2024 Predictions

What SEO will look like going forward

2023 straight up broke most SEOs.

I mean totally psychologically wrecked people. Just search for SEO discussions on X or (if you can handle the midwit vibes) Reddit.

I honestly think some of these people will need to see a shrink because it’s not normal to be that emotional.

In 2024 the screws are going to continue to tighten.

You have to remember that Google isn’t your daddy and they aren’t your god. They’re a soulless corporation that exists to make money, primarily through advertising.

They don’t owe you traffic and they don’t care whether you suffer or prosper. If you want to survive you have figure out what they’re rewarding and what they’re punishing and adapt to it.

The machine masturbated and we had to take it or die.

- Harlan Ellison, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

Here’s what I think will happen this year.

The traditional old-school SEO approach will become (is) obsolete

SEO has been essentially plug-and-play for almost a decade now.

Copy subheadings from competitors. Make sure you put the keyword in the right places. Make sure you have the same word count or slightly more than other articles on page 1. Add a few images with optimized anchor text. Build internal and external links. Done.

That old-school robotic approach is what the HCU targeted, and based on the results in the SERPs (and the crying from SEOs on X) it seems like Google succeeded.

Thank God.

The SERPs have been hot garbage for a while. No one wants to read SEO-optimized articles. They piss off searchers and make the internet in general a much worse place.

This is what SEO articles should look like in 2024: