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November 15, 2024
by Anastasia Kotsiubynska  /  November 15, 2024
Google’s AI Overviews are changing the average user’s search experience.
Where, previously, you’d see a list of paid and organic links or a featured snippet, now you can get answers from Google AI.
This doesn’t mean organic traffic is obsolete, but implementing AI Overviews SEO strategies can help you succeed on modern SERP.
This article will explore SEO strategies relevant to working with AI Overviews, ways to monitor these SEO efforts, and explain how AI Overviews work.
Google’s AI Overviews (AIOs) are a new feature that appears above the organic results for some search queries and offers an immediate, extended AI-generated answer to the user’s query. 
Here’s what it looks like:

Source: Google Search
Here, the generated response and the list of sources pop up on the right-hand side to create the answer. By clicking, the AI Overviews expand from a few paragraphs into a larger text. Google also allows users to like or dislike the answer and save it.
AI-generated answers on Google started in May 2023. Back then, these AI-generated answers were known as Search Generative Experience (SGE). During the annual I/O developer conference, Google announced that it was finally ready to reimagine the traditional search experience using generative AI. To get an SGE answer, you needed to sign up for Search Labs.
On May 14, 2024, an improved version called AI Overviews was introduced at Google I/O and made available to everyone in the US. Since August 2024, AI Overviews have also been available in six other countries: the United Kingdom, India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil.
AI Overviews is powered by Gemini, a range of large language models (LLMs) developed by Google DeepMind. It is designed to handle complex search queries and gather information from across the web to support its answers. Using generative AI, Google learns patterns and structures from its training data to create new informative content.
Simply put, AI Overviews generates text based on multiple web sources and provides links to those sources.
A more pressing question for SEO experts is which queries trigger AI Overviews and which links are chosen to generate the answers.
Google serves AIOs for queries where the algorithm believes AI-generated answers can offer useful information. From the data we have now, those queries are mostly long and informational. They feel more like prompts, hinting that Google blends its search features with AI-assistant capabilities.
Based on a SE Ranking AI Overviews study, AIOs appear overwhelmingly for keywords longer than four words, have a low search volume (from 0 to 50), and have a low cost per click or CPC (from $0 to $0.5). These metrics basically describe an informational query phrased like a question. Single-word queries triggered AIOs only 0.8% of the time, while ten-word queries showed a trend with a 19.1% rate.
The number of AIOs in SERPs is also shrinking. In the cited research done in June of 2024, AI Overviews appeared on 8.71% of the 100,013 keywords in the study. In the research about AI Overview sources done in July 2024, that percentage was down to 7.47%. In the first research conducted in February—before the official rollout of the feature—AI Overviews appeared in 64% of searches.
It’s safe to say Google is still refining how AI Overviews work and opting to lower the instances of their appearance in SERPs.
Now that we have a bit more understanding of how AI Overviews function, let’s see how they influence people who use Google Search.
Note that these conclusions are based on the collective insights from experts in the field taken from the way AI Overviews work today. Google could change it, and we’ll have to figure out all of it anew.
For now, here is the current understanding of AI Overview’s impact on search.
For regular users of Google Search, AI Overviews are a mix of the good and bad.
Many search queries are done with the intention of getting a quick answer, not reading through a long post. Google has been working on that by introducing featured snippets and knowledge graphs.
AI Overviews act as an advanced version of that by presenting a summary of the answer above the organic results. That’s handy, as users don’t have to click through half a dozen articles to get an answer.

