AI is already prevalent in many industries including digital marketing. It is typically used to collect data for targeting ads, streamlining ad campaigns, and deciding content relevance, among others.
AI shows no signs of slowing down and search engine optimization is quick to follow in its footsteps. When used on search engines, AI remembers factors such as your area, search and click history, as well as your favorite websites. The algorithm learns from these and decides on the best-related factors to take into account in every search.
How exactly will AI change the future of SEO? Here are 4 ways.
Broader SEO
SEO used to be mostly synonymous with keyword optimization and generating backlinks. With AI, however, traditional ranking factors now mean nothing as it makes search engines smarter by helping them understand user intent and behavior better. There will no longer be any signals to optimize. Instead, website owners and SEO specialists need to understand their audience to better serve their needs. The more engagement they generate, the more the search engines will reward them with better ranking.
Less Black Hat Strategies
Say goodbye to black hat SEO techniques that attempt to exploit the weaknesses of search engine algorithms. These tactics don’t work anymore as AI search signals become more adept at processing natural language. Search engines will now give higher ranking to websites that focus on more relevant content and have keywords that occur naturally.
AI-assisted Content Creation
Think robot journalists don’t exist? Think again. The Associated Press has already been publishing thousands of completely automated content since 2015. Will robot journalists ever take the place of human writers though? That remains to be seen.
Improved Insights and User Experience
Search engines aim to give users the best results and experience. AI hasn’t changed that goal. It simply gives them smarter tools to accomplish its mission. With AI analyzing website traffic, email interactions and social media behavior, marketers will have access to more accurate and detailed customer profiles, enabling them to better provide customers with exactly what they want.
AI will continue to evolve and change the future of SEO. As long as marketers keep their focus on their users though, they can’t go wrong.