A customer finds your competitor on Instagram. They were not looking for your competitor. They were not looking for anything in particular. That is how social search works. 

So what is social search, exactly? 

Social search is not a new channel. It is a behaviour that has been happening on your phone for years, and the platforms have only just started calling it something.

Someone types “festival makeup” into Instagram instead of Google. Someone asks TikTok what hotel to stay at in Lisbon. Someone finds a candle brand through a Reel they were not looking for and buys it within 24 hours. That is social search. It is discovery that happens inside apps people opened for something else entirely.

According to a Kantar study Meta commissioned in March 2026, 92% of people now use social platforms for product information. 58% find it more enjoyable than traditional search for discovery. 63% say they buy faster when social plays a role in the decision. Meta did not commission that study to be modest about the findings, but the numbers align with what client accounts show on the ground. People are not going to Google first the way they used to. The journey starts somewhere else now.

Google searches per US user are down nearly 20% year on year. Sit with that number for a moment before the next section.

Why Meta published this now

Two reasons, and neither of them is altruistic.

The first is money. If search budgets start moving away from Google and toward social platforms, Meta’s advertising revenue goes up. A 16-page report making the case for social discovery is one of the more elegant pieces of self-promotion in recent memory. It is dressed as industry insight. It is actually a pitch deck.

The second is timing. Google’s slice of US search ad spending is forecast to fall below 50% in 2026, down from 67.1% a decade ago. Advertisers will spend more than $100 billion on non-Google search ads by 2028. Meta wants to be the obvious answer to where that money goes. Publishing the research that frames the argument is step one.

None of that makes the data wrong. It makes the motive transparent. Those are different things.

What the numbers say that Meta is not loudly saying

Buried in the data is a figure that matters more than the rest. Meta’s own campaign analysis, drawn from over 10,000 geo-tested campaigns across more than 200 North American advertisers, shows that 64% of the customers it delivers are new to the brand entirely. And the return on ad spend for those new customer acquisitions runs 2.3 times higher than traditional search.

In plain English: Google reaches people who were already looking for you. Meta reaches people who had no idea you existed. Both matter. They do completely different jobs. The brands treating them as interchangeable are the ones puzzled by their results.

Meta has also introduced a shopping mode inside Meta AI called Muse Spark – US only for now – that responds to conversational queries and surfaces products directly from catalogues. The principle is the same as search, the interface just feels like a chat. 49% of consumers already use AI assistants for product discovery. 70% expect to use them more for shopping in the next six months. That is not an emerging trend. That is where this has already arrived.

What this means if you run a small business

Three things, and they are all more straightforward than the 16-page report would suggest.

Content needs to work as introduction, not confirmation. The formats driving purchase consideration on social are short videos and Reels (61% of consideration actions), creator reviews and demos (43%), and customer reviews and user-generated content (41%). Short video also ranks as the most useful format for moving someone from interest to action. A grid of product shots and quote tiles is not doing this job. It is talking to people who already know you, not the ones who do not.

Your product catalogue has become part of your search strategy whether you treat it that way or not. If the catalogue is out of date, image-poor, or missing variants, Meta AI has less to work with when surfacing products to people searching within the platform. This is not a future consideration. It is happening now.

Customer reviews are social proof and search signal simultaneously. A business with recent, visible, detailed reviews is more discoverable and more trustworthy at the same moment. These are not separate problems with separate solutions.

Should anything change in your marketing budget?

Not everything, and not immediately.

Traditional search handles utility. Someone who types “accountant in Chelmsford” into Google has already decided they want an accountant. Social search handles influence. Someone who comes across your content on Instagram has not decided anything yet – and that is precisely the opportunity.

The businesses winning at this are not the ones who abandoned Google. They are the ones who stopped treating social content as broadcasting and started treating it as discovery infrastructure. Reels that introduce. Reviews that reassure. A catalogue that actually reflects what is available.

The shift is real. The data is clear enough to take seriously even accounting for who commissioned it. The question is not whether social search matters to your business. The question is whether your content is doing the job of being found by people who do not know you exist yet.

If the answer is no, that is a 24 fingers-shaped problem.

Capri pants are back. Typewriters are trending. And now, apparently, we are all desperately searching for a secondhand iPod.