Source: Google Search
The downside is that all generative AI is notoriously bad with factual information. And even though AI Overviews no longer suggest putting glue in your pizza, the facts in AI-generated responses can’t be trusted fully.
For users who are looking for an authoritative opinion on a topic, AIOs are just another section they have to scroll through. Especially considering you can’t turn off AI results.
Entrepreneurs who gain a significant share of organic traffic will have to rethink their approach to marketing. AI Overviews are likely to result in a decrease in organic traffic from informational queries. You’d have to work around that by incorporating AI Overviews SEO strategies and optimizing content.
Another challenge is that this very same AI will serve up information about your company, and it might contain inaccuracies. This means you’ll have to work on brand awareness and digital PR to counteract that.
AI Overviews are changing the way the search engine works, so SEO strategies need to be reworked to work with and around this feature. Since this feature eliminates the need for a user to skim through your SEO-optimized articles to get a quick answer, your traffic numbers are likely to go down.
However, it’s not a catastrophe. 
Search Engine Land co-founder Barry Schwartz said in a recent webinar that even with massive changes in SEO approaches, there isn’t anything SEOs can’t adapt to. The key to success is to monitor how AIOs work and change your results to implement new strategies to amend that.
AI Overviews is still in its infancy as a technology and might change in the future. However, you can make educated guesses on what AI Overviews SEO strategies to incorporate into your marketing.
Below are the six things to consider when improving your SEO strategy based on the data on the current state of AIOs.
Be more precise in your approach to AI Overviews SEO and monitor how exactly AIOs appear for the keywords you target.
Monitoring at least these three data points will give you an understanding of how to optimize content for AI Overviews. 
After identifying which keywords trigger AI Overviews, analyze the websites cited by AI Overviews. Look at their structure, topics covered, text length, and other details. We’ll explore these points in more detail.
Google’s AI prioritizes well-structured content that is highly relevant to the user’s query and offers authoritative, reliable information. If a website’s content is frequently cited, it likely meets these criteria better than other available content.
An AI Overviews SEO strategy impacts certain types of keywords more than others and adjusts your keyword strategy accordingly. You have two major choices here.
The first is to focus more on middle- and bottom-of-the-funnel keywords. The recent SE Ranking AIO study shows AI Overviews significantly impact top-of-the-funnel informational keywords, which means you may lose some of that traffic.
So, focus your SEO efforts on optimizing the keywords that are more likely to result in a conversion and almost don’t have AI Overviews. These are commercial and transactional keywords. They are used when a user wants to find information about a product or buy it, such as “best dress shoes” or “buy dress shoes.”
The downside of focusing on them is that you’ll be up against decent competition. Those keywords are highly competitive even now and will likely become more so as other marketers look for strategies to adjust to AIOs. 
The second is working on top-of-the-funnel keywords with AI Overviews in mind and trying to dominate.
To achieve this, you’ll need to:
Creating great content is a pinnacle of SEO. You might have to work harder if you still want top-of-the-funnel keywords to contribute a large part of your organic traffic and drive sales.
An important thing to do with content to stand a chance against the AI Overview summary is to make it more informative. Try to understand the search intent by analyzing the top-ranking content and AIOs answers.
You will still lose a portion of traffic due to some users wanting a fast answer, but these tips make your content more appealing to those looking for more quality information.
To improve your odds of appearing in AIOs-linked sources, audit and improve on-page optimization. 
Work on the basics:
This alone isn’t the deciding factor in whether you get an AIOs mention, but it will certainly help.
Another point is to optimize your product feeds. AI Overviews sometimes show shopping results in the answer, and if you ensure the basics of optimization, like using keywords and keeping information about availability updated, you have better chances of appearing there.

