The year 2024 has already brought some exciting developments in the field of search engine optimization in general and for WordPress users, and the second half of the year is expected to be just as dynamic. If you're not yet familiar with the basics, I recommend you first read our Comprehensive guide to Yoast SEO before delving into the latest trends.
To (continue to) be successful in the search results, it is crucial to know the latest SEO trends and adapt your strategy accordingly. In this article, I highlight the most important SEO trends for 2024 and give you specific tips on how you can optimally prepare for them with the leading SEO plugins such as Yoast SEO and RankMath.
1. e-a-t is becoming more important than ever before
Expertise, authority and trustworthiness (E-A-T) are the core principles that Google is increasingly relying on to assess the quality of content. Especially in areas such as health, finance or law, but also in other niches, these criteria will become even more important in 2024.
What does that mean for you?
Your content should come from or be reviewed by recognized experts. To boost your authority, you can use the "Cornerstone Content" feature in Yoast SEO to highlight your most important articles. RankMath also offers comprehensive content analysis to help you optimize content that meets Google's E-A-T criteria. To optimize your content according to the E-A-T guidelines, you should make sure that your website is technically sound and that all relevant SEO aspects are taken into account. A good starting point is our Guide to the optimal setup of Yoast SEO.
Reading tip:
Google's Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines - Insight into the guidelines that Google employees use when rating websites.
2nd Helpful Content Update: Focus on the user
Google's Helpful Content Update, introduced in 2023, has turned the SEO world on its head. Google rewards content that is genuinely helpful and user-centric. This trend will continue in the second half of 2024.
How to prepare yourself as a WordPress user:
Analyze your existing content and ask yourself whether it really answers all user questions and offers added value. Both Yoast SEO and RankMath offer content analysis tools to help you check your texts for comprehensibility and relevance. Update your posts regularly to keep them up to date and use the integrated readability analysis of these plugins to ensure the user-friendliness of your content.
Creating user-centered content is crucial to staying in the rankings. You can find out how to optimize your content specifically for search engines in our detailed Yoast SEO Guide.
Reading tip:
Google Search Central Blog: Helpful Content Update - Official Google information and recommendations for optimizing your content.
3. core web vitals and user experience
The Core Web Vitals are an important part of Google's algorithm and will continue to be crucial for ranking in 2024. These metrics, which measure the loading speed, responsiveness and visual stability of your website, are crucial for a positive user experience.
Optimization with Yoast SEO and RankMath:
While Yoast SEO does not offer direct settings for Core Web Vitals, it can indirectly help improve these metrics through content optimization and technical SEO settings. RankMath, on the other hand, additionally integrates some tools that help you optimize loading times and identify technical issues that could affect Core Web Vitals.
Reading tip:
Google PageSpeed Insights - Analyze the performance of your website and receive concrete suggestions for optimization.
4 The role of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in Google's algorithms. Systems such as Google Bard and other AI-driven technologies are increasingly influencing how content is evaluated and ranked.
What does that mean for you?
Your content should be created to match the intent of the user. RankMath offers integration with AI-powered content generation and optimization tools that can help you create more relevant and topically appropriate content. Yoast SEO remains a reliable solution for structuring and optimizing content to meet the demands of AI-based algorithms, even without integrated AI.
Reading tip:
Ahrefs Blog: How AI is Changing SEO - An in-depth look at how artificial intelligence is changing the SEO landscape.
5. voice search: the silent revolution
Voice search is becoming increasingly important. Millions of users worldwide use digital assistants such as Google Assistant, Siri or Alexato search for information. This trend requires an adaptation of SEO strategies.
Optimization for voice search:
Both Yoast SEO and RankMath can help you optimize your content for voice search. Create content in natural language and directly add answers to frequently asked questions. Both plugins offer features that help you create concise and well-structured snippets that are perfect for voice search.
Reading tip:
Moz Blog: Optimizing for Voice Search - How to optimize your content for voice search.
6 The rise of video content
Videos have become an integral part of modern SEO strategies. They are one of the most effective methods of conveying information and increasing the engagement of your target group. Google is increasingly displaying video content in search results.
Video SEO with Yoast and RankMath:
Both plugins offer options for optimizing video content. Yoast SEO Premium contains special functions for video SEO that ensure that your videos are displayed optimally in the search results. RankMath also offers extensive settings for video optimization and makes it easy to add structured data.
Reading tip:
YouTube Creator Academy - Learn how to create and optimize successful video content.
7. sustainability in SEO
Sustainability is not only becoming increasingly important in the real world, but also online. More and more users are paying attention to whether companies act sustainably and this influences their decisions, including when using search engines.
SEO strategies for sustainable companies:
Both plugins - Yoast SEO and RankMath - offer features to highlight your brand's sustainable practices. Use them to create content that showcases your sustainable initiatives to gain users' trust.
Reading tip:
Yoast Developer Blog: Sustainability in SEO - How sustainable practices can be integrated into the SEO strategy.
Conclusion and outlook for 2025
The trends clearly show that user experience, high-quality content and technical SEO will remain the key factors for success.
Outlook for 2025:
Prepare for even greater integration of AI and machine learning into search engine algorithms. Stay alert to new developments and use existing tools to continuously optimize your SEO strategy.
Further reading tips:
- Google Search Central Blog: Current SEO guidelines and updates
- Moz Blog: The future of SEO
- Ahrefs Blog: SEO strategies for the future
- Yoast Developer Blog: Technical SEO updates
- Search Engine Journal: SEO 2025: trends and developments
- Search Engine Land: How SEO is changing
- Content Marketing Institute: SEO and content marketing
- WordPress Studio Hannover: Guide to the optimal setup of Yoast SEO
This article is intended to help you set the course for a successful SEO strategy in 2024. With the right tools, forward-looking planning and continuous optimization, you will continue to be successful in search results in the months and years to come.
Do you have any questions on this topic? Please use the comment function below this article!
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