Trying to summarise the future of SEO in a brief post is ambitious to say the least. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what we’re going to attempt. It’s hardly a secret that the SEO landscape is evolving at record-pace, making it difficult to keep up.

This unfortunately shows that with the way things are going, anyone who sticks with the classic SEO mindset much longer risks being left in the dust. Simply following the time-old SEO rulebook to the letter is no longer the way to get things done.

Instead, it’s a case of bringing creativity and a new type of thinking into your search strategy. The key to success will lie in better understanding the user, along with where, when, how and why they access your website.
After which, the challenge of getting them to stick around long enough to take you seriously begins.

Future SEO: What’s Changing?
Wherever you look, you can already see the beginnings of the future of SEO. For the most part, it’s the interconnectivity of SEO, consumer behaviour and technology that will drive the future of search marketing.

Already, attracting and engaging the target audience means telling a convincing enough story to get them on your side. Rather than simply giving the user what they’re looking for, it needs to come from a source they trust, respect and relate to.

Roughly translated, SEO will no longer be about simply driving traffic to your website in the first place. People will always want to access the sites and pages they need as quickly as possible, but it’s their wider intent and their deeper desires that will determine the outcome. You can bring them your way in the first place, but this doesn’t mean they’ll hang around long enough to be of any value to you.

This means that future SEO strategies will need to take into account both what a target audience is searching for online and compels it to engage and interact with a brand. Getting somebody to land on your website is one thing – delivering the quality needed to drive engagement and loyalty is something else entirely.

lue-Driven Awareness
This is a broad and challenging concept known as value-driven awareness. Particularly important for younger generations, it’s about combining the mechanics of SEO with the creation of a strong message and effective brand awareness.

To put it another way, it’s about investigating the motivations of a target audience and considering the ‘why’ behind their actions. What is it they need? What causes them to search? What drives them? What’s going on in their subconscious? What are their core values?

Traditional SEO has primarily focused on driving traffic in as heavy as possible volumes and seeing who converts. Going forwards, SEO will be more of an all-round strategy for influencing and engaging an increasingly discerning (and difficult) online population.

After all , if you’re unable to build an immediate and meaningful connection with your website’s visitors, there’s no point attracting them in the first place.

Author's Bio: 

Chris Jenkinson works as an marketing manager providing marketing support to businesses.