The latest Google Trends data is telling a very specific story. Not about nostalgia exactly, not about anti-tech rebellion, and definitely not about some collective decision to reject modernity. It is about something more commercially interesting than any of that.

People want to feel things again. And they are searching for products that let them do it.

Opportunity: Businesses that position themselves as real guides to this hands-on, tactile tech movement in the next 24 days will be building audiences their competitors spend years trying to catch.

Cyberdecks Are Having a Moment – and It’s Not Just a Tech Thing

Search interest in “cyberdeck” hit an all-time high this year.

If you just typed “what is a cyberdeck” into a new tab, you are not alone. That is also a breakout search. A cyberdeck is a custom-built portable computer, assembled from components like single-board computers and compact keyboards, designed around what the builder wants it to do rather than what a manufacturer decided was commercially sensible.

“Build a cyberdeck” reached an all-time high. “Mini keyboard” did the same. And “single board computer” is at its highest search interest since 2006. These are not passive inspiration searches. These are people buying parts.

What is interesting is where they want to take these things. “Cyberdeck for music production” and “cyberdeck for reading” are the top trending use-case searches. And then, buried in the breakout data: “cyberdeck girly” and “cyberdeck for girls.”

That last one matters more than it sounds. When an aesthetic movement starts generating its own subcategories, it has moved from niche to culture. The cyberdeck is no longer just a maker-community obsession. It is becoming a personal expression device. The same logic that gave us cottagecore laptops and pastel gaming peripherals is now giving us bespoke portable computers built around individual identity rather than corporate specification.

The opportunity here is not selling cyberdecks. It is content. Tutorials. Component guides. “What can a cyberdeck do” is a breakout search with no dominant answer yet. Whoever owns that search owns the top of a very interesting funnel.

Why Gen Z Is Ditching Wireless and Hunting Down Secondhand iPods

Separately, and simultaneously, people are abandoning wireless audio.

Search interest in both “wired headphones” and “wired earbuds” hit all-time highs this year. “Portable cassette player” also reached a new peak, with Olivia Rodrigo as the top trending related search, which tells you everything you need to know about the demographic driving this.

“Secondhand iPod” broke out over the past week. The iPod is the top trending secondhand item right now. Generation Z is the top trending topic searched alongside it.

This is not a generation that grew up with iPods. They are choosing them deliberately. That is not nostalgia. That is aesthetic selection. There is a meaningful difference.

The same logic applies to the MP3 player data. “How to use mp3 player” more than doubled last week. “Mp3 player with bluetooth” hit an all-time high. People are not looking to replicate 2004. They want a dedicated listening device that is separate from their phone, with the physicality of something you can hold and scroll through, and the practicality of modern connectivity.

The Walkman is also back, and pink is the top trending colour for Walkman headphones. Colour preference in search data tells you this audience is shopping, not browsing.

If you sell consumer electronics, vintage gear, accessories, or audio equipment, the window here is open. The audience has already decided what it wants. It is looking for somewhere credible to buy it.

Typewriters Are Back – and This Time They Have Bluetooth

The third strand in this data is the one that connects everything.

“Mechanical keyboard” reached an all-time high this year. “Smart typewriter” is being searched more than ever. “Digital typewriter” more than doubled in searches over the past month. “Bluetooth typewriter” is the top trending typewriter type right now.

And then this: “typewriter club” broke out last month.

Community formation is the signal that a trend has legs. People do not form clubs around passing fads. They form clubs around things that have reshaped part of how they spend their time. Typewriter clubs appearing in the data alongside all-time highs for mechanical keyboards means this is not a quirky product category anymore. It is a lifestyle orientation.

“Typewriter keyboards” is also a breakout search, which means people are looking for the aesthetic and feel of a typewriter applied to their existing setup. That is a much bigger market than the dedicated typewriter buyer. It is every person who wants their desk to feel like something, rather than just function like something.

What Cyberdecks, Cassette Players and Typewriter Clubs Have in Common

The laptop is optimised for productivity. The Bluetooth earphone is optimised for convenience. The standard keyboard is optimised for speed. None of them are optimised for experience.

Search data in 2026 is showing, clearly, that a significant and commercially active audience has noticed this. They are not rejecting technology. They are upgrading it on their own terms. They want to build computers that fit their lives. They want to listen to music on a device that is only for music. They want to type on something that makes a sound and offers resistance.

