Content Marketing
Industry Trends
Marketing Insights
Written By
Matt Wadley
Content Marketing Associate Director
You don’t need to be an SEO expert to see that the world of organic search is in flux. In 2024, Google introduced many new features to its search engine results pages, including generative AI results, “What People Are Saying” social inclusions and in-SERP buying guides, among others.
What’s more, these new search result features were just the tip of the iceberg. Core algorithm updates — changes in how Google evaluates web properties — continue to roll out with increasing speed and impact.
These dramatic shifts affect not only where and how your brand appears in search results but also how users engage with those listings. Therefore, 2025 is the year to rethink your overall approach to SEO.
Search Results Are Becoming Increasingly Crowded
Imagine search results as a passenger plane. A few years ago, they resembled the first-class cabin: spacious, orderly and uniform, with each listing enjoying plenty of room to breathe.
Today, search results feel more like the crowded coach section, where entries are packed tightly together. Metaphorically speaking, babies are bouncing on laps, luggage spills from overhead bins, legroom is scarce and the entire space feels uncomfortably cramped.
Suddenly, having your link rank first among traditional results isn’t nearly as powerful as it once was since you now have to compete with Google Merchant Center listings, embedded forum threads and videos. Plus, let us not forget about the elephant in the room, Search Generative Experience, which BrightEdge and Search Engine Land predict will grow in both prevalence and visual size throughout 2025.
How to Respond in 2025
1. Refocus your SEO strategy to optimize for a variety of search features.
Audit your Google Merchant Center listings. If your business has an e-commerce element, make sure you’ve properly set up Google Merchant Center and taken full advantage of all optimization opportunities as suggested within the tool’s dashboard. Google is increasingly spotlighting popular products in relevant search results and displaying listings generated by Google Merchant Center, rather than directly from product pages. As a result, Wray Ward has observed a behavioral shift, with site visitors increasingly entering through these types of listings, assuming the Google Merchant Center is set up correctly and optimized.
SEO should synchronize with your social team. Historically, SEO and social media often operated in silos. However, Google now increasingly pulls content directly from social media, such as LinkedIn and Instagram, to feature in search results. By integrating your SEO and social strategies, SEO can be used to bring awareness to social content and social media can be leveraged to “own” more search result real estate.
Consider how to represent your thought leadership in public forums. We believe it’s no coincidence that Google began highlighting content from public forums such as Reddit at the same time AI-generated content became more widespread. The level of interaction a post receives is a strong indicator of its quality and authenticity.
With this in mind, craft a strategy on how your brand can meaningfully contribute to ongoing conversations. Self-promotion will be poorly received, but by offering expert insights on a topic — perhaps with a link to an informative article — you can raise awareness among searchers who may not otherwise encounter your brand. For tips on how companies can contribute to Reddit and other forums, click here.
2. Leverage every opportunity to make your SERP listings stand out.
The copy displayed on the page is just one element of a well-rounded SEO strategy. Multimedia not only has the ability to rank independently within search results but is also increasingly featured alongside traditional links to better catch searchers’ eyes mid-scroll.
Therefore, consider investing in quality photography and graphics and optimizing images for SEO by using descriptive file names and adding alt text with relevant keywords.
Another strategy to make your organic search listings stand out is by implementing Schema on your website. This advanced SEO technique, deserving of its own deep dive, uses structured data to present valuable insights in a format that Google can easily interpret. In turn, Google often pulls information directly from Schema to enhance search results. For instance, Schema can enhance product page listings by displaying details such as average star ratings, pricing, shipping information and more.
