Buckle up everybody, 2025 is a big year of change in digital marketing and especially SEO. It kinda feels like learning digital marketing all over again to be honest, which is both a bit exciting annnnnnnd exhausting.
SEO really seems to be at the center of is all, so I figured it would be good to collect some of the more significant changes as well as insights on how those changes will transform how we optimize brands for visibility online.
1. Our New 0-Click Reality
Marketing experts like Rand Fishkin of SparkToro have been highlighting a critical shift: big tech companies like Meta, Linkedin, X, and Google are trying to keep users from leaving their sites. This means less traffic to websites in general.
Rank Fishkin calls this phenomena “zero-click,” meanings that users often find the information they need without “clicking” to a website.
Even Google, which was basically founded on sending traffic to websites, is doing an about-face by providing direct answers within search results, leading to fewer clicks to external websites.
Consequently, businesses are experiencing a decline in website visits.
To counter this trend, it’s essential to diversify your optimization strategies and optimize for more than just Google.
Source: Search Engine Land
2. Branding becomes even more important
As informational search opportunities diminish, focusing on building a strong brand becomes crucial.
When users search specifically for your brand, it indicates trust and recognition, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates. Investing in brand-building activities can enhance your presence in search results, even as unbranded search opportunities wane.
3. Adapting to AI and answer engines
The rapid adoption of AI-driven answer engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity AI represent a change in how consumers find products and services. Not only do these platforms provide users with 0-click direct answers, but rapid adoption if these tools represents a sea-change in how consumers shop online. This shift challenges traditional digital marketing models and requires new strategies.
Businesses must now consider optimizing content for these AI platforms to maintain visibility. This new practice is called Generative Engine Optimization.
4. Welcome to the spampocolypse
AI and automation tools have made creating low-quality generic content so easy that there has been a huge increase in content production designed to manipulate algorithms.
This is also creating a general fatigue in consumers as spam increases.
Though new AI tools also presents opportunities to speed up workflows and create more targeted and efficient content strategies.
5. Evolving content marketing KPIs
Wil Reynolds of Seer interactive advocates for a reevaluation of content marketing key performance indicators (KPIs). Instead of solely focusing on metrics like traffic and rankings, there’s a need to prioritize human engagement and value. This approach involves creating content that resonates with the audience, fostering genuine connections, and ultimately leading to more meaningful interactions. By shifting the focus from algorithms to human-centric metrics, businesses can achieve more sustainable success.
6. The Importance of user experience (UX)
User experience has become a pivotal factor in SEO rankings. Search engines are placing greater emphasis on how users interact with websites, considering factors like page load speed, mobile responsiveness, and overall site usability. Ensuring a seamless and engaging user experience can lead to higher rankings and better user retention.
7. The continued importance of local SEO
With our increasing dependance on our mobile devices, local SEO has continued to increase in prominence. Users frequently search for services and products near their location, making it essential for businesses to optimize their online presence for local searches. This includes maintaining accurate business listings, gathering positive reviews, and creating locally relevant content.
8. Google Ads gets more competitive and more difficult
If you were thinking the answer to declining organic opportunities in Google were could be solved by buying more ads, you may be a bit disappointed.
The DOJ case against Google revealed many unsavory and down-right manipulative practices by Google to take advantage of it’s ad customers and increase profits. The cost of advertising on Google has increased by a whopping 40-50% over the last 5 years.
So How Should Brands Be Changing Their Optimization Strategies in 2025?
Focus on deeper branding and positioning. They are more important than ever.
Use AI for speeding up workflows and gaining insights. Do not let it create all your content unaided.
Improve accessibility, usability, and speed of your website. Implement schema markup for better understanding by AI.
Be online where your audience is. Just because they are not coming to you, doesn’t mean you can’t go to them.
Focus on cultivating an authentic brand voice that won’t be mistaken for AI.
Create robust FAQs to help AI chatbots like ChatGPT answer your customers questions.
Collaborate more. Do more PR and outreach. Chat with other businesses and publishers and share resources.
Improve your authority and expertise in your niche. AI search engines understand authority on a deeper level than traditional search engines.
Join communities and connect with real humans. Talk to your customers. Rely less on website analytics and more on what your customers are saying.
I’m sure there are a hundred more. Did I miss any big ones?
Need help navigating these changes?
Diviner helps businesses grow by crafting strategic digital strategies that increase visibility and conversion.
- Longterm Organic Growth Strategies
- Website Design and Optimization
- Ongoing SEO, Reporting, and Analytics
- Generative Engine Optimization
- Content Strategy & Development
