SEO is far from dead – it’s simply changed beyond recognition. To stay relevant, SEOs must adapt to these shifts, expand their skillsets and embrace new technologies.
This article outlines 13 hard-hitting truths about modern SEO, revealing the realities every SEO professional needs to know to stay ahead.
These insights are intended to challenge your current approach, pushing you to rethink strategies that may no longer serve you.
1. Content-level SEO is not enough
Traditional content and website-level SEO tactics like page speed, keyword optimization and link building alone will no longer succeed. SEO now has three tiers:
Content level.
Content creator level.
Website publisher level.
You must continue to work on traditional content-level SEO, but you will fail if you don’t upskill and apply all three tiers of modern SEO.
The who behind the content is now key. Optimizing the creator and publisher entities, including their E-E-A-T credibility and topical authority.
Dig deeper: How the Google leak confirms the significance of author and publisher entities in SEO
2. DA-based links are only a tiny piece of the puzzle
While links from websites with powerful domain authority (DA) remain helpful, their direct impact on SEO performance is dwarfed by other credibility signals.
Google assesses many other signals to judge credibility, such as:
Mentions.
Entity-to-URL relationships.
Topic-to-URL relationships.
Content creator credibility.
Website publisher credibility.
The relatedness of your page to others.
If you overlook these factors or rely too heavily on traditional DA link strategies, your results will likely fall short.
3. Keyword quantity simply doesn’t matter
Stop relying on keyword counts to boost rankings.
Instead, focus on key elements like:
User intent.
Vocabulary.
Context.
Entities.
Relationships.
Query sequences.
Keywords can still inspire your strategy, but use them thoughtfully and shift your attention to multimedia content that aligns with each stage of the buyer’s journey.
Keep your messaging consistent, clear and always on-brand across all content types.
4. Written content is declining
Written content is steadily losing ground as Google and Microsoft Bing increasingly prioritize multimedia elements like videos, images, Knowledge Panels and generative AI in their search results.
As AI becomes better at analyzing and presenting multimedia content, traditional text-based content is taking a back seat in the SERPs.
5. Traditional blue link ranking is redundant
For decades, ranking in the blue links has been central to SEO strategy, relying heavily on written content, keywords and links.
Yet these traditional tactics have steadily dropped in priority.
They still serve as the foundation of the SERP, as confirmed by representatives from both Bing and Google.
However, their impact on visibility and traffic has been diluted by the rise of SERP features, knowledge elements and the steady evolution of search.
With the integration of generative AI, blue links are becoming even less relevant for achieving meaningful traffic and visibility.
With the introduction of Bing’s Deep Search and Google’s AI Overviews, blue links now carry value primarily through what I call “implicit ranking.”
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.
Bing’s Deep Search already demonstrates this approach in action, signaling a shift in how search results are presented.
6. You can’t hide from on-SERP SEO
If you haven’t embraced on-SERP SEO, now is the time to start. It’s far more than a buzzword – it’s an essential strategy that’s here to stay.
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.
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7. Websites won’t matter (much)
Websites are no longer the primary gateway to online visibility.
Instead, brands are gaining dominance across various channels, including social media, review platforms, video and traditional PR mentions.
While your website remains the central hub and ultimate destination for your digital marketing and SEO, it’s essential to expand your focus beyond the website itself.
Over time, it will become less visible in search results and assistive AI platforms, requiring a broader, multi-channel approach to maintain brand visibility.
8. Brand is boss
Google’s understanding of your brand identity now outweighs traditional content strategies focused on keywords and links.
It evaluates entities – whether a corporation, person or product – and ranks results based on how relevant the content is to these entities rather than simply counting words and links.
A clear sign of this shift is when Google recognizes your brand name and displays it in the SERP.
If it doesn’t recognize the brand, it will only show the domain, highlighting that the website is a weaker proxy for brand understanding.
Dig deeper: Modern SEO: Packaging your brand and marketing for Google
9. Schema markup is passé
Google and Bing have moved away from schema markup due to its inconsistent and often manipulative implementation across websites.