This is not Luddism. It is connoisseurship.

What Tech Brands Should (and Definitely Should Not) Be Selling Right Now

Oversaturated Markets to Avoid: Generic “best wireless earbuds” roundups. Top-ten keyboard lists with no personality. Productivity content that assumes everyone wants faster and smoother. This audience has specifically rejected that framing. Content built around it is being scrolled past at pace.

Underserved Opportunities:

• Beginner cyberdeck build guides, component breakdowns, and use-case content that answers “what can a cyberdeck do”
• Nostalgic audio content that treats the iPod and Walkman as legitimate buying decisions, not guilty pleasures, with accessories, care guides, and honest comparisons
• Tactile typing content that connects the feel and sound of mechanical keyboards and typewriters to the broader lifestyle shift, not just the specs
• “Cyberdeck for music production” content, which has strong commercial intent and no clear owner yet
• Community-facing content around typewriter clubs and the growing DIY keyboard culture

The data shows clear white space for businesses willing to talk to the audience that exists, not the one the industry assumes still wants wireless everything.

The Tech Searches With the Most Commercial Intent Right Now

The searches showing the most immediate commercial signal right now:

• Cyberdeck build
• What can a cyberdeck do
• Cyberdeck for music production
• Secondhand iPod
• Portable cassette player
• Mp3 player with bluetooth
• Wired headphones
• Smart typewriter
• Digital typewriter with screen
• Mechanical keyboard
• Typewriter keyboard

These are not people window shopping. They are people mid-decision. Businesses with credible, useful content for these searches are capturing an audience already halfway to buying.

The Retro Tech Trends Worth Watching in 2026

Based on current trajectories:

The Cyberdeck Goes Mainstream: “Cyberdeck girly” and “cyberdeck for girls” as breakout searches signal the moment a trend crosses from enthusiast community to broader culture. The DIY computer is becoming a fashion object. Businesses that get there with accessible, aesthetic-aware content before this fully peaks will own a long-term category.

The Dedicated Device Counter-Movement: Wired headphones, portable cassette players, secondhand iPods and MP3 players trending at the same time is not coincidence. There is a cohort actively choosing devices that do one thing only. Brands that understand and celebrate this, rather than trying to convert these buyers back to wireless, will earn real loyalty.

The Tactile Typing Lifestyle: Typewriter clubs, mechanical keyboard all-time highs, and digital typewriter searches more than doubling in a month together suggest this has moved well beyond product preference. It is closer to a creative practice. Content that reflects that, rather than just reviewing products, will resonate with the most engaged part of this audience.

The 24-Day Action Plan for Tech Businesses

Week 1-2: Audit Your Language

• Review your existing content for productivity-first assumptions that exclude the experience-driven buyer
• Map your products or services to the specific searches people are making right now: cyberdeck builds, nostalgic audio, tactile typing
• Identify which underserved segment you are best placed to speak to: DIY tech builders, nostalgic audio buyers, or the mechanical keyboard and typewriter crowd

Week 3-4: Publish With Precision

• Create content using the exact vocabulary people are searching (“cyberdeck for music production,” “mp3 player with bluetooth,” “digital typewriter with screen”)
• Build at least one useful piece of content that answers a breakout search question directly: a build guide, a buyer’s comparison, a use-case breakdown
• Position around the experience and feel of the product, not just the specification

The Bottom Line

We are not watching a tech nostalgia trend play out. We are watching an entire generation of people decide that optimised-for-convenience is not the same as optimised-for-them, open a search bar, and start looking for businesses that understand the difference.

The search data does not lie: people are building custom computers, buying pink Walkmans, and joining typewriter clubs. They are looking for businesses that take that seriously.

After 27 years of SEO being the golden child of online visibility, we’re apparently witnessing its dramatic death scene. Cue the violins and the breathless LinkedIn posts declaring “SEO is dead, long live GEO!”

But before you start planning a funeral for your keyword strategy, let’s have a proper chat about what’s actually happening with search in 2025.

The Great Search Shake-Up: What’s Really Going On

Spoiler alert: SEO isn’t dead, it’s evolving. Google still holds roughly 90% of the search market, whilst ChatGPT’s search share remains below 1%.