Source: Google Search
AI Overviews and featured snippets are similar in nature, so it’s no surprise they often appear together in SERP. In fact, they do so more frequently now. In the June study mentioned earlier, they appeared together 45.39% of the time. That figure is up to 63.67%, according to the July study.
This means optimizing your page to appear in the featured snippet is important for AI Overviews SEO. Even if a particular keyword that has an AI Overview doesn’t have a featured snippet, it’s worth optimizing for it in case it appears in the future or if Google uses similar algorithms to feature your link in AIOs.
To increase the odds of your page appearing in the featured snippet: 
Once you’re satisfied with the overall quality of your content, copy a short paragraph intended as the featured snippet and try to experiment with it. Your goal is to answer the main search intent fully and in a summary.
If there’s a featured snippet in SERP already, keep experimenting until your page gets featured there.
The final piece of the puzzle is digital PR. First, you need the links and mentions to rank higher in SERPs. This isn’t just good for SEO in general—it can improve your chances of having your page linked in AIOs sources. 
Try to earn mentions from high-authority sources like industry blogs and news media. According to SE Ranking’s research, the most frequently linked websites—including youtube.com, linkedin.com, healthline.com, verywellmind.com, forbes.com—in AI Overviews have strong backlink profiles. Moreover, out of 7,475 cases where AI Overviews showed up in search results, 93.67% were linked to at least one of the top 10 organic search results where Google also typically favors authoritative domains.
Write opinion pieces for authoritative sites or give comments as an expert. Give interviews and participate in podcasts if you get the opportunity. One great technique you can use to improve AI Overviews SEO is to be a source of information rather than a simple commenter. Your content is more likely to be linked in the sources if you can provide unique factual information.
You can either create opinion pieces that share a unique outlook on a common problem or publish the results of your own research.
With AI Overviews SEO entering your digital marketing arsenal, measure and analyze your performance to know how to adjust your strategy. Here are the four things you’ll have to add to your marketing workflow.
One of the most important things to track is branded keywords. AI Overviews might display information about your brand that is either inaccurate or paints you in a bad light, and it’s important to counteract it.
Track branded keywords and focus on long questions about your brand. A good way to get those keywords is through Google’s “People Also Ask” section.

Source: Google Search
When tracking those keywords, check whether they have AI Overviews and look at what they tell about your company.
If there’s an AI Overview answer that shows misinformation, track the source down in the linked sites and reach out to the editor to change that information. Or you can try to get another page with better information to replace it.
You’re already tracking all of these metrics. For AI Overviews SEO, it’s important to track the pages ranking for keywords that trigger AIOs to gauge what the impact is. If your traffic is only slightly down and the number of conversions is not impacted, you can leave things as is.
Keep tracking these metrics, as they might change.
If you see a huge negative effect, start implementing a new strategy. Find a way to approach this keyword with a strategy provided in this article. If it is an important source of traffic for your business, consider engaging another traffic channel. For instance, search ads that appear above AI Overviews.

Source: Google Search
Search ads that appear next to AI Overviews should also be a subject of your analysis. If you run ads for a particular keyword and see an AI Overview appear, note how the click-through rate (CTR) changes.

Source: Google Search
If the CTR does change, counteract that by experimenting with the ad’s text. Focus on conveying that clicking the ad will provide more value than reading through the AI answer.
The final thing to monitor is changes in how AI Overviews operate. This is a relatively new feature, but it has changed significantly since February 2024 – it started appearing in fewer searches and providing more sources.
It can still evolve, and there’s no guarantee Google won’t change it drastically. So, be one of the first SEO strategists to notice that.
Keep tracking AIOs’ performance, stay tuned to Google’s blog announcements, and listen to podcasts featuring experts.
This might result in getting an opportunity to be one of the first to implement new strategies and outcompete others in AI Overviews SEO. 
SEO is challenging on its own. When you add AI into the picture, it becomes even harder. 
Here are the three major challenges of AIOs SEO:
AI Overviews SEO is a difficult activity to handle. It’s full of uncertainty, incomplete information, and experimentation.
Don’t let this discourage you. Approach it not as something you know nothing about but as something you can learn from first-hand experience and use to outcompete other websites.
Use the strategies from this guide as a starting point and monitor how they impact key metrics. Stay updated on how AI Overviews function and adjust your strategy if Google makes an update that changes it.
Want to strengthen your SEO strategy? Dive into our step-by-step guide on conducting an SEO audit, complete with a free checklist to ensure you’re covering all the bases.
Edited by Shanti S Nair
Anastasia is an enthusiastic SEO specialist at SE Ranking with solid content marketing, analytics, and tech SEO expertise. She consistently keeps her eyes on the latest SEO news, Google updates, and insights from the AI industry. She seeks to apply innovative approaches to work and improve processes by using the latest technology. In her leisure time, Anastasia travels across Europe and learns languages.
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Search offers a far richer experience than ever.
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The core of a successful business is not customers. It’s customers who are empowered.
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Search offers a far richer experience than ever.
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Staying on top of the latest SEO best practices can feel like a full-time job. Here’s a list of resources you can use to make it more manageable.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a tricky field. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on it, Google goes and changes the algorithm and what used to work doesn’t work so well anymore. or there’s a new element to add to your SEO bag.
Though you may want to write this off as a “cost of doing business” in SEO, these constant changes are actually for a good reason: Google is always trying to develop a better understanding of how people use the internet.
Changes to search algorithms are made with the goal of providing better, more relevant information to users.
And while this is great for users, it also means SEO professionals must constantly stay up-to-date on the latest changes and best practices. And that can be a major time commitment by itself.
But never fear, we’re here to help.
Whether you’re an experienced SEO professional or are just getting started in your career, here are some ways you can stay in the know about what’s happening in the industry.
It’s no secret that Google is the top dog in the search engine field.
As of February 2022, it accounts for a whopping 92% of search engine market share – which is what you would probably expect for a company whose name has become a verb meaning “to look up.”
And because Google is such a giant in the field, any SEO pro worth his or her salt should make sure to check the Google Search Central Blog on a regular basis.
Run by the search engine giant itself; it’s where you can find official updates to the Google Search Core algorithm, announcements about new search features, and articles on SEO best practices.
While Google’s blog is the gospel search engine optimization is performed by, there are several other valuable resources on the internet written by digital marketing experts.
We’d be remiss, of course, if we didn’t list ourselves first. Search Engine Journal exists for the sole purpose of keeping busy SEO people in the loop.
And while we humbly consider ourselves a top resource, other blogs and email newsletters you should be reading include Kevin Indig’s, Moz, SEO Fomo and Yoast.
For your convenience, we’ve compiled a list of 38 other resources you may find helpful.
SEO is a community and professionals love to share their knowledge. It was my participation in two or three communities that led to the launch of SEJ almost 19 years ago.
Gathering as much knowledge as you can ensures your strategies are effective and gives you the page rankings you want.
One of the best ways to do this is to read and participate in forums on the topic.
One of the most popular communities for SEO (and just about everything else) is on Reddit. Users can create posts, ask questions and share articles.
Content on this social platform is “upvoted” or “downvoted,” depending on the community’s opinion of it. This encourages quality posts to rise to the top, while poor-quality ones quickly disappear.
The SEO subreddit can be used for everything from job searching to troubleshooting, serving as a strategic sounding board to tracking new developments in the field.
For people with specific questions, Quora is an excellent resource.
Designed as a place to share knowledge, it allows users to ask questions, which are in turn answered by the community.
Love it or hate it, there’s no question social media has changed the world.
And while the downside is it allows your, um, quirky uncle to share his thoughts on the connection between sasquatch, aliens, and the JFK assassination, it also allows you to connect with people like never before.
And if you’re not using this professionally, you’re missing a huge opportunity.
