1 J. Bevendorff and M. Wiegmann, et al. “Is Google Getting Worse? A Longitudinal Investigation of SEO Spam in Search Engines”, https://seroundtable.s3.amazonaws.com/bevendorff_2024a.pdf, January 2024
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It’s not your imagination: online search isn’t the same as it used to be. Google and competing search engines are inundated with spam results1; search algorithms are constantly updating2, reshuffling results in ways that can seriously impact a page’s visibility; and the rapid advancement of generative AI is making it hard for some users to tell what's real and what’s fake3.
In response, consumers are changing their search behaviors to get more accurate information. Search through AI tools, for example, is taking off as a popular way for customers to seek recommendations about what to buy and where to go. According to research from marketing agency Higher Visibility, 71.5% of people are using AI services like ChatGPT to search the web4.
For small businesses that prioritize SEO for visibility, these changes in search habits may come as a bit of a curveball. However, consumers aren’t replacing traditional search engine queries with AI search altogether. Rather, they are empowered to build their own search experience, tailored to their personal preferences and communication styles. The use of virtual assistants and voice search are on the rise, leading to longer and more complex queries. Moreover, traditional search engines are introducing new AI-powered features that are changing how consumers access information, such as the AI-retrieved results at the top of certain Google searches.
The growth of AI search creates both challenges and opportunities for small businesses. On one hand, they have to diversify and enhance their digital marketing efforts, which could require additional time and resources. On the other hand, these businesses now have more ways to connect with consumers through search, using methods that feel less engineered and more organic.
As in any time of change, it pays off to be an early adopter. Small businesses should embrace the dawn of the AI search era as inspiration to innovate their marketing strategies.
Keyword-based querying is short and mechanical: the idea is to get to the most relevant result in as few words as possible.
But in this case, less isn’t always more. According to research from iStock’s VisualGPS platform, over 40% of global consumers report they have a difficult time finding the product that they want when using traditional keyword search5.
AI and voice search capabilities have made it easier for people to convey what they want to search for in natural language. Instead of arranging clunky keyword chains, people are having fluid, conversational interactions with their search tools. As a result, search is transforming into an interactive content experience. Think about when you search for a recipe online: instead of a list of static links, you might be presented with a dynamic array of images, videos and social content that may have more relevant results – and will certainly be more interesting to browse.
The best way for small businesses to match these algorithm changes and improve their likelihood of being discovered in a search is to create more meaningful, authentic content. Focus on content that adds value and originality – and in the age of AI, includes a recognizable human touch. With search constantly reshaping, you have to be more than an answer to a query: you have to be a destination that consumers keep coming back to. Keywords are still important, but dynamic visual experiences, easily navigable web pages and informative, interesting content will provide more value to searchers and increase visibility.
Compelling, eye-catching visuals are one of the most effective ways to stand out in a crowded market. High-quality images and videos that resonate with your target demographic can foster stronger connections and drive engagement, leading to better conversion rates, stronger brand loyalty and greater credibility. Search engine optimization is about maximizing your brand’s authority, and leveraging compelling visuals is your opportunity to show, not tell, your audience that they should engage with your business. Moreover, AI search programs learn from both your website’s language and visuals to understand your business, so both are increasingly important as SEO shifts and user search preferences evolve.
To snag the attention of an increasingly slippery customer base, use a wide variety of visuals that convey what your company offers, where people can find your products or services, and perhaps most importantly, how those things should make them feel. Video content especially is a great opportunity to educate and entertain users while they’re on your site. Through captions and alt-text, you can add more descriptive details that will help search engines and AI search tools/chatbots lead consumers to your content making them a valuable resource for SEO.
This is an area where the evolving nature of search can be helpful to businesses as users of your platforms and services. iStock’s Enhanced Search functionality for example, uses machine learning models to understand natural, conversational language to produce more relevant results, getting customers to the right visual, faster. Being able to choose from a vast library of captivating, visually diverse imagery and video more efficiently will help you stand out from the crowd and strengthen your authority on the web.
Small businesses can also enhance their visuals with AI image generation tools as part of your broader mix of content – you’ll just want to make sure they’re commercially safe. This means the generated images pose no legal risk to the business – a common pitfall of many AI image generators on the market, which scrape data from the internet – and that these images are fully licensed for commercial use. Solutions like Generative AI by iStock offer these protections along with powerful image generation and editing capabilities.
However, you want to make sure any images generated or modified with AI are labeled as such: according to a VisualGPS AI report, 9 in 10 consumers globally want to know if an image was AI-generated6.
Images are also at the heart of “reverse search” functionalities, which can further increase your visibility in search results. If someone is using this search feature to find a similar product to something they perhaps lost, or can’t find online otherwise, your business could have the lookalike someone is looking for.
Small businesses should approach social media as an extension of their search discoverability strategy. People want the opinions of other voices to help them make purchasing decisions, and so they turn to social media for recommendations and trends to follow. On social media, people search specific hashtags and keywords, with each platform indexing them a little bit differently. But they also get recommendations via the algorithm, explore pages they encounter through comments and social ads, and AI-powered recommendations delivered through interactions with social chatbots.
To attract users on social media, video content is crucial. According to VisualGPS research, 31% of people worldwide turn to social media platforms to search for video content to acquire new knowledge. Engaging video content will capture audience attention and drive conversions7.
Combining strong content with social media best practices will help small businesses stand out as social media embraces its new role as a search engine.
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