What we’re actually seeing is the rise of Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) – basically, making sure your content gets cited when AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude answer user questions. It’s no longer just about click-through rates, it’s about reference rates: how often your brand or content is cited or used as a source in model-generated answers.

Think of it this way: SEO was about getting invited to the party, GEO is about being quoted at the party.

How GEO Actually Works (Without the Jargon)

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the process of making your content quotable by AI systems like ChatGPT and Gemini. These tools don’t list links – they write answers. GEO is how your content becomes part of what they say.

The mechanics are refreshingly straightforward:

Traditional SEO: Write content with keywords, build links, hope Google notices, appear in search results

GEO: Write genuinely helpful content that AI can understand and cite when answering questions

To influence AI-generated answers, the words associated with a brand, their frequency and consistency, and where they appear on the web are all important factors. It’s less about gaming algorithms and more about being genuinely useful.

The Business Reality Check: Where is GEO At Right Now?

Let’s be realistic about what we’re dealing with here. While generative AI has a small share of the overall search market, at the rate it’s growing, it may become 10% of website traffic by next year. That’s not world-ending, but it’s not ignorable either.

Some early adopters are seeing promising results. Some have reported up to a 115% increase in visibility in AI-generated responses. But this isn’t about replacing your current strategy; it’s about expanding it. SEO was never just about Google, despite how much we might focus on Google as the default search engine, thanks to its current dominance in market share. Bing is a thing.

Smart Implementation: Your Action Plan

Right, enough theory. Here’s how to actually start with GEO without losing your mind or your budget:

1. Audit Your Current Content

Look at your existing content through the lens of “Would AI find this useful to cite?” If your content reads like keyword soup or feels robotic, it needs work. AI does not pull through the same overlapping content as we do, and AI pulls based on clarity and context, and authority not the order on a page.

2. Think Questions, Not Keywords

The Question is King – Brainstorm questions your target audience asks that eventually lead them to your business as an answer. Now develop content that answers those questions. This isn’t revolutionary thinking, but it requires a mindset shift from “What do I want to rank for?” to “What questions am I answering?”

3. Structure Like You Mean It

The Structured Look – GenAI engines, like Google bots, don’t really “understand” your content the way people do. They need signs that point the way and tell them what things are. This means proper headings, clear explanations, and logical flow.

4. Build Authority, Not Just Backlinks

You Are What You EEAT – GenAI engines, like Google, rank and index content based on the age-old SEO principle of EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness). Focus on demonstrating genuine expertise rather than manufacturing authority signals.

5. Test and Track (Because Nobody Knows Everything Yet)

GEO is still very new. The playbook is still being written and is likely to change. What works well for one brand’s content may not work as well for another. Tools like are starting to offer GEO tracking capabilities, but expect this landscape to evolve rapidly.

Why This Matters Now

With 18 million UK users and 79% of teenagers already embracing AI tools like ChatGPT, generative AI adoption is accelerating faster than most predicted.

Plus people who debated ChatGPT with personalised knowledge had 81.7% higher odds of changing their opinion, highlighting AI’s persuasive power in shaping public perception. So we’re not just optimising for visibility anymore; we’re optimising for influence. As genAI tools compress the research process, people may only see two or three brands in AI-generated answers.

Companies that fail to adapt risk being filtered out entirely. As the saying goes, there’s no page two in AI responses. You’re either part of the answer or you’re not. Ouch.

What (Not) to Expect 

Before you get carried away with visions of AI-powered marketing dominance, let’s set some realistic expectations:

Don’t expect overnight transformation. GEO is still in its experimental phase, much like the early days of SEO. We’re all figuring this out together.

Don’t abandon your current SEO efforts. GEO isn’t the death of SEO. It’s what happens when search becomes multi-platform, multi-modal, and powered by AI. Think integration, not replacement.

Don’t expect universal solutions. What works for B2B software might not work for local restaurants. The AI citation game varies significantly by industry and audience.

Looking Forward: The Next 24 Months

Here’s what smart businesses are doing right now: they’re treating GEO as an addition to their marketing stack, not a replacement. Rather than replacing SEO, GEO complements it, allowing brands to achieve greater visibility across traditional search engines and AI platforms.

The businesses that will thrive in this transition are those that focus on creating genuinely useful content rather than chasing the latest optimisation hack. GEO isn’t about keyword stuffing or backlink chasing. It rewards content that’s genuinely useful, structured clearly, and built on trust.

