The State of SEO in 2025: 20 Industry Experts Share What’s Coming Next

Table of Contents

• Refine Local Listings for Hyperlocal SEO
• Prioritise User Intent and Semantic Search
• Human Expertise Still Crucial for SEO
• Personalise Content for Targeted SEO
• Leverage Event-Driven Content for SEO
• Optimise Images for E-Commerce SEO
• Boost SEO with User-Driven Interactive Content
• Engage Users with Interactive Content
• Schema Enhances Visibility and Click-Through Rates
• Adapt to Google’s Focus on User Experience
• Focus on User Experience and AI
• Blend AI Efficiency with Human Expertise
• Embrace AI and Voice Search
• Craft Content for Direct Audience Conversations
• Optimise for Contextual Search and E-E-A-T
• Optimise for Voice-First Content
• Adapt to AI-Driven Search Across Platforms
• Ensure Thematic Coherence and Featured Snippets
• Create Un-Googleable Content and Track Brand Signals
• Brand Authority, Diversification, and Backlinks
• Conclusion

As we enter 2025, SEO is changing quickly due to AI advancement, shifting user behaviour, and regular algorithm updates. Digital marketers must stay ahead of these shifts to maintain visibility and competitiveness in search rankings.

From highly targeted local SEO and AI-powered content strategies to the growth of voice search and interactive content, 20 industry experts share their thoughts on what lies ahead. This expert roundup highlights key predictions and practical tips to help marketers adjust to these trends and maintain strong search performance.

Refine Local Listings for Hyperlocal SEO

“Local SEO will become even more targeted and hyperlocal. Businesses will need to refine their local listings to account for even the smallest geographical nuances. Enhanced geolocation technologies will enable even more precise targeting within cities. Local reviews and on-the-ground engagement will play a crucial role in rankings.

Ensure your local listings are meticulously accurate and fully detailed. Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews mentioning specific local features. Use local keywords that resonate with your community. Partner with other local businesses to strengthen local signals through shared links and social mentions.”

Jason Hennessey, CEO, Hennessey Digital

Prioritise User Intent and Semantic Search

“In 2025, SEO will be shaped by AI-driven search algorithms, emphasising user intent and semantic search. Google’s evolving AI, like SGE, will prioritise context over keywords, making content relevance and E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) crucial. Voice and visual search will grow, pushing for optimised multimedia content. Core Web Vitals and page experience will remain vital for rankings. Additionally, zero-click searches will rise, highlighting the importance of featured snippets.

To stay ahead, focus on high-quality, user-centric content, technical SEO, and adaptability to AI advancements in search technology.”

Joe Davies, CEO, FATJOE

Human Expertise Still Crucial for SEO

“AI hasn’t reached the point where it can completely replicate a solid SEO campaign quite yet, so for at least this year, I think human-run campaigns will win. That may change in the future, but for now, get an expert who has done SEO for years on end.”

Tyler Cenname, Co-founder, Vineyard Growth

Personalise Content for Targeted SEO

“One of the most important trends will be the growing importance of personalisation. Customers are getting siloed into their own digital bubbles and are more and more used to content that is tailored to their interests and preferences, including ads.

The importance of personalisation has a few implications for SEO. First, targeting and microtargeting your audience and tailoring your content accordingly will be more important than ever. Second, audience insights are also going to be crucial for making SEO decisions.”

Dan Brown, CEO & Founder, Textun

Leverage Event-Driven Content for SEO

“Event-driven content will dominate organic search next year. At We & Goliath, we repurposed panel discussions from a tech conference into 47 micro-videos optimised for voice search queries. This generated 23% more organic traffic than traditional blog posts for our client.

My team now designs event agendas specifically for post-event fragmentation—we craft session titles as future long-tail keywords. Surprising insight: Live captioning during hybrid events creates instant transcript content that outperforms AI-generated text in dwell time metrics by 19 seconds on average.”

Michelle Garrison, Event Tech and AI Strategist, We & Goliath

Optimise Images for E-Commerce SEO

“E-commerce SEO will see a shift towards image search optimisation. As visual technology improves, images will drive more site traffic than ever before. Product images will need to be high-quality and tagged with rich, descriptive metadata. Shopping experiences will become more visual, directly from search results.

Invest in high-resolution images and optimise them with SEO in mind. Use alt tags that are both descriptive and keyword-rich. Experiment with Google’s latest image search features to stay ahead. Track how changes in image SEO impact your traffic and sales.”

