As 2025 approaches, search engine optimisation (SEO) continues to evolve, bringing both challenges and opportunities.

Understanding the latest developments is crucial for businesses aiming to boost their online visibility and attract more customers.

With insights from an SEO expert from UpWeb, we’ll explore five key trends to stay on top of in the year to come.

1. Google’s algorithm updates

Just when you think you’ve got SEO figured out, Google throws a curveball, leaving you scrambling and your website rankings all over the place. They may have cute names like ‘penguin’ and ‘panda’, but understanding the search engine’s algorithm updates is like playing a game where the rules change as you go – tricky but necessary to win.

“Google algorithm updates can impact small businesses’ rankings and it’s important that the updates and their effects are being monitored constantly,” says David Adamson, managing director of UpWeb, a digital marketing agency that specialises in SEO.

Focus on quality content, user experience, getting consistent good backlinks to your site, and plenty of external activity such as social media posts, guest blog articles, and reviews of your products or services.

“An updated website, and keeping active in your space will typically ensure that your rankings improve at each Google update,” says David. “Our clients generally see good improvements because we align them with what Google’s looking for.”

2. Artificial intelligence (AI)

AI is the big disruptor in the SEO world, changing how search engines understand and rank content. Tools such as ChatGPT can be handy to create product descriptions or first drafts of a blog article, but AI integration can also enhance SEO by providing more detailed reporting and sophisticated tools.

“Even if you don’t use AI yourself, many SEO research tools such as Semrush and Ahrefs are all starting to integrate AI into their tools for things like keyword research and predictive analytics,” says David. “It can help us predict future keyword trends, competitor trends, and even automate a lot of repetitive tasks.”

So, put the robots to good use! Just remember, you’ll need to add your own flavour to the content so it doesn’t exactly replicate what’s on someone else’s blog already.

3. Snippets

Have you noticed when you type a query into Google and instead of encouraging you to click through to a website, it gives you the answer right there in the search engine? This is known as a ‘snippet’ – and it’s something Google’s leaning heavily into.

While it may be handy for the user, it’s not great for you as a small business owner as it may mean less clicks through to your site – unless it’s your snippet.

According to David, the best way to appear as a top snippet in your niche is to set up some Schema Markup on your website (a special code that helps search engines understand and display your content better in search results). When done correctly, it can give your website a strong chance at being the authoritative answer to a common question in your field.

“If you have a snippet showing up at the top of Google, you not only appear as an authority in your niche, but you can attract a lot of traffic from people that click through to read more of the article where the snippet came from,” says David.

Searching for Where’s Wally? Found via a Google Snippet. Image: Supplied.

4. Digital presence and trust

It’s generally not enough to just have a highly optimised website. Your site must also be a trusted authority in its niche and have enough digital presence to show up for competitive keywords.

“This kind of authority generally comes from external factors,” says David. “Focus on a strong backlink strategy, by regularly getting new links to your site from trusted websites that include relevant anchor text – clickable words that direct traffic to your site.”

He also emphasises the importance of gaining new reviews, attracting visitors from multiple different sources, and providing a great user experience (making sure your site is visually appealing, easy to use, and loads quickly).

5. Experience-first SEO

We’ve touched on this in some of the earlier points, but it’s important to ensure that the focus of your website is prioritised towards your ideal visitor and written specifically for them.

“Old SEO strategies like adding keywords as many times as possible in content, and writing solely for the search engines are well behind us,” says David. “With the emerging AI trend and the complex nature of Google’s search algorithms, writing for the search engines is no longer necessary, and will count against you.”

To provide a good website experience, make sure you provide lots of great content for users to read and absorb, with engaging images and/or video. Also include interactive elements, with the goal of the user taking action on the site, whether that’s through a contact form or live chat.

Another critical factor is page loading speed.

“You want your site to load pages instantly for your visitors, otherwise they’re likely to click away to your competitors,” says David. “Tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights help identify speed issues.

“We have clients that we’ve helped to improve just their user experience metrics and this has often shown real SEO benefits as well as an increase in conversion rates.”

Get your website ahead of the pack for 2025 with a FREE SEO audit from UpWeb.

This article is brought to you by Kochie’s Business Builders in partnership with UpWeb.