source of information.
That said, here’s what you need to do to successfully participate on Reddit:
And if you’re on the lookout for some inspiration, check out the subreddits for Mint Mobile and Purple Innovations.
Google's E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This concept is part of Google’s search quality guidelines and helps assess the quality and reliability of content, especially for Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) topics—content affecting people’s health, safety, financial stability, or overall well-being.
For years now, people have been debating whether optimizing for these signals actually boosts ranking or not.
So is E-E-A-T the “fix it all” thing you should put all your efforts into?
No. But, as Jono Alderson remarked in the webinar:
“This is existentially important. [...] In a world where everybody is generating AI websites and content, and there is more regurgitated information than ever before, the thing that will make you stand out as a brand is having demonstrable expertise, experience, authority and trust.”
But the point that a lot of people are missing about E-E-A-T is that:
You do not need to include all these elements in your content just to make Google happy. The point of sticking to those quality guidelines is that they are a direct signal to your audience that you are a trustworthy brand.
And that’s exactly the type of content and companies Google wants to rank on its first page.
So, how can you build a brand that people respect, trust, and love?
Considering that the two core updates оf 2024 focused on “demoting” content that is overly reliant on AI or designed primarily for SEO, the answer is no. You should not rely on AI-generated content.
Moreover, generating 1000 articles in a day might sound like a great idea, but you will end up with the same generic content that all of your competitors are posting.
Now, getting back to what we said in the previous points, the way to move forward and occupy those top spots is to build a trustworthy, recognizable, authoritative brand.
So, what you should do instead is AI-assisted content. Feel free to leverage the powerful AI models to:
As Jono mentioned:
It’s absolutely fine to use AI to generate content if the whole concept and angle come from you, and last but not least—edit the initial draft to a stage where it sounds like you.
There’s so much noise in the SEO space that often, we can’t see the forest for the threes. We spend a lot of time focusing on the next trend or big thing that is said to be the game-changer that will skyrocket our websites to the top.
In reality, building a future-proof SEO strategy requires us to get back to the basics and zoom in on the three core pillars:
But as Lora Raykova mentioned during the webinar—over-optimization isn’t the way to go:
“Mix and match according to your business needs. Just make sure to always include all three pillars in there. At the end of the day, you can win a top spot on the SERP or AI Overviews but if your website isn’t ready to further engage the incoming traffic then your SEO efforts are for nothing.”
You should aim to strike the right balance between page experience and user experience.
That said, the first part of the webinar covered the reputation pillar pretty extensively, so now let’s see how you can optimize the other two—page experience and content.
If you answer yes to the following Google Page Experience questions, then you are on the right track:
Here’s a quick checklist of things you can implement to improve each of the Page Experience signals:
2. Mobile-friendliness
3. Securing your website
4. Intrusive Interstitials
It’s been repeated numerous times during the webinar, but because it may seem like a contradictive notion for many, we need to state it once again:
Building your content around keywords isn’t enough anymore.
With that in mind, here’s Jono Alderson’s 6-step strategy for creating first-page content:
1. Create (new) value
Historically, the whole SEO industry has been really good at curating, summarizing, and repackaging content. However, Google’s AI models can do the same in a few minutes now.
So, to give your business a chance to be featured on AI Overviews or among the top SERP results, you need to create unique value from your expertise.
2. Become a publisher
Becoming a publisher isn’t about putting a lot of articles on the web. Again, there is tons of the same content.
A good publisher does original research, investigates a topic extensively, explores different angles, and spots emerging trends. Simply put, if you want to be a valuable publisher, you need to create new knowledge.
3. Be fast(er)
Part of being a good publisher is being faster than anyone else. If you want to lead the pack, you need to break news. The only way to do this is to have real-world experience that you can then transform into valuable content.
4. Go higher up the funnel
Circling back to the reputation topic and the importance of looking trustworthy in your prospects’ eyes, you need to move higher up the funnel. Don’t just target people when they are ready to buy. Make sure to support them through the entire user journey so that when the right moment comes, and they are ready to buy, your brand pops up in their minds immediately.