Marc Bishop, Director, Wytlabs

Boost SEO with User-Driven Interactive Content

“I experimented with a campaign that sparked interactive video reviews. My work showed that content driven by user feedback can boost SEO ranking. The approach helped drive engagement and raised signals that search engines now favour.

SEO in 2025 will lean on voice queries and interactive user signals. Trends point to short posts and dynamic media as new tools for ranking. Test small campaigns that invite feedback and drive discussion. Adapt your content to what users share, and watch your visibility grow.”

Natalia Lavrenenko, UGC manager/Marketing manager, Rathly

Engage Users with Interactive Content

“SEO in 2025 will be driven by AI overview dominance, niche authority, and interactive content as search engines continue to refine how they display and prioritise information. Websites that previously relied on high-traffic, broad-topic content are seeing declining visibility as Google and Bing pigeonhole sites into specific areas of expertise rather than rewarding general authority.

To stay ahead, businesses must shift from traditional content marketing to engagement-driven SEO, leveraging interactive tools, calculators, and data-driven assets that naturally attract backlinks and improve user retention. Web design will play a critical role in this shift, as brands prioritise site experience, conversion-focused layouts, and technical SEO to compete in an ecosystem where ranking is about more than just content—it’s about delivering value in new, interactive formats that search engines can’t easily replicate.”

Blake Smith, SEO Consultant, Blake Smith Consulting

Schema Enhances Visibility and Click-Through Rates

“Schema alone won’t catapult your site to the top of search rankings; it’s far from an afterthought. Instead, it serves as a valuable layer of optimisation, helping search engines understand and display content more effectively. For instance, we’ve seen how applying the Local Business and Review schema consistently increases visibility in the legal sector. Pages with well-implemented structured data often stand out with enhanced search snippets, leading to higher click-through rates.

As AI and advanced language models become integrated with search, schema becomes even more essential. These algorithms thrive on context and clarity. Schema markup delivers both. By adding structured data, you’re speaking the same language as these sophisticated systems, making it easier for them to categorise and present your content.

That’s why we encourage our clients to approach schema as an integral component of their overall SEO strategy—one that, when combined with quality content and strong on-page fundamentals, can help your site stay competitive in this AI-driven era.”

Jason Bland, Co-Founder, Custom Legal Marketing

Adapt to Google’s Focus on User Experience

“SEO in 2025 is changing fast, and staying ahead means adapting to Google’s growing focus on user experience and AI-driven search. Google is getting smarter at understanding intent, so just stuffing keywords won’t cut it. Content needs to be more conversational, answering questions naturally instead of forcing rankings. Google’s AI updates are also making zero-click searches more common, which means businesses need to rethink how they attract clicks.

One thing I see mattering more is EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness). Generic content will not rank as well. Google is rewarding content that proves real-world expertise. We make sure our blog posts show industry knowledge, include real insights from lenders, and answer finance-specific questions people actually ask.

AI-generated content is tempting, but using it without human editing is risky. Google is prioritising authenticity, and I would not trust AI alone to build authority. Mixing AI for efficiency with human expertise for quality is the way to go.”

Gerti Mema, Marketing Manager, Equipment Finance Canada

Focus on User Experience and AI

“In 2025, SEO will continue to evolve with a greater emphasis on user experience, AI-driven search, and voice and visual search optimisation. Google’s algorithms are becoming more adept at understanding intent through AI models like MUM (Multitask Unified Model), meaning marketers must focus on creating content that provides comprehensive, context-rich answers rather than targeting isolated keywords. Structured data and semantic search will play a key role in helping search engines interpret and rank content more effectively.

Another trend shaping SEO is the growing importance of Core Web Vitals, as page load speed, interactivity, and visual stability directly impact rankings. Mobile-first indexing will also remain critical as mobile traffic continues to dominate. Additionally, local SEO will gain traction as personalised search results cater to users’ immediate geographic needs.

To stay ahead, marketers should prioritise content quality, site performance, and user engagement metrics. Investing in AI tools to analyse search trends and content gaps can provide a competitive advantage. Recommendations include keeping an eye on emerging search platforms like AI assistants and exploring new formats, such as interactive and video content, which are increasingly favoured by both users and search engines.”

Reed Daniels, Owner, Rail Trip Strategies

Blend AI Efficiency with Human Expertise

“As someone who’s been in the SEO trenches for over 15 years, I’ve witnessed numerous shifts in the digital landscape. Just last month, I helped a SaaS client adapt their strategy to voice search, resulting in a 40% increase in featured snippet appearances.

Based on current patterns and emerging technologies, here are the key SEO trends I see shaping 2025:

• The emergence of multimodal search will require optimising for both text and visual elements. From my recent projects, I’ve noticed Google increasingly favouring content that combines high-quality images, videos, and text in a cohesive way.
• AI-powered content optimisation will become mainstream but with a twist. While AI will help create content faster, the winners will be those who masterfully blend AI efficiency with human expertise and emotional intelligence. I’ve seen this firsthand with clients who initially went all-in on AI-generated content, only to later adopt a hybrid approach that performed 60% better in search rankings.
• Voice search optimisation will be non-negotiable. More than 50% of my clients are already seeing significant traffic from voice queries, and this number is growing monthly. The key is to optimise for natural language patterns and conversational keywords.
• User experience signals will carry more weight than traditional ranking factors. Loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability will become primary ranking factors. Recently, I helped an e-commerce client improve their Core Web Vitals, leading to a 45% increase in organic traffic within three months.
• Zero-click searches will continue to rise, making featured snippet optimisation crucial. I’ve found that well-structured, direct answers in content can increase featured snippet acquisition by up to 30%.”

Maurizio Petrone, Founder & CEO, PressHERO

Embrace AI and Voice Search

“As someone who’s worked in PR and digital marketing for over eight years, I’ve seen the SEO landscape evolve at lightning speed, and 2025 is going to be no different. One of the biggest trends I foresee is the increasing integration of AI into SEO strategies. Tools like chatbots and search engine algorithms are getting smarter, and this is going to influence how we optimise for search engines. It’s not just about keywords anymore; it’s about creating content that resonates with both search engines and the end-user experience. Content is becoming more conversational, and with AI tools helping with content generation, it’s crucial to ensure that your content remains authentic and high-quality.

Another trend I’m watching closely is the rise of voice search and its effect on SEO. With more people using smart speakers and mobile assistants, marketers will need to adjust their strategies to focus on natural language, long-tail keywords, and conversational phrases. This shift is going to change how we approach keyword research and content creation. It’s all about matching how people actually speak and search for information.

The importance of local SEO will continue to grow as well. As consumers become more focused on supporting local businesses, search engines are making it easier to find relevant, nearby services. So, making sure your business is optimised for local searches will be key to staying competitive.

My advice for fellow marketers is to stay adaptable. Embrace AI, but don’t lose the human touch—personalised, valuable content will always be the backbone of a successful SEO strategy. Also, be proactive in experimenting with new technologies and keep an eye on how search engines are evolving. The key to staying ahead is being agile and constantly learning.”

Darcy Cudmore, Founder, RepuLinks

Craft Content for Direct Audience Conversations

“Pro Tip: Content is king, context is queen—rule your digital marketing kingdom wisely.

The business world of web marketing is changing dramatically by 2025. Search engines like SearchGPT and Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) are becoming incredibly precise at understanding what people truly seek online. Companies must now craft content that feels like a direct, helpful conversation with their audience.

The biggest shift is how information gets found and understood. Effective marketing professionals will focus on creating crystal-clear content that solves problems instantly. This means writing in a way that breaks down complex ideas into simple, actionable steps. Your website needs to work like a trusted adviser—not just an information billboard.

To remain competitive in this new landscape, marketing departments must be quick-thinking and adaptable. This involves building content that speaks directly to customer needs, uses clear formatting, and provides immediate value. Key strategies include constant content updates, laser-focused problem-solving, and creating resources that feel genuinely helpful. The businesses that succeed will be those who can turn technical information into straightforward, user-friendly guidance.

You can also use content optimisation software to make sure your pages are structured and formatted in a way that makes them stand out in search results. Another helpful tactic is to use structured data markup like Schema.org. This gives search engines more context about your content, which can lead to richer and more informative search snippets that grab people’s attention.

Getting better at analysing data is another important skill. This allows you to understand user behaviour and preferences. With these insights, you can keep refining and improving your content strategy over time. By staying flexible, adaptable, and committed to delivering real value to users, marketers can set themselves up for success in the exciting years ahead.”

Joseph Passalacqua, Owner & CEO, Maid Sailors

Optimise for Contextual Search and E-E-A-T

“By 2025, SEO will be deeply intertwined with user intent and experience, driven by AI and machine learning advancements. One trend I foresee is the rise of contextual search optimisation. Search engines are becoming increasingly sophisticated at understanding the context behind queries, not just keywords.

For instance, while working with a SaaS client in 2023, we shifted focus from traditional keyword targeting to creating content that answered nuanced, multi-faceted questions. This approach led to a 40% increase in organic traffic within six months, as the content aligned better with how users were searching.

