Optimizing for Experience: The Future of Search

Ever since ChatGPT was released for everyone to use, it’s become clear that Search will never be the same.

The way OpenAI’s chatbot offers instant answers to specific questions quickly makes each engine we use today feel antiquated. The instant popularity of ChatGPT has proven that there’s a mass appetite for this new way of discovering information online.

Big names like Microsoft and Alphabet have noticed, and they’ve responded by reimagining their core products and incorporating generative AI into their organic results.

The latest milestone on this journey is the unveiling of Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), which experiments to search on what leverage generator AI to help users find what they’re looking for in search engines.

SGE is becoming a part of a broader aspiration to transform search engines into answer engines. It promises to do a better job of letting users do more with a single search and find the answers without leaving the platform.

Will SEO still become relevant?

SEO is regularly pronounced “dead,” but evidence shows that this statement has always been exaggerated. On the other hand, SGE presents a different kind of challenge, as Google’s new approach to search is the “AI” snapshot. This is Google’s attempt to resolve more long-tail queries within its ecosystem. If executed well, AI snapshots may lead to a massive increase in “zero-click searches,” meaning publishers and retailers will receive lower traffic volumes.

So, what does this mean? Do we need to give up on organic search completely?

Not exactly.

Even though SGE promises to be significantly disruptive, it will create winners. After all, SEO is always the moving target, and publishers must continuously adapt to the ever-changing search landscape.

The future of search engines

We believe that SEO is here to stay. However, search engines will likely continue to evolve to meet the ever-changing demands and technological advancements. Here are some key elements that will likely shape the future of the search engine landscape:

Personalization

Search engines will significantly personalize search results based on search history, user preferences, and contextual information. This requires businesses to tailor their SEO strategies effectively to target the right user segments.

Visual search

AI has helped develop visual search technology, which is expected to become more prevalent. Users can find products or information using images, driving further needs for optimizing visual content and metadata.

Enhanced local search 

Local search optimization will likely continue to grow. Your business must offer accurate and up-to-date information in local directories, optimize for “near me” searches, and engage with local communities through online reviews. 

Natural language processing (NLP)

NLP technology will continue to thrive, allowing search engines to understand complex search queries. Users can ask more vague and conversational questions for more relevant and accurate answers. 

Voice search dominance

Voice search is on the rise thanks to the many kinds of smart speakers and virtual assistants. As voice recognition technology continues to improve, search engines will adapt further to provide more accurate and natural responses to voice queries, contributing to the future of search.

4 ways to future-proof your SEO

Anyone can predict what the search landscape will look like, and people are hardly ever accountable for them. However, it’s important to take action right now, and for your SEO efforts to keep up when the tide shifts, we recommend the following best practices:

1. Incorporate long-tail keywords

People use AI chatbots differently from how they search on search engines. When we “communicate” with AI, we usually make requests instead of entering short queries. Optimizing your site based on long-tail keywords may help safeguard your SEO when AI is more integrated with search engines. 

Be clear and use a conversational tone if needed. If you’re answering questions, incorporate question keywords and treat the questions like a featured snippet.

2. Craft high-quality content

High-quality content has always been a crucial aspect of SEO and will likely continue to be so. Whether it’s your product page or blog posts, your content must be well-written and well-structured and answer the query based on the appropriate keywords.

Search is all about information, and AI will only enhance it. Fact-check your blog posts; having accurate and valuable information will help maintain your rankings and withstand any search updates. Word count may not be a priority anymore; instead, focus on information gain.

In terms of structure, incorporate headings and subheadings. They’ll highlight your content’s most important sections and offer contextual clues for search engines to crawl on. This will help search engines find a specific part of your page to answer the user’s query directly.

3. Optimize for voice search 

What else requires a conversational tone and long-tail keywords? Voice SEO. Optimizing the right pages for voice search can help you capture AI traffic in the future. The goal is to mimic how people use AI to gain information. Even though there’s no guarantee that how we currently use AI will be how we use it in upcoming years, incorporating voice search in your SEO will provide other benefits that aren’t related to AI. Besides helping Siri and Alexa find you, voice search also serves as a way to include semantically related keywords in your pages.

4. Stay updated

Things are quickly changing, but not so fast that you can’t keep up with the changes. To get the best chances for your website, stay on top of the game by keeping yourself well-informed of AI advancements and algorithm updates. Use appropriate tools and set a Google alert to stay informed of AI and search news. 

Final thoughts 

There will always be pessimistic thoughts on the future of search. However, the impact of artificial intelligence will make for a more useful and intuitive search landscape. If we build and optimize in the right direction, we’ll enjoy the benefits of a more user-friendly website with quality content and improved rankings. 

Thankfully, you don’t need a crystal ball to predict what will help you stand out in search engines. An SEO expert or agency can help you build and adapt to the ever-changing search landscape so you can focus on the current framework while building your business’s future.