5. Find what people wish they’d known
Research and survey your market to find the first friction or pain point that started your user’s journey. Writing content around these topics can give you a competitive edge since most of your competitors are mainly focusing on bottom-of-the-funnel keywords.
6. Remove competitor influence
If you start creating content that guides your prospects throughout their entire journey, inevitably, they will develop a preference for your brand.
So, when the moment of purchase comes, they might skip the usual product research phase, looking for brand comparisons, etc., and go right to your brand since they are familiar with what you offer.
Lazy load resources like images, videos, iFrames, and adverts that are not in the above the fold or initial viewport. Furthermore, use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to identify redundant JavaScript files that can be cut down.
Stop treating SEO like a lead generation system and an advertising channel. Start using SEO content to influence higher up the funnel and earlier in the research journeys. Optimize your content not for clicks and conversions but for brand preference and recall.
Smaller companies have leaner structures, which allows them to experiment with and implement different strategies and technologies quicker than franchise players. Thus, they can draw conclusions and change their business models to what works best at that exact moment.
Faster page load times can immediately improve your engagement and conversion rates. According to Deloitte, a mere 0.1s site speed improvement can lead to an 8.4% increase in conversions with retail consumers and an increase in average order value of 9.2%.
In 2023, NitroPack and Google held a joint webinar series explaining the business value of Core Web Vitals. Furthermore, NitroPack has been referenced in different Google materials, and one of NitroPack's products was featured on Google I/O 2024.
The best off-page SEO techniques in 2024 include building quality backlinks from authoritative sites, engaging with audiences on social media to drive traffic, and securing online brand mentions from reputable sources. Content syndication, reviews, and interactive content like videos or infographics also help enhance visibility and attract backlinks.
Key Local SEO strategies include optimizing your Google Business Profile (GBP), consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) citations, and localized content creation. Ensure your GBP is complete, up-to-date, and actively managed, as it boosts visibility on Google Maps and search results. Consistent NAP data across directories supports credibility and visibility in local search results.
Start with effective SEO optimization, including keywords and meta descriptions, for better search visibility. Content marketing is essential—valuable, trustworthy posts draw new and repeat visitors. Social media and influencer partnerships can expand your reach by promoting your content to a wider audience. Finally, email campaigns and retargeting ads can help re-engage previous visitors, guiding them back to your site for new updates or offers.
Update your title tags and meta descriptions with relevant keywords to help your site rank for targeted searches; improve page speed by compressing images and enabling browser caching, as faster sites rank better; and optimize internal links to enhance user experience and allow search engines to navigate your content more efficiently.
To rank well in AI search, shift your focus from keywords to building a trusted, recognizable brand that demonstrates authentic expertise. Provide detailed answers in a Q&A format that aligns with users' research needs. Create comprehensive topic pages that guide users through the entire journey, covering related questions and solutions.
Prioritize high-quality, user-focused content that fulfills search intent. Use strong on-page SEO, such as optimizing titles, headers, and meta descriptions, while also targeting long-tail keywords to capture specific search intent. Focus on Core Web Vitals (page speed, responsiveness, and visual stability) to enhance the user experience and improve rankings.
Google has less need or incentive than ever to crawl and index your site and pages. It's not enough to blog, or to be unique, or to have a performant site - you need to be creating new valuable, and standing out from the crowd.
Be fast and agile, differentiate, move quickly, be opinionated, understand your local audience better, provide better services, compete on things other than price. And/or, offer worldwide shipping.
Have an excellent website, a trusted brand, differentiated positioning and proposition, and content that helps an audience in their research process.
Niko has 5+ years of experience turning those “it’s too technical for me” topics into “I can’t believe I get it” content pieces. He specializes in dissecting nuanced topics like Core Web Vitals, web performance metrics, and site speed optimization techniques. When he’s taking a breather from researching his next content piece, you’ll find him deep into the latest performance news.
