As 2024 ends, it’s time to look forward to turkey, Santa, and SEO trends for 2025.

This past year has been a whirlwind for SEO, and the landscape just continues to evolve. With new technologies, algorithm updates, and changes in user behavior, it’s crucial to embrace these trends to stay ahead.

Here’s a look at some of the latest SEO trends for 2025:

1. Prioritize E-E-A-T

Google’s guidelines around Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust (E-E-A-T) are not new, but they are set to play an even more significant role in 2025. These principles help Google deliver accurate, reliable, and relevant content to users, distinguishing credible information from AI-generated or surface-level content.

For industries handling YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics – like health, finance, and legal advice – demonstrating E-E-A-T is essential. In this competitive landscape, brands can showcase genuine expertise and real-world experience will gain the trust of both users and search engines.

How to Optimize for E-E-A-T

1. Share Firsthand Insights: Use examples or anecdotes that highlight real-world experiences.  
2. Feature Author Bios: Emphasize the author’s qualifications, expertise, and hands-on knowledge in the subject. 
3. Add Testimonials and Case Studies: Build credibility with examples of real life, practical applications. 
4. Showcase Qualifications: Present any certifications, credentials, or expertise of content creators. 
5. Cite Reputable Sources: Support claims with data from trusted sources, studies, or reputable industry publications.  
6. Regularly Update Content: Maintain the accuracy of your content by periodically updating it to reflect the latest research, trends, and guidelines. 
7. Earn Backlinks from Trusted Sources: Seek partnerships or citations from authoritative sites within your industry. 
8. Engage in Thought Leadership: Publish unique insights, white papers, or guides that others in your field would reference, share, or link to. 
9. Encourage Social Proof: Social shares, mentions, and online reviews all add to your site’s authority, helping establish you as a reliable resource in the industry.  
10. Use Clear, Verifiable Information: Avoid sensationalism or misleading headlines. Ensure that the content is straightforward, factually accurate, and well-referenced.  
11. Add Contact Information and Privacy Policies: Clear contact information and visible privacy policies add legitimacy, making users and search engines alike trust your site more.  
12. Maintain Site Security: A secure website (using HTTPS), up-to-date privacy policies, and regular security audits can all contribute to user trust, especially on e-commerce or YMYL sites.

By implementing these practices, your content will be positioned as valuable, trustworthy, and expert-driven.  While it isn’t necessarily a new SEO trend for 2025, it has become more important as Google continues refining its algorithms to prioritize leaders in reliable content that resonates with both users and search engines.

2. Zero-Click Searches

Zero-click searches provide immediate answers on the search results page through features like AI Overviews, Featured Snippets, People Also Ask, Direct Answers, and Knowledge Panels. With nearly 60% of all searches now ending without a click, these quick-access answers are only gaining in popularity. While zero-click results may reduce traditional organic traffic to your site, they offer unique advantages.

Ranking for zero-click search results can greatly enhance your brand’s visibility and authority. By appearing in these prominent spots, your brand becomes recognized as a reliable source of information. Take this for example:

This beachwear retailer appears as the source for this beach related query, boosting its name recognition and credibility without needing a click. This visibility also emphasizes the importance of creating resource content. Even if users don’t click through, they’re exposed to the brand’s expertise, building familiarity and trust over time.

How to Optimize for Zero-Click Searches

1. Provide Concise, Direct Answers: Write brief answers (around 40-60 words) for common questions in your industry. Featured snippets favor short, clear responses, so structure your content for quick, digestible insights. 
2. Research High-Impact Questions: Use SEO tools to identify frequently asked questions related to your topics and answer them directly within your content.  
3. Create FAQ Pages: Build dedicated FAQ sections or pages that target popular, high-traffic questions related to your services or industry. 
4. Use Structured Formatting: Organize content with headers, lists, tables, and bullet points to make it easy for Google to identify answers and pull them into snippets. 
5. Answer Related Questions in Your Content: Address multiple questions in one article. Structuring each section as a mini Q&A can help you appear in PAA boxes. 
6. Use Conversational Keywords: Write subheadings and answers in a natural, conversational style to align with common search phrasing.  
7. Claim Your Knowledge Panel: If your business or brand has a knowledge panel, claim and optimize it. Keep information accurate and ensure it reflects your brand identity. 
8. Use Schema Markup: Implement structured data, such as Organization, Local Business, and Person schema, to help Google recognize and present accurate information about your brand in knowledge panels. 
9. Cultivate Your Online Presence: Knowledge panels often pull information from various online sources, so ensure your brand’s social media profiles, Wikipedia page, and business listings are up-to-date and consistent. 
10. Maintain Your Google Business Profile: Ensuring your profile is accurate and fully completed continues to be a cornerstone of local SEO trends in 2025 as Google prioritizes well-maintained and active local listings. 
11. Use Location-Specific Keywords: Incorporate local keywords into your site content and business descriptions to increase the chances of appearing in “near me” searches or Google Maps results. 
12. Encourage Reviews: Positive reviews boost your chances of ranking in local search packs, which often show up in zero-click searches for local businesses.