The Bottom Line

SEO isn’t dead, but it’s certainly not the only game in town anymore. GEO represents an opportunity to get your expertise in front of people in a new way, but it’s not a magic bullet that solves all your visibility problems.

The smart move? Start experimenting with GEO principles while maintaining your current SEO efforts. Focus on creating content that serves real purposes and answers real questions. Structure it well, build genuine authority, and track what happens.

Most importantly, remember that all of this – SEO, GEO, whatever comes next – is ultimately about connecting your expertise with people who need it. The channels may change, but that fundamental truth remains constant.

Need a hand building a search strategy that actually works for your business – traditional and AI-powered? Let’s have a chat about what makes sense for your specific situation.

Let’s be honest – most business owners check their website stats about as often as they floss. And when they do peek at the numbers, they’re usually left feeling more confused than a tourist in Tokyo without Google Translate.

After running countless analytics sessions with business owners, we’ve discovered something interesting: 90% of websites are flying blind. They’re generating traffic, sure, but they have absolutely no clue what’s working, what’s not, and why their conversion rates are lower than a limbo bar at a children’s party.

The Real Truth About Google Analytics (It’s Not What You Think)

Google Analytics isn’t just some nerdy dashboard that collects dust in your browser bookmarks. It’s your business intelligence headquarters – the difference between throwing marketing spaghetti at the wall and actually knowing what sticks.

Here’s what intrigued us during our recent training session: One participant discovered that while they’d been obsessing over Instagram engagement, LinkedIn was driving 3x more qualified traffic to their website. Another realised that visitors from email newsletters were staying on their site for over 2 minutes, whilst social media traffic barely lasted 30 seconds.

Plot twist: The data was there all along. It just needed proper interpretation.

The Google Analytics Reality Check: What Most People Get Wrong

Mistake #1: Confusing Google Analytics with Google Search Console

Think of it this way – Google Analytics shows you what happens when someone’s at your dinner party (your website). Google Search Console shows you how they found your address in the first place. Both crucial, completely different purposes.

Google Analytics = What visitors do once they’re on your site Google Search Console = How they discovered you existed

Mistake #2: Obsessing Over Vanity Metrics

“I had 1,000 visitors last month.” Cool story. How many actually did something useful? Clicked your contact button? Downloaded your freebie? Booked a call?

Raw visitor numbers are like counting how many people walked past your shop window. Engagement metrics tell you who actually came inside and had a mooch.

Translation: Stop chasing vanity metrics. Start chasing engaged audiences.

The 24-Hour Website Wake-Up Call

Here’s a sobering exercise: Check your real-time analytics right now. See those little dots on the map? Each one represents someone who chose to spend their precious time on your website instead of watching cat videos or scrolling TikTok.

What are they actually doing?

• Which pages are they visiting?
• How long are they staying?
• Where did they come from?
• Are they clicking your important buttons?

During our training, we watched real-time visitors navigate websites live. One business owner saw someone spend three minutes reading their about page, then immediately click the contact form. Another watched five people land on their homepage and bounce within 10 seconds.

The difference? One website told a story. The other was just digital wallpaper.

The Traffic Source Truth Bomb

Here’s what happened when we analysed one participant’s traffic sources:

• Direct traffic: 614 visitors (people who typed the URL or had it bookmarked)
• Organic search: 350 visitors (SEO working)
• Email: 107 visitors (newsletter subscribers taking action)
• Social media: 74 visitors (all those Instagram posts)
• Referrals: 12 visitors (partnerships and mentions)

The revelation? They’d been spending 80% of their marketing time on social media, which was generating less than 10% of their quality traffic. Meanwhile, their email list – which they’d been neglecting – was their second-biggest traffic driver.

The Engagement Time Secret That Changes Everything

Not all website visits are created equal. Someone who spends 2 minutes and 37 seconds reading your blog post is infinitely more valuable than 10 people who bounce after five seconds.

Translation: Stop chasing vanity metrics. Start chasing engaged audiences.

The Conversion Tracking Game-Changer

This is where most websites fail spectacularly. They’re tracking visitors like they’re counting sheep, but they have no idea if anyone’s actually doing anything useful.

