How AI will impact the future of SEO

When you hear the words Artificial intelligence, or AI for short, you will probably think of a smart, sophisticated robot that can mimic humans so well you won’t be able to tell the difference. However, the reality, although still extremely smart, is far less creepy than science fiction films will have us believe. The AI that we are talking about focuses on algorithms, processing data, and applying its learning to any future tasks it is given.

You might not even realise it, but in recent years AI has transformed the way that we interact on the internet and with technology. From personal assistants on your mobile phones to chatbots on your favourite shopping website, AI is increasingly becoming an integral part of our everyday lives. But what about AI and SEO? How is artificial intelligence affecting the world of digital marketing and SEO? In this blog, we will explore the impact of AI on content SEO, and suggest some strategies that you can use to create your content and help it to remain visible in an increasingly competitive internet.

How is AI used in search engines?

In terms of digital marketing, search engines like Google have been using AI to improve their algorithms and deliver more personalised and accurate search results. Google has been using AI to improve their search results since 2015, and it has been using machine learning to understand what the user’s intent is and deliver more accurate results for each user.

Google has also been using AI to help fight spam and ensure that the results that the user sees are high-quality and relevant. The evolution of search algorithms has moved from simple keyword matching to more complex semantic analysis. Ranking factors for search engine results now include user behaviour and content quality, not just keywords and how they are used.

This means that there has been a significant shift in SEO, especially as search engines have become a lot smarter and more human-friendly. The algorithms now consider a number of different factors including search history, favourite websites, location, and user behaviour when deciding what results to show. This means that SEO has become a lot more complex, but also a lot more rewarding as it requires a deeper understanding of user behaviour and intent.

Does AI-generated content affect SEO?

Now, we know what you might be thinking – if AI is now determining the algorithms that dictate the search engine results, can we not just use AI to write all of the content? It would definitely be quicker, and technically it would be more accurate and efficient. Google has made it clear that AI content will not impact your search result ranking, but you will need to make sure that the content being generated is original, helpful, and relevant. However, if everyone decided to create their content using AI then the internet would be flooded with the same information in the same format and with the same tone of delivery. Instead of being a high-quality piece of content, you will be left with the same information as every other webpage that specifies your topic of interest.

When it comes to search engine rankings, Google will reward content and web pages that use the E-E-A-T framework. You need to make sure that your content is helpful, that it demonstrates expertise, that it is trustworthy, and that it is published on a site that is considered authoritative. What is more, AI-generated content tends not to tick all of these boxes.

While AI can speed up the content creation process, it is not a self-driving technology. It can pull information that is unreliable, inaccurate, or even biased if you are not careful. And of course, there is the duplication issue. If thousands of digital markets are asking AI to write blogs with the same title or answers to the same questions, Google will determine the content to not be original and lacking in expertise.

All is not lost, however! When used correctly, AI can help you to create amazing content and help with your SEO. Instead of asking it to write all of your content, you could try:

• Using AI to improve your keyword targeting – AI can help you to target specific keywords within your content. This can be helpful when it comes to SEO, and it will help to improve the visibility of your website in search engine rankings
• Increased content volume – As we all know, the more high-quality content that your web page has, and the more often it is published, the higher the search engine ranking will be. Instead of asking AI to generate your content from scratch, simply ask it to increase the volume of content that you have already written – but make sure that you proofread it before publishing!
• Personalised content – AI content generators can be used to help personalise your content for your target audience. This can help to improve the user experience of your website, and it can help to increase engagement and return visits.

What does this mean for the future of SEO?

The introduction of AI into digital marketing and search engine results means that we need to adapt and change with it – and this means looking at what trends we could be seeing in the future of SEO. We’ve put together a list of the things we think will need focusing on, and how you can implement them into your own content.

Optimise your Visual Content

Thanks to AI, search engines are becoming increasingly better at knowing what a video, clip or image is actually showing. This doesn’t just mean YouTube videos; it means any visual aid that you add to your website will be analysed and included in the search engine results. This means that visual content creators will have to shake up their roles and learn how to optimise headings, links, and descriptions. SEO will have to be incorporated into visual content going forward by using relevant tags and ensuring images are high-quality, and it will have to start happening soon!

Get more selective with your links

If your website has mediocre content and relies on a strong domain authority with lots of links that point to it, you will find that you are more susceptible to Google’s AI improvements. As search engines grow smarter, they will analyse whether or not people are clicking your links and actually staying on your page to read your content. This means that SEO marketers will need to focus on more relevance and quality for their backlinks. It would be best if you made sure that your backlinks come from a similar (or ideally the same) category and industry as your website, which means you have to be more selective with your link building. Going forward, we will start seeing links being built in the old-fashioned way – by forming real relationships.

Relevance and Quality

Google’s AI (Rank Brain) is attempting to understand the context of content on websites, and as Google gets better at analysing the user’s search intent, it is more important than ever to get the keyword research just right. You will then need to tie these keywords back into your content, all while making sure the content is relevant and matches the search intent. Rather than stuffing your content with keywords as many people do content creators will now need to take into consideration content relevance, value, and context as these are becoming important ranking factors. It is time to focus on real value when creating content, and answering the questions that people are asking. You don’t want to simply write a blog about one keyword phrase that you have found in your keyword research, instead create a blog, or a series of blogs, around a concept that relates to that keyword – you will have a higher chance of ranking first in the search engine results and getting traffic to your website.

Mobile and Voice Searching

Voice assistants such as Siri or Google Assistant are becoming increasingly more popular, which means that voice search optimisation is becoming increasingly more important to focus on. AI will begin to play an important role in understanding and processing voice questions, which tend to be longer and more conversational than text-based queries. SEO strategists need to adapt to this trend and focus on longer keywords and conversational phrases that more people are likely to use when they are speaking their questions. In addition to this, mobile optimisation will become crucial for reaching larger potential audiences, as a significant portion of searches are now mobile. You can even use AI to help optimise your website for mobile devices, ensuring that you provide a better user experience and that you will rank higher in the search engine results.

Predictive SEO

Another future trend of SEO is using AI to forecast trends and algorithm updates, allowing SEO professionals to take advantage of potential changes and adjust their strategies accordingly. The predictive capabilities of AI mean you will be able to determine how different actions will impact your website ranking, which will help you to develop effective SEO strategies. AI will also be able to analyse your website to help identify any potential red flags that could mean you risk penalties from search engines – saving you time, effort and resources in the future.

You might think that the introduction and the increasing use of AI mean that SEO experts and marketers might soon be out of business, but nothing will match the human touch. While AI might be able to write a whole website in minutes or help you outline several pages of work, it will never be able to add the originality, voice, and experience that comes when a human writes.