Twitter, LinkedIn, and yes, even Facebook, give you unparalleled access to professionals who have built their careers by sharing their experience.
With a few clicks, you can start receiving the SEO thoughts of people like Danny Sullivan and John Mueller. In addition to Danny & John, here are 202 SEO Experts who we feel that you should be following on Twitter and other social channels.
By updating your newsfeed to include these people, you’ll not only benefit from the immense level of knowledge they share, but you’ll ensure you stay in the know about any developments within the SEO world.
For your convenience, we’ve compiled a list of top SEO experts you should be following here.
Do you have a lot of other commitments, and don’t always have hours to dedicate to perusing the internet to stay on top of the latest best practices?
Once again, modern technology to the rescue.
Podcasts are a great way to get trustworthy tips directly from notable industry experts.
And you can consume them anywhere from the train during your morning commute to the treadmill during your workout.
Not sure what podcasts you should be listening to? Don’t worry, we’ve put together a handy list of 17 of the best SEO podcasts in the business.
And no list would ever be complete without mentioning our very own Search Engine Journal Show, where we talk all things SEO, PPC, social media, content marketing, and digital marketing with the top industry experts and authorities.
Are you old enough to remember what life was like before the internet?
If so, you probably remember the frustration that came with figuring things out on your own, rather than pulling up your phone and watching a quick tutorial video.
Luckily the bad old days are behind us, and we now have access to an unprecedented amount of information, including helpful videos on platforms like YouTube and webinars hosted by experts.
Many leaders in the field of SEO have YouTube channels where they regularly upload content.
These usually short videos are an excellent way to pick up quick tips and find solutions to problems you’re facing.
Channels worth following include The SEO Video Show, Ahrefs, Matt Diggity (more of a casual, Mr. Beast feel) and, of course, Search Engine Journal.
If you have a little more time to dedicate to your SEO education, webinars are a great way to expand your knowledge.
For top-quality SEO learning, there are three main contributors: Semrush, BrightEdge and, you guessed it, Search Engine Journal.
Usually available on-demand if you miss the live presentation, these are an effective way to stay up to date with what’s happening in the field.
The most valuable resource for any organization is its people. That’s why there’s an entire division called “human resources.”
But, you don’t have to work in the same office, organization, or even country to benefit from the knowledge of other SEO professionals.
To ensure your continued success in the field of search engine optimization, it’s important to expand your network.
By getting acquainted with other people in the industry, you can mimic their successful strategies, learn from their failures, and stay on top of what’s trending – and one of the best places to do this is at SEO conferences.
In a pre-pandemic world, there was no better way to put your finger on the pulse of the world of search engine rankings and connect with industry leaders than on the floor of a summit or at the evening cocktail hour. And it was a great way to make new friends too.
Though Covid-19 put a temporary limit on in-person gatherings, they’re starting to pick up again, which means attendees are once again able to expand their networks and gain a deeper understanding of how top SEO professionals are getting results.
If you’ve read this far, hopefully, we’ve impressed upon you the importance of staying up to date on the constantly shifting world of search engine optimization and given you some resources you can use to do so.
But even if you’re someone who loves your job, you undoubtedly have other commitments in your life.
And staying abreast of the latest best practices can feel like a full-time job in itself.
You simply don’t have time to spend all day, every day tracking the latest trends and best practices. And even if you could, that wouldn’t give you the bandwidth to implement these new strategies.
But that’s why we created this piece: to show you the many ways you can learn and follow what’s happening in SEO.
Maybe it’s part of your morning routine, where after checking your email, you spend some time reading the latest articles.
Maybe you routinely listen to our podcast while stuck in traffic. Or maybe you prefer lunch-and-learns, where you watch webinars while you’re taking your lunch break.
There’s a wealth of SEO information out there from a lot of experts who can help you take your rankings to the next level.
It’s up to you how you’ll use their information, tips, and tricks to make the most out of them.
More Resources:
Featured Image: GaudiLab/Shutterstock
Loren Baker is the Founder of SEJ, an Advisor at Alpha Brand Media and runs Foundation Digital, a digital marketing …
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Business team discussing marketing analytics
Marketing is an art. Sure, there are scientific elements to modern marketing. Data and analytics play a part. Tech tools are common. But at the end of the day, humans are the ones who need to create the strategies, implement the tactics, and choose the tools with which to do so.
This, coupled with the perpetual evolution of consumer sentiment, means marketing can never be a “set it and forget it” activity. Instead, it needs to always be evolving, adjusting …and growing.
If you already have marketing channels established, here are a few tips to help you continue to scale them over time.
Podcasts are a common way to promote a company in the 2020s. After a pair of decades spent incubating, the podcasting space has exploded onto the scene as a viable and popular marketing channel for most industries.
With that said, merely having a podcast isn’t enough anymore. You also need to look for ways to capitalize on every aspect of your podcasting efforts.
For instance, podcasting growth and analytics platform CoHost highlights no less than five different stages of the marketing funnel that podcasting can impact, including:

In other words, if your podcast isn’t helping with all five of the stages of your marketing funnel, there’s plenty of room for growth.
You can do this in many different ways. Implementing CTAs can help with intent. Exclusive podcast episodes for customers can incentivize purchases.
Take some time to evaluate what areas of marketing your podcast is already addressing. Then come up with a strategy to expand that vision to all stages of the marketing funnel.
Your website is one of your most important marketing channels. Not only is it the center of your digital presence. It’s also an instrumental way to create traffic for your brand.
You can do this in multiple ways, including PPC (pay per click) ads, guest posts with backlinks, working with influencers (more on that below), and filling out your Google My Business listing.
Another key way to boost your online traffic is through on-site SEO. Also called on-page SEO, on-site SEO consists of taking your existing website and optimizing it for maximum organic search traffic.
The SEO experts at Page One Power lay out several ways to address your on-page SEO, including optimizing your:

By perfecting these instances on your website, you take a mundane element of your online presence and turn it into a well-honed, expertly optimized marketing channel.
Influencers are a popular channel in the social media-heavy modern marketing world. They provide instant access to a loyal audience that trusts their content. There are many kinds of influencers operating in every industry known to mankind.
Influencers are also categorized by the size of their following. Wordify founder Kaya Ismail breaks these down into four groups:

Most businesses take their marketing budget and see how high they can go with their influencer strategy. However, if you’re looking for ways to scale your marketing channels, you may want to do the counterintuitive thing here, as well.
Nano-influencers have a reputation for avid followers with a high engagement rate. They can provide targeted marketing on a topical level as well as a geographic one.
If you want to scale your influencer marketing, don’t just think bigger. Consider thinking smaller, as well.
There are many ways to improve marketing. However, in much the same way that retaining a client is more cost-effective than getting a new one, often enhancing existing marketing channels is better than always starting fresh.
So review your current marketing channels and consider what areas are working. Then look for what elements are not. Finally, consider untapped potential, whether it comes through a lack of SEO, a lackluster influencer strategy, or a half-used podcast presence. By sprucing these up, you can scale each channel, and by extension, your marketing efforts as a whole.

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Each month we evaluate and recognize award-winning designs in these industries.
Browse the best designs by category:
We’ve heard plenty about the power of SEO, but it seems like the rules of the game just keep changing, even more so from industry to industry.
To better grasp how to get it right in the B2B sector, DesignRush reached out to an expert on the matter — Sam Dunning from Breaking B2B.
In our discussion, Sam unveils ways to stand out in the B2B industry and talks about emerging SEO trends and the biggest traps companies face when growing their digital presence.
Sam is a marketing and B2B SEO expert, who is a sales director and co-owner of Breaking B2B. He specializes in business growth through SEO, web development, SaaS development, and digital marketing. Sam is also a founder and host of the B2B marketing podcast “Business Growth Show.”
As a co-owner of Web Choice, Sam shares how he has managed to set himself apart in the B2B industry highlighting that he learned the hard way over the last 13 years he’s been doing SEO.
“I thought we could sell anything to anyone. However, trying to be everything to everyone means being nothing to anyone. It’s better to have a niche and be transparent about who you’re for. This approach attracts the right business prospects and repels those who don’t need your services,” Sam explains.
He says that today, Web Choice UK primarily works with B2B companies with sales teams, specializing in service-based or tech/software companies.
“We generate inquiries through SEO and conversion-focused websites. We prefer these industries because we understand them well,” he adds.
Additionally, Sam runs a podcast focused on business growth which gives him insights into the tech marketing and the B2B market. Having interviewed over 300 tech and marketing leaders, he mentions that he has a good grip on how tech marketing and the B2B market work.
“Rather than just going for vanity metrics like traffic and rankings, we understand that the result is a qualified lead. That’s the output that these companies want,” he reveals.
Sam points out that businesses, especially small or bootstrapped ones with limited cash that like to start with quick wins, should focus on the easiest and most effective channels first.
“You have to think, ‘Where are my target buyers, my target prospects, and the clients that are ideal for me? Where are they most likely going to go when they need my service right now? What are the quickest routes to market for my company?’” he explains.
A good SEO content strategy is to target specific keywords the audience uses. For instance, if people are searching for the “best proposal software tool,” create ads that appear for those keywords.
“This can be one of the fastest ways to reach your market,” he concludes.
Watch our short video below for some tips on how to convert SEO leads into customers:

Sam also believes that SEO takes time and doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone. He advises businesses to consider what prospects will search for when they need your service to maximize positive results.
For tech or software companies, investing in aggregator sites like DesignRush that rank well on Google and have lower cost-per-click (CPC) compared to AdWords can quickly generate leads.
According to Sam, content that sells is all about giving your target prospects what they care to see.
He emphasizes that from a search standpoint, a business has to do a few things when creating content:
“The strategy is to make content to directly attack that, whether that’s an article, a video, or a podcast. The beauty is that the content is evergreen. That means that loads of people are searching for it every day. Evergreen content is really powerful,” Sam adds.
According to renowned SEO expert Lily Ray, with the volatile nature of Google’s algorithm updates, it’s best to use a white-hat SEO approach, prioritizing quality content while sticking to search engine guidelines to maintain a website’s integrity.
QGP Founder and SEO Lead Kosta Hristov agrees good content is a key component in a successful SEO strategy.
However, he points out that backlinking is crucial in helping websites rank high on Google, adding that without powerful backlinks, even the highest quality content may not get noticed.
“Content needs to be unique, useful, and trustworthy. But quality content is nothing without powerful backlinks pointing to it. Build links to get your content noticed, until it starts driving traffic by itself,” he explains.
Listen to the full podcast with Sam on Spotify:

When tailoring SEO strategies for different client niches, the focus should be on what prospects are specifically searching for, starting at the bottom of the sales funnel, Sam says, adding that businesses often generate content without considering user intent, leading to traffic but not necessarily leads. 
He believes that effective SEO involves understanding the exact needs of prospects who are ready to engage with sales, such as searching for specific tools if you’re a SaaS provider.
“These prospects probably want to get their question answered. Maybe they’ll sign up for your newsletter, follow your podcast, or follow you on YouTube, which is fine for the top of the funnel.
Those prospects can be nurtured over time and can eventually become customers. But you want to research several ways, such as using keywords, research tools like Ahrefs, and SEMrush, as well as sales schools.
This is something that not a lot of SEO agencies do because companies make the mistake of thinking they must go with high-traffic search terms, but you want to know what the prospect is searching for when they need your offer right now.
If you’re getting asked for something a lot and the software tool is showing it as low search volume, but you know that you’re getting asked for it, build content to match a search query that addresses it, and you could get a steady stream of inquiries from it,” he advises.
Talking about future SEO trends, Sam points out that “AI is probably one of the main things that’s up and coming in terms of an SEO standpoint.” 
He thinks that AI is going to be a huge trend, and he’s excited to see how it will impact search results and certain websites that have been too blog-focused.
“It will also be interesting to see how Google changes its ads because a big money spinner for Google is that, right now, ads show at the top and bottom of every search result. We will see how they keep that flowing when the AI instant search results come,” he adds.

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