Smart website owners track:

• Email signups
• Phone clicks
• Calendar bookings
• Download buttons
• Contact form submissions
• Social media clicks

Why this matters: If 100 people visit your pricing page but zero click your “Book a Call” button, you’ve got a conversion problem, not a traffic problem.

The Page Performance Reality Check

During our session, participants discovered interesting patterns in their content performance. High-performing blog posts were keeping visitors engaged for over 2 minutes, whilst certain pages were losing people after 30 seconds.

The fix Double down on what’s working. Create more content similar to high-performing posts. Revamp or remove content that’s making people run for the digital hills.

Pro tip: If a page has a higher bounce rate than a rubber ball factory, it needs immediate attention.

The SEO Opportunity Goldmine

Here’s where things get interesting. Google Search Console revealed that participants were showing up for relevant search terms but ranking on page 6 or beyond.

Translation: Google knows they’re relevant for those search terms, but their websites aren’t optimised properly. Pure SEO gold waiting to be mined.

The opportunity: Instead of starting from scratch with new keywords, focus on improving rankings for terms you’re already showing up for. It’s like finding money in your old jeans.

The International Market Reality Check

Here’s where things get properly interesting. When we checked keyword search volumes during our session, we discovered some eye-opening patterns about market size and opportunity.

The strategy shift: Instead of fighting for scraps in a small local market, consider how to appeal to international audiences. Sometimes the biggest opportunities are hiding in plain sight – you just need to know where to look.

Your 24-Point Website Analytics Action Plan

1. Install Google Analytics (if you haven’t already – seriously?)
2. Set up Google Search Console
3. Connect both using Google Site Kit plugin
4. Check real-time visitors weekly
5. Review traffic sources monthly
6. Identify your top-performing content
7. Analyse engagement times by traffic source
8. Set up conversion tracking for key actions
9. Monitor page performance regularly
10. Track your SEO keyword positions
11. Identify pages Google knows about but isn’t indexing
12. Research keyword search volumes for your niche
13. Compare UK vs international market opportunities
14. Set up UTM tracking for campaigns
15. Create content based on what’s already working
16. Fix or remove poor-performing pages
17. Optimise for keywords you’re already ranking for
18. Focus marketing efforts on highest-engagement channels
19. Test and improve conversion elements
20. Monitor competitor keyword performance
21. Set up automated reporting
22. Schedule monthly analytics reviews
23. Document insights and action points
24. Repeat, refine, and improve continuously

The Bottom Line: Stop Guessing, Start Knowing

Your website analytics aren’t just numbers on a screen – they’re your business intelligence system. Every visitor click tells a story. Every engagement metric reveals an opportunity. Every conversion path shows you what’s working. And what isn’t.

The truth? Most businesses are sitting on a goldmine of insights but are too busy creating content to actually analyse what’s working.

The solution? Spend less time guessing what your audience wants and more time understanding what they’re actually doing.

Ready to stop flying blind and start making data-driven decisions? Your website analytics are waiting to spill all their secrets. You just need to know how to listen.

Want help setting up proper analytics tracking for your website? Our team specialises in turning confusing data into clear, actionable insights that actually grow your business. Because knowledge without action is just expensive procrastination.

It’s been a busy year for everyone at 24 fingers towers – topped off by our Emma’s recent Enterprise Nation award, of course. Gonna be dining out on that one for a full 12 months, let us tell ya ;). As with all things digital though, we look forward, and et voila, here’s all the 2025 SEO trends that you’ll need to know this year.

From the brain-busting possibilities of AI to zero-click searches: we’ll dig into what they mean and explain how they could give your small business a boost in the coming 12 months.

So, top up that mug of something virtuous, pull up a comfy chair and maybe take a few notes, as we flag up nine SEO trends that 2025 will have to offer.

AI and marketing

Chuck a stone in any direction and it will hit an SEO expert muttering about artificial intelligence. No, they don’t mean Prince Andrew: they’re all going bananas about AI.

Loads of businesses have already embraced AI tools in one form or another to boost organic traffic to their sites, and they are set to be one of the key trends for 2025.

AI can be used as part of your digital marketing strategy in a variety of ways: from voice search optimisation tools to video marketing and really digging into the human insight from customers to help you tailor your offerings.

So basically, if you’re not using AI to support your business, we’d highly advise that you start considering it, pronto. You’ll never look back. PS need a helping hand? Time to book your free AI strategy session with yours truly.

