Dig deeper: Social search and the future of brand engagement
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Emerging 2025 SEO priorities
Great SEO in 2025 will optimize user experience over a fully mapped, more three-dimensional customer journey that includes more platforms than Google.
Google remains a strong indicator of what matters and continues to dominate most search activity, but I expect this to become more dispersed as 2025 progresses.
With that in mind, the questions an SEO needs to address are changing.
You should no longer start with “Which keywords should I try to rank for?”
Better questions now start with user behavior, such as:
“If a user begins a search on Google or LLMs, what can my brand do to show up and provide value?”
“What kind of content are people looking to consume on Reddit and TikTok?”
“What kind of information are people looking for LLMs to provide?”
I’ve already mentioned the need to focus on brand search.
Along with that and user behavior, I’m encouraging my clients to invest in community engagement (wherever their particular communities are).
Those offer opportunities for a very different level of connection brand-building.
Dig deeper: Search everywhere optimization: 7 platforms SEOs need to optimize for beyond Google
2025 SEO predictions
I’m sure there’ll be the usual wave of yearly predictions, so I’ll be brief with mine.
LLM platforms like Perplexity will gain traction
Perplexity is poised to build significant momentum and market share.
Its user experience and quality have been impressive so far, and it continues to improve rapidly.
For B2B and ecommerce/B2C, engaging with communities will become a crucial growth strategy.
While AI content will advance and become less formulaic, there will always be demand for high-quality, differentiated content that showcases unique and creative human perspectives.
As AI content grows, it will highlight the value of authentic, smart voices.
Video content remains a powerful tool for standing out
Video continues to offer a unique opportunity to differentiate, as AI has yet to make significant advances in this medium.
Brands focusing on high-quality video and strategic deployment on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn can expect strong engagement in 2025.
Dig deeper: The future of SEO content is video – here’s why
SEO in 2025: Focusing on users, platforms, and content
User understanding will be the driving force behind successful SEO in 2025 and beyond.
With users exploring more search platforms than ever and a growing number of algorithms to navigate, gaining visibility will be both complex and challenging.
However, the better we understand our users and their behaviors, the more effectively we can engage them and drive meaningful results for our brands.
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