What Are The Latest Changes To SEO You Need To Know About?

The importance of search engine optimisation (SEO) in content marketing is well known and we have covered it in previous blogs. However, it is not just essential to know the basics of SEO and apply them in a coherent strategy. You must also be prepared to change.

The reason for this is that you are often dealing with a moving target. 

Keyword search, for example, helps you to establish which keywords have fallen out of favour and which ones have become more popular.

However, there are some even greater shifts that take place from time to time, real game-changers you need to respond to if your content is to continue finding its way to page one of the search rankings.

At the top of the list are updates to algorithms, in particular Google, as this is the search engine used most.

These have been revised many times over the years. Some of the changes were obvious and necessary because they eliminated poor-quality content with which some people tried to game the system through keyword stuffing or spam, which are now penalised. 

More recent changes have been more subtle.

What Are The Main Changes To The Google Search Algorithm?

Google has just made its latest adjustment. Features of the update include the following elements:

·       The increased use of AI technology in search, increasing the focus on ‘natural language’ and high-quality content

·       A greater focus on website performance, which means those with poor technical SEO may suffer

·       A greater emphasis on authority and expertise in content

·       Better spam detection

·       Rankings will prioritise multimedia content, which means video titles, alt text and descriptions must be optimised

Consequently, the site advises, content producers should increase their focus on things like these:

·       Producing high-quality, authoritative content

·       Enhancing website performance  

·       Demonstrating expertise with good research and authoritative links

·       Optimisation for AI search

It should be noted that most of these are tightening up existing algorithm elements. You should already be looking to produce authoritative content, avoid spam and have a user-friendly website.

What Should You Do To Adjust To The Growing Use Of AI In Search?

However, the use of AI in search is an area of significant change. Research has indicated that half of marketers have been using AI tools in their content in 2025 and the overwhelming majority will be doing so in the years ahead.

The role AI will play in changing various aspects of life and work has been much debated and some have predicted that it will be widely used instead of humans to produce content.

However, this is not a good idea because the danger is that articles on the same subject will look too similar, bland and formulaic, lacking anything distinctive to give them an edge in search.

Where you should focus is on areas like headings and subheadings. AI search is increasingly focusing on question-based search, so it makes sense to incorporate these into your content. 

This is where the above point about ‘natural language’ comes in and where the human touch can prove invaluable.

These changes show why you need to keep on updating your SEO strategy. This will be important now, especially with the emergence of AI search, but you must also be ready to make more adjustments in the future as search continues to evolve.