Keep search engines happy: update your content

Trying to stay up to date with the algorithm Jones’ can feel like a full-time job. But one way you can feed the search engines’ beast without driving yourself crazy is to regularly update your content.

That doesn’t mean writing 4,000-word blogs every week or posting a million memes a day onto social media to boost your SEO efforts. Far from it.

Refreshing older content to ensure the SEO keywords are up to scratch takes a fraction of the time and, as far as search engines are concerned, will do just as good a job.

Links are as important as ever

If including links isn’t on your list of SEO trends for 2025, you might need a new list.

Relevant and diverse backlinks are just as important to Google rankings as ever. Make sure they’re all working, otherwise you’ll tumble down the list and all that digital marketing sweat will be for naught.

Don’t forget to EEAT

This stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness and, in a nutshell, it’s how Google’s human reviewers (yep, they really have them), determine the quality of content in search results.

EEAT relies on accurate, reliable and relevant content. The more you can demonstrate your expertise and experience in your business field, the more likely you are to be considered an authority by Google’s search results elves.

Trust us, as one of the top SEO trends for 2025, EEAT is a good thing.

Localisation of SEO

When it comes to building a business via organic traffic, it’s best to start with the customers on your doorstep and local SEO will remain one of this year’s major trends.

A good local SEO strategy should include having detailed descriptions on each business page, and photos and visuals that are optimised for the local area’s search.

Don’t forget up-to-date hours and real-time info synchronised with Google Business Profile or Bing Places, as well as those all-important customer reviews and ratings.

Baffled? Don’t be. Book in your complimentary Growth Strategy session and we’ll walk you through it all, step by step in a language you understand.

All SEO Is Mobile SEO

There is barely a human alive that doesn’t own a smartphone and potentially millions of them want to buy lots of stuff.

Optimising your content for mobiles will help put your business in front of those eyeballs in 2025. What does that mean in plain English? When it comes to meeting search intent, quite a lot.

Get the most out of your keyword research by getting your main ones in the title, meta description, first sentence and several subheadings, as well as your Alt-text.

Make sure your tags are all present and correct, and that your content is scannable, and it will stop even the most tuned-out smartphone user in their scrolling tracks.

Go long for great search results

The debate about whether AI-generated content is a good or bad thing will rage for a while yet but we will say this: for the longer form, human written content is better.

Search engines EEAT up (ha ha – see what we did there?) many things, but they really love authenticity aka that something special (you) talking about what you do best.

Longer-form, original, relevant content that is sprinkled with short and long-tail keywords is a brilliant way to demonstrate this and boost your search rankings.

It’s also a gift that keeps on giving: whether it’s a video or a blog post, it can be cut down and reused as posts for social media platforms. As trends for 2025 go, this one’s an SEO winner.

Boost your social media presence

Speaking of all things social media, user behaviour suggests it’s becoming a competitor to Google search results. What could that mean for you in 2025?

Social media platforms might do more for your business than just be a place to post quality content. They are excellent for creating communities and gathering user-generated content such as reviews.

They’re also a superb testing ground and can offer pathways to potential new audiences. The trick is to know the platforms inside out: who uses them, when are they more likely to post and what pushes their buttons?

Combine this with a cracking SEO strategy and 2025 will be looking smokin’ hot.

Zero-click searches

Every minute of every day, millions of user queries are typed into Google (other search engines are available). How many of them do you think directly answer the question being asked?

Not as many as you’d think, but zero click searches are set to be one of this year’s key trends in the SEO landscape.

Zero click searches aim to give the target audience all the information they’re looking for and a bit more. They serve up not just the answer to their question but also a knowledge panel and a ‘people also ask’ – PPA list too.

Now, if you’re the business being searched for then happy days – your brand may stand out from the SERP crowd.

But, and it’s a big one, zero click searches can also prevent users clicking on your website, and can make you question the effectiveness of your SEO keywords.

If you’re wondering what any of that means, we can help. Our expert team will sidestep the jargon and explain the solutions in a friendly, easy-to-understand way.

Time to book your 2025 Growth Strategy session

Whichever your marketing strategy, we can help you ensure SEO success: from using AI to boosting your user generated content.

Send us a message at hello@24fingers.co.uk, call 01277 523650 or book a free Growth Strategy session to learn how.