Since around mid-2023, publishers have been finding it tougher to get their websites ranking high in search engine results pages (SERPs). This guide is here to give you the lowdown on some of the latest challenges and offer up some useful tips and tricks to help you navigate the evolving search landscape.

Spam Practices

Challenge

Google has cracked down on several different types of spam.

Solution

If a site has had a difficult time ranking, ensure that none of the following spam practices have been used.

• Scaled Content Abuse - Sites that appear to create large quantities of content at scale with the sole purpose of ranking on search engines rather than helping their audience.
• Expired Domain Abuse - Buying expired domains and repurposing them with the sole purpose of ranking on search engines rather than helping their audience.
• Site Reputation Abuse (Parasitic SEO) - Piggybacking on the power of high-ranking or high-authority sites to host lower quality content. 

Helpful Content Update

Challenge

Since 2022, Google has changed the framework they use for defining what quality content is, shifting from EAT (expertise, authority, and trustworthiness) to EEAT (expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness). 2023 and 2024 saw Helpful Content Updates that enforce this algorithmically.

Solution

That extra E for experience emphasizes that quality content comes from a place of lived experience. When creating new content or updating existing content, use the following best practices to help demonstrate experience:

• Providing transparency about the author and publication for users
• Demonstrating subject matter expertise on the topic (with concrete examples, opinions, anecdotes, expert interviews, etc.)
• Writing in first-person POV (I, me, we, us, etc.)
• Offering first-party research or data

AI Overviews

Challenge

AI Overviews were launched in May 2024 and have the potential to “eat up” the share of clicks publishers get from the SERPs. AI Overviews show up primarily for informational queries (particularly definitions, how to's, and basic questions). Over-indexing on topics that target these queries could put a publisher at risk for being disrupted by AI Overviews. 

Solution

Instead, focus on topics that are more difficult for AI. The following are examples of topics that are more difficult for AI to replicate and therefore less at risk for AI Overview disruption:

• Topics that inspire (e.g. ideas or tips)
• Topics with a more commercial angle (e.g. product listicles)
• Topics that respond to a recent trend or development
• Topics that compare two things (e.g. ideas, practices, products, ways of accomplishing something)
• Case studies
• First-party research