Another key trend will be the growing importance of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness), especially for YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) niches. Google’s algorithms are prioritising content creators who demonstrate real-world experience. For example, a B2B client in the healthcare space saw a significant boost after we incorporated insights from industry experts and case studies into their blog posts. This improved their credibility and increased engagement metrics like time on page and bounce rate.

Lastly, voice search and visual search will continue to gain traction. Optimising conversational queries and ensuring your site is image-rich with proper alt text and structured data will be critical. A B2C e-commerce brand I worked with saw a 25% increase in traffic after optimising product descriptions for voice search and implementing image schema markup.

To stay ahead, marketers should focus on creating content that aligns with these evolving search behaviours and focus on technical SEO guides to ensure their sites are crawlable and indexable by next-gen algorithms.”

Abdul Samad, SEO Specialist, Enterprise64

Optimise for Voice-First Content

“I’d say the rise of voice-first content changed how we approach local SEO campaigns.

While optimising a medical practice’s website, we noticed patients asked their smart speakers complete questions like “What should I do about knee pain at night?” rather than typing short phrases.

Our updated content naturally weaves in these conversational phrases, leading to featured snippet wins that send patient bookings through voice devices.

Our tests show search algorithms getting better at understanding content in context. When we rewrote service pages to include complete answers within specific sections, rather than spreading information across multiple pages, our home services clients started ranking for more detailed customer questions. All about studying customer support logs to capture the exact language and scenarios people describe.

In 2025, search will increasingly reward content that demonstrates genuine expertise in solving specific problems. Companies must move beyond surface-level articles toward content that deeply addresses real customer scenarios and pain points.

The winners will be those who combine industry knowledge with an understanding of how their audience naturally discusses and searches for solutions.”

Aaron Whittaker, VP of Demand Generation & Marketing, Thrive Digital Marketing Agency

Adapt to AI-Driven Search Across Platforms

“SEO in 2025 is no longer just about ranking on Google—it’s about owning your visibility across multiple platforms and adapting to AI-driven search. Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), Bing AI, ChatGPT browsing, and social search (TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, LinkedIn) are changing how people find information. Businesses that only focus on ranking blog posts with keywords will lose out to brands optimising for AI search, structured data, and multi-platform discovery.

Marketing is outpacing web development because companies already have websites—but they need smarter ways to get traffic, leads, and conversions. With AI-powered content, automation, and hyper-personalised ads, marketing offers faster and measurable ROI compared to custom website builds. Plus, no-code/low-code platforms are making web development easier, shifting budgets toward performance-driven strategies like paid ads, SEO, and conversion optimisation.

But that doesn’t mean web development is dying—it’s just changing. The demand is moving toward AI-driven UX, API integrations, headless CMS, and site performance optimisation. Businesses want lightning-fast, AI-personalised experiences instead of just a static site. The developers who adapt will still be in demand, but the traditional “let’s build a website” projects are slowing down.

SEO took a dip last year because businesses shifted budgets toward paid ads, influencer marketing, and AI-generated content for quicker wins. Plus, Google’s AI-driven search (SGE) started answering user queries directly on search pages, meaning fewer clicks to websites. Some companies hit a pause on SEO investments to see how AI search would impact organic traffic.

But here’s the twist: SEO isn’t dead—it’s just evolving. The focus now is on AI-optimised search, EEAT (Expertise, Experience, Authority, Trust), and brand-driven visibility. Businesses that adjust their strategies—by integrating structured data, optimising for AI-generated snippets, and making their brand a go-to resource—are already seeing SEO pay off again.

Big brands have the budget, but startups can outsmart them with AI-powered pricing strategies. AI can analyse real-time user behaviour, competitor pricing, and demand shifts to adjust prices dynamically.”

Priyanka Prajapati, Digital Marketer, BrainSpate

Ensure Thematic Coherence and Featured Snippets

“SEO feels more like a landslide than a landscape right now, and there’s no sign that 2025 will offer any let-up. Over the past year, I’ve run the gamut of resistance, terror and excitement at the way SEO is shifting and changing. Now I’m being pragmatic. We don’t have any choice; we just have to figure out how to work with AI.

Here are a few trends I’ve noticed that I thought might be useful as we all navigate 2025.

As an SEO web designer, it’s clear to me that thematic coherence is now really important. I’m working with more and more clients who have websites with perfectly good content, but what they lack is a unifying narrative to pull it all together. So, they’re not ranking as they should be. At one time, this wouldn’t have been a major problem. Now, though, content that’s organised around core themes using a clear brand story is seen as a signal of trustworthiness and expertise.