3. AI Answer Engines

SearchGPT, Perplexity AI, Meta AI, Copilot, Claude… the list goes on and on. Some predict that in 2025, more users will turn to these AI chatbots for answers instead of Google. Technological research and consulting firm Gartner even predicted in February that traffic from traditional search engines will fall 25% by 2026 due to the rise of these AI answer engines.

Yet, findings from Sonata Insights in August painted a different picture: 99% of users who use these AI engines continued to use traditional search engines. Google’s desktop visits were actually up 1.4% year-over-year, with the average number of Google searches per desktop user rising by over 10%. This suggests that while AI tools are gaining popularity, they’re not replacing Google.

David Sonn, President of Arc Intermedia, captures this shift in his presentation on Organic Visibility and AI: “I’m not suggesting that people are going to stop Googling, but in 2025 customer journeys could be far different than in the past and may even circumvent a company’s website.”

To optimize for this evolving landscape, the approach aligns closely with strategies for E-E-A-T and zero-click searches, with an added emphasis on building a multi-channel online presence beyond just your website. As Director of Inbound Marketing and Content Katie Schieder advises in her article AI Search Engines: The Next Frontier in Digital Marketing, “Actively work towards enhancing your brand’s E-A-T signals by securing positive reviews, earning backlinks from reputable websites, and positioning yourself as a trusted authority in your field.”

4. Using AI to Produce Content

AI is transforming content production by bringing speed and scalability. Used strategically, it can be a powerful ally – boosting productivity, tackling writers block, and improving workflows. However, while AI can streamline many aspects of content creation, over-relying on it can lead to poor quality content.

When it’s used right, AI acts like a skilled assistant. But AI has limitations: it lacks human insight, doesn’t meet E-E-A-T standards, and simply doesn’t match the nuanced quality that humans bring to content. To create content that stands out, it’s essential to layer in your unique perspective, expertise, and authenticity. After all, the real value of content lies in its originality and connection to your audience, something only a human can fully achieve. To make the most of AI to produce content, don’t just copy and paste whatever it spits out. Instead, use it as a launchpad, then elevate the content with your personal touch and ensure it aligns with E-E-A-T principles.

How to Use AI to Produce Content

1. Create Content Outlines: AI can quickly create structured outlines, helping you organize content more effectively.  
2. Create Initial Drafts: Use AI to create first drafts, providing you with a foundation to build on. 
3. Customize for Brand Voice: Consider personalizing AI tools, such as using GPT customizations, to align content with your brand’s unique voice and style. 
4. Ask for Content Suggestions: AI can help flesh out sections or spark new ideas, adding depth to your content. 
5. Ensure Quality Control: Always review and edit AI-generated content, infusing human insight and personality to meet quality and brand standards. 
6. Create Localized Versions: Another local SEO trend in 2025, adapt your content for different regions using AI, making it easier to reach diverse audiences and expand your market presence. 
7. Optimize Meta Descriptions and Titles: Use AI to draft meta titles, descriptions, and headers aligned with SEO best practices—just remember to review and refine these before publishing. 
8. Cluster Related Topics: AI can help you group related content into topic clusters, building authority on your website and boosting SEO through interlinked pages. 
9. Repurpose Existing Content: Analyze older content with AI to identify valuable insights, repurposing it into new formats such as social posts or video scripts. 

By blending AI’s efficiency with your unique insights and expertise, you can create content that’s not only high-quality and engaging but also stands out in a crowded digital landscape.

5. Increased Visibility for Forums like Reddit and Quora

Platforms like Reddit and Quora host extensive user-generated content that directly addresses real user questions in an authentic, conversational way. Google values this content for its reflection of genuine opinions, experiences, and insights, making it especially relevant for searchers seeking community advice or specific, user-driven answers.

For businesses, the increased visibility of forums on SERPs means that user-driven platforms are now vying for top search rankings alongside traditional websites. Optimizing for these forums expands your brand’s reach and integrates your business into trusted online communities. Engaging with or optimizing for these platforms allows you to connect with a highly relevant audience, build trust, and grow brand awareness among users seeking honest, practical advice.

