2024 SEO Highlights and 2025 SEO Predictions

12/30/24 • 87 min

In this special episode of Search With Candour, hosts Jack Chambers-Ward and Mark Williams-Cook sit down with guests Arnout Hellemans, Yagmur Simsek, and Begum Kaya.

Recorded in a brand new studio to celebrate the finale of Season 3, the panel discusses SEO industry highlights from 2024, and makes some SEO predictions for 2025.

Topics include the rise of AI, shifts in search engine market shares, and the ever-evolving landscape of SEO. The conversation extends to personal branding, the importance of community in SEO, and how the integration of AI could reshape the search experience in the coming years.

Follow our guests

Follow Arnout Hellemans on LinkedIn and Bluesky
Follow Yagmur Simsek on LinkedIn and Search 'n' Stuff
Follow Begum Kaya on LinkedIn

Chapters

00:00 Welcome

00:17 Introducing Our Special Guests

02:38 Highlights of 2024 in SEO

11:53 The Impact of AI on SEO

27:06 Building Trust and Brand in SEO

43:09 The Long-Term Impact of SEO Tips

43:31 The Challenge of Measuring Long-Term SEO Success

44:08 The Human Element in SEO

44:51 The Evolution of SEO Communities

45:51 Conversational Search and AI

47:00 The Future of Search Engines

49:19 The Role of AI in Everyday Tasks

01:03:41 The Impact of AI on Jobs and Society

01:13:01 Predictions for the Future of Search

01:25:58 Closing Thoughts

In this special episode of Search With Candour, hosts Jack Chambers-Ward and Mark Williams-Cook sit down with guests Arnout Hellemans, Yagmur Simsek, and Begum Kaya.

Recorded in a brand new studio to celebrate the finale of Season 3, the panel discusses SEO industry highlights from 2024, and makes some SEO predictions for 2025.

Follow our guests

Follow Arnout Hellemans on LinkedIn and Bluesky
Follow Yagmur Simsek on LinkedIn and Search 'n' Stuff
Follow Begum Kaya on LinkedIn

Chapters

00:00 Welcome

00:17 Introducing Our Special Guests

02:38 Highlights of 2024 in SEO

11:53 The Impact of AI on SEO

27:06 Building Trust and Brand in SEO

43:09 The Long-Term Impact of SEO Tips

43:31 The Challenge of Measuring Long-Term SEO Success

44:08 The Human Element in SEO

44:51 The Evolution of SEO Communities

45:51 Conversational Search and AI

47:00 The Future of Search Engines

49:19 The Role of AI in Everyday Tasks

01:03:41 The Impact of AI on Jobs and Society

01:13:01 Predictions for the Future of Search

01:25:58 Closing Thoughts

Previous Episode

Google Exploit Data Discussion with Mark Williams-Cook

Jack Chambers-Ward and Mark Williams-Cook follow up on Mark's popular Search Norwich talk about conceptual models for SEO and his recent Google exploit discovery.

Mark & Jack explore the details of the fascinating Google exploit, dissect the talk's key points, and answer questions from the community.

The duo also preview next week’s big episode featuring three special guests and discuss the revamped format for Search With Candour in their cosier setting.

Stay tuned for exclusive insights into Google's data, how Google classifies queries, and what this all means for SEO in 2025.

Sponsors

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to Search with Candour

00:15 Studio Updates and Upcoming Guests

01:13 Exploring the Google Exploit

01:29 Sponsor: SE Ranking

02:50 Sponsor: Optmyzr

05:53 Advanced SEO and Conceptual Models

10:13 Understanding SEO Through Video Games

11:25 The Importance of Conceptual Models in SEO

14:53 Google Exploit Data and Its Implications

21:18 Site Quality Score and SERP Features

30:27 Optimising Click-Through Rates

33:25 The Twiddler Framework Explained

35:25 Google's Predicted Click-Through Model

37:53 The Role of Expertise in SEO

43:38 What Protobuf Is and How It Works

48:07 Wrapping Up and Future Plans

Next Episode

How SEO Changed in 2024: The web almanac with Jamie Indigo

In the first episode of 2025, host Jack Chambers-Ward is joined by Jamie Indigo, an expert in technical SEO and an overall delightful human being.

Jamie guides Jack through the findings from the 2024 Web Almanac's SEO chapter including technical data changes over recent years, offering insights and predictions for the future.

Jamie also highlights AI's rising influence, the importance of robots.txt, Core Web Vitals updates, and structured data advancements.

Follow Jamie:

Website: https://not-a-robot.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-indigo/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/not-a-robot.com
Rich Snippets: https://trafficthinktank.com/rich-snippets/

Resources

Web Almanac 2024 - SEO Chapter: https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2024/seo
Performance chapter: https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2024/performance
Maggie Appleton Dark Forest: https://maggieappleton.com/ai-dark-forest
https://youtu.be/1OvasjokuaA?si=UBNiK07uyWHjd2HX by Jess Sankhavaram-Peck

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to 2025: Kicking Off the New Year
01:11 Sponsored by SE Ranking https://seranking.com/?sou1=influencers&gr1=podcast&tg1=search_with_candour&kw1=com_first_ad&utm_source=influencers&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=com_first_ad_search_with_candour
02:45 Introducing Jamie Indigo: Technical SEO Expert
03:56 What is the Web Almanac?
04:43 Exploring the Methodology: Data and Analysis
13:47 Dynamic Rendering and Robots.txt: Trends and Changes
20:44 Meta Robots Directives: New Data Insights
29:03 Canonical Tags Explained
29:37 Consistency in SEO
33:53 JavaScript and SEO Misconceptions
34:51 Structured Data Insights
39:34 The Role of Knowledge Graphs
46:10 Core Web Vitals Update
50:05 Wrapping Up and Future Plans