Next up, zero-click searches are becoming more common, making featured snippets an opportunity that brands can’t afford to ignore. Over the past year, I’ve helped clients gain featured snippets and “position zero” rankings by structuring their content strategically (using headings, bullet points, and lists) and targeting long-tail keywords. It’s also a good idea to offer enough information to appear really helpful but also encourage users to click through to the website for more content.

I don’t know how many blogs and resources I’ve created about loading speed and mobile optimisation, but it’s still a major focus in 2025. Google making Core Web Vitals a ranking factor will hopefully drive the message home. There are great websites out there, with amazing content struggling to rank because they have poor UX. The good news is that it’s not difficult to put right and the reward is usually a noticeable ranking improvement.”

Garry West, Owner, Imagefix Ltd

Create Un-Googleable Content and Track Brand Signals

“Where’s SEO headed in 2025? I recruited our in-house team, and I am humbled to share my thoughts:

First up, AI is really shaking things up. Google’s AI Overviews are now answering 7% of search queries right off the bat, which is cutting into click-through rates for a lot of info-heavy pages. We’ve had to pivot pretty hard, focusing on creating what we call “un-Googleable” content—you know, deep-dive case studies with data you can’t find anywhere else. It’s not always smooth sailing, though.

Brand signals are becoming huge. We got wind that Google’s using brand search volume as a ranking factor now. We’ve started tracking “branded searches” every week. Here’s a pro tip: don’t forget about misspelt brand names. We saw an 18% traffic spike just from optimising for “Mastroke” typos.

Reddit’s becoming a goldmine for SEO. About a third of “how-to” queries are now pulling up Reddit threads. We’ve actually assigned someone on our team to actively answer questions in r/SEO. It’s paying off big time—one detailed reply about canonical tags brought in 2,300 referral visits last quarter.

Google’s EEAT guidelines got an upgrade with “Experience” added to the mix. We’re adapting by adding staff LinkedIn profiles and client logos to our bylines. The stats back it up—pages with author bios are seeing 22% longer dwell times, according to Backlinko’s 2024 report.

Zero-click searches are still a big concern. Over half of US searches end without clicks now. We’re combating this by turning our tutorials into free tools. Our “Header Tag Generator” managed to snag featured snippets from three competitors.

“SEO’s becoming less about algorithms and more about audience archaeology—unearthing what people truly need before they ask.”

Here’s a wild prediction for you: keep an eye on Google’s antitrust trial. If they’re forced to share ranking data, we might see a massive “SEO gold rush” in 2025 as new tools start decoding their secret sauce.

As for our team, we’re putting our money on three things: video FAQ pages (YouTube’s still the second biggest search engine), LinkedIn Pulse articles (they’re surprisingly strong for B2B keywords), and, believe it or not, podcast transcripts. Turns out Google’s new audio-crawling bots are loving them.

It’s a lot to keep up with, but that’s what keeps this job exciting, right? We’re always on our toes, trying to stay one step ahead of the game.”

Saddat Abid, CEO, Property Saviour

Brand Authority, Diversification, and Backlinks

“SEO in 2025 will be shaped by brand authority, diversified traffic strategies, and high-quality backlinks. Google is increasingly prioritising brand signals, favouring companies with strong direct traffic, branded search volume, and multi-platform presence. To stay competitive, marketers must invest in omnichannel efforts such as podcasts, YouTube, and industry collaborations to build brand equity.

Relying solely on organic search is becoming riskier due to frequent algorithm updates. A resilient strategy includes diversifying traffic sources with paid ads, email marketing, and video content. Additionally, Google’s ongoing antitrust battles could open opportunities for alternative search engines like Bing and AI-driven platforms, making multi-platform SEO strategies essential.

Backlinks will remain a ranking powerhouse, with high-authority links influencing a significant portion of search rankings. Instead of chasing mass backlinks, marketers should focus on quality guest posts, industry partnerships, PR campaigns and unique data-driven insights that naturally attract authoritative references.

At its core, SEO success will still depend on a strong foundation: authoritative content, relevant backlinks, and a technically optimised, error-free website. Without these fundamentals, even the most advanced strategies will fall short.”

Shankar Subba, Head of SEO, WP Creative

Conclusion

SEO in 2025 and beyond will continue to change as AI, user behaviour, and algorithm updates progress. The 20 industry experts featured here highlight the key areas marketers should focus on, including voice and visual search optimisation to local SEO strategies and E-E-A-T. Keeping up with these changes and adapting accordingly will help businesses maintain strong search rankings and build stronger connections with their audience. The brands that stay flexible and refine their approach will be the ones that dominate SERPs.