How to Optimize for Increased Forum Visibility

1. Engage Directly on Reddit and Quora: Set up accounts on these platforms and participate in relevant communities or subreddits. Answer questions related to your industry, but ensure your contributions are helpful and non-promotional.
2. Provide Insightful, Value-Driven Answers: Offer genuine, detailed answers that contribute to the discussion. Avoid overselling; instead, focus on sharing expertise and addressing user concerns in a relatable way.
3. Leverage AMA (Ask Me Anything) Sessions: Host AMAs on Reddit or engage in popular threads as a subject-matter expert. This can build authority and drive visibility, provided you’re transparent about your expertise.
4. Research Popular Questions: Use forums to identify the questions and topics your target audience frequently discusses. Tools like AnswerThePublic can help identify commonly asked questions. 
5. Structure Content to Address Specific Queries: Write blog posts, guides, or FAQs based on the specific questions people ask on Reddit and Quora. Craft concise, helpful responses that could rank in the “People Also Ask” sections of SERPs. 
6. Use Conversational Tone: Forums are popular because of their conversational, relatable tone. Incorporate this approach into your content to align with the tone of forum answers Google is prioritizing. 
7. Target Long-Tail, Question-Based Keywords: Many forum queries are long-tail and often phrased as questions. Integrate these types of keywords into your content to better align with the search terms bringing users to Reddit and Quora. 
8. Monitor Keyword Rankings for Forum Pages: Identify keywords for which forum pages rank well and see where your content can fill in gaps or improve upon existing answers. 
9. Create Content Clusters Around Forum Topics: If you find multiple forum questions on related subtopics, consider creating a content cluster that addresses these topics comprehensively.  
10. Ask Users for Feedback on Forum Sites: Share relevant blog posts or resources on Reddit and Quora in threads where they can genuinely add value. Encourage users to discuss or ask questions, creating engagement and visibility. 
11. Respond to Mentions of Your Brand: Set up alerts for mentions of your brand on these forums and respond where appropriate. Engaging directly with users who mention your business can build credibility and encourage positive sentiment. 
12. Create Shareable, Visual Content: Users on forums appreciate infographics, charts, or short, informative videos. Create shareable assets that people will want to post or reference in forum discussions.

As Reddit and Quora continue to gain traction on SERPs, they present a unique opportunity for brands to establish authority and reach users seeking honest, peer-driven insights. By actively participating on these platforms, creating content that aligns with popular forum topics, and fostering discussion around your content, you can increase visibility, build brand credibility, and drive traffic from channels Google is increasingly prioritizing.

6. Video Strategy

Video content is one of the most engaging and versatile ways to communicate information, making it memorable and easy for audiences to digest. With users increasingly turning to videos for how-to guides, product insights, and entertainment, video has become essential for any content strategy. Additionally, video enhances SEO—Google often prioritizes video in search results, and video thumbnails in search listings boost click-through rates, driving more traffic to your site.

A well-crafted video strategy can elevate your brand’s visibility, improve engagement, and increase conversions by presenting content in an appealing format that resonates with a wide audience. Video also increases on-page engagement metrics, builds audience trust, and adds a relatable dimension to your brand. As video continues to shape the digital landscape, integrating it effectively will keep your brand relevant, engaging, and visible in search.

How to Optimize Your Video Strategy

• Create High-Quality, Relevant Content: Produce videos that provide value, whether they’re tutorials, product demos, or customer testimonials. Focus on topics that align with audience interests and answer common questions.

• Optimize Video Titles and Descriptions: Use clear, keyword-rich titles and descriptions to help search engines understand the content of your video and improve its ranking potential.

• Add Transcripts and Captions: Transcripts and captions make videos more accessible, improve SEO by providing additional text for search engines, and enhance user engagement.

• Choose an Engaging Thumbnail: Use custom thumbnails that visually convey the video’s topic and attract clicks. An eye-catching thumbnail can increase click-through rates in both search results and social media feeds.

• Host Videos on Your Website: Embed videos on relevant landing pages or blog posts to increase time-on-page and reduce bounce rates, both of which can positively impact SEO.

• Utilize Schema Markup: Apply video schema markup to help search engines understand and display your video content in search results, potentially leading to rich snippet visibility.

• Encourage Social Sharing: Share videos across social media channels and encourage followers to share them.

• Create Short-Form Videos for Social Media: Develop shorter, engaging clips for platforms like Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts to increase visibility and tap into popular short-form content trends.

• Optimize for Mobile: Ensure your videos are mobile-friendly, as most users consume video content on mobile devices. Use responsive players and mobile-optimized thumbnails.

• Include a Strong Call-to-Action (CTA): Guide viewers on the next steps by including a clear CTA, whether it’s to explore more content, subscribe, or visit a specific page.

Contact Us for Help with Your 2025 SEO Strategy

Staying on top of the latest SEO trends for 2025 including E-E-A-T, zero-click searches, AI-generated content, and the rising prominence of forums and video content can give your brand a competitive edge. However, the importance of traditional SEO strategies, especially technical SEO, cannot be overstated. Elements like site speed, mobile optimization, crawlability, and structured data remain the backbone of successful SEO, ensuring your site remains visible, user-friendly, and aligned with search engine algorithms.

At Arc, we specialize in creating balanced SEO strategies that combine these new trends with time-tested fundamentals. Whether you’re looking to optimize for technical performance or integrate AI and multimedia into your content, our team is here to help. Get in touch to see how we can elevate your SEO in 2025 and beyond!