Traditional content and website-level SEO tactics like page speed, keyword optimization, and link building will no longer succeed alone.
Critical SEO shifts for 2025
- Search has expanded far beyond Google SERPs, and this shift is irreversible. While content-level SEO remains essential, it’s no longer sufficient alone.
- People are engaging in search, research, and assistance across text, voice, images, and video using a variety of platforms.
- Although the number of ways to engage potential customers has grown, Google and Bing still control the web’s indexing, keeping things relatively straightforward.
- Maintaining consistent content online can influence how search engines interact with your brand.
- To thrive in today’s landscape, you must implement a universal strategy that optimizes your content, brand entities, and subject matter experts for all the major search algorithms.
The “who” behind the content is now key. Optimizing the creator and publisher entities, including their N-E-E-A-T credibility and topical authority.
- N-E-E-A-T = Notability, Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness
Google assesses other signals to judge credibility, such as:
- Entity-to-URL relationships.
- Topic-to-URL relationships.
- Content creator credibility.
- Website publisher credibility.
- The relatedness of your page to others.
Authority and Credibility are the result of HUMANS saying so.
Not based on manipulation of software/algorithms.
Not based on fake link-building as a task.
Written content is steadily losing ground as Google and Microsoft Bing increasingly prioritize multimedia elements like videos, images,
However, they still serve as the foundation of the SERP, as confirmed by representatives from both Bing and Google.
Keywords can inspire a strategy, but they should be used thoughtfully, and attention should be shifted to multimedia content that aligns with each stage of the buyer’s journey.
REMINDER – a truth remains:
25% of “SEO power” is on-site.
75% of “SEO power” is off-site.
Traditional “Link-Building” Considerations:
Hoping to boost DA (Domain Authority) or DR (Domain Rating) is a terrible reason to hire a link-building agency.
Trustworthy link building - Not all links must come from high-DR websites; they must be relevant links in your niche. With backlinks, quality trumps quantity.
Links die, and a website will stop giving the necessary “juice.” 74.5% of links were lost in the previous nine years, according to Ahrefs.
The new standard
In implicit ranking, the search engine analyzes multiple results based on a query and combines them into a single, summarized outcome.
This process happens behind the scenes, making it nearly impossible to measure or control.
On-SERP SEO requires a paradigm shift for SEO professionals.
On-SERP SEO is the work of optimizing the entire first page.
Organic search results are now competing for the user’s attention with
- paid ads
- knowledge panels
- maps
- videos
- featured snippets
- and the like.
These elements are “position zero” because they outrank even the top organic results.
On-SERP SEO shifts the focus from generating clicks to maintaining consistent brand visibility and narrative throughout the acquisition funnel.
Achieving this level of visibility requires mastering SEO for both on-site and off-site content.
aka – virtual world + dirt world.
To Gain Dominance
Brands are gaining dominance across various channels, including
- social media
- review platforms
- video
- traditional PR mentions.
While a website remains the central hub and ultimate destination for digital marketing and SEO, expanding the focus beyond the website itself is essential.
Beyond the technical aspect of “SEO”
To be “sharable,” when people point, share, refer, and recommend… a company relies on “new,” whether it is an initiative, success, products, services, or ‘specials.’
