Optimizing for AI: Future-Proof Your Website for Search

Over the years, there have been many significant improvements in how search engines function. While these improvements have meant new changes in how company execute their SEO (Search Engine Optimization) campaigns, for the most part, the core fundamentals have been the same. However, in the past few years, AI technology has changed everything. Reliance on voice-enabled search tools and generative AI-enabled search tools has shifted how users look for relevant information online and how search engines respond to their queries.

As a business that focuses on regular search traffic to bring in new leads, it’s critical to recognize the impact that these new changes can make and how you can future-proof your website for AI-enabled search.

Following The AI Revolution in Search Engines

Search engines have always been relatively straightforward. Users enter their questions or a collection of keywords and phrases, and then they’re provided with a long list of websites relevant to those searches.

Although this format has always been useful for helping users find websites or online resources they’re looking for, the challenge has been that many times, a good portion of the returned results were irrelevant to the user’s actual needs. Over time, search engine algorithms begin focusing more on “search intent.” This new format focuses less on keyword placements and more on the actual purpose of the query.

Image Sources: Rich Sanger SEO

With the introduction of AI, search engines are now even more capable of recognizing and responding to this intent. But rather than simply providing a list of relevant websites to users, platforms like Google are leveraging AI Overviews that summarize all of the sourced content from across the web into a summarized user response. This means customers don’t even have to click through multiple website links to find answers to their questions – search engines can now do the job for them.

Strategies for Future-Proofing Your Website for AI-Enabled Search

With AI-powered search starting to reshape how users search for and find information online, it’s important for businesses to take certain steps to ensure their websites are still viewed as valuable to search engine algorithms.

Below are some effective strategies you can follow to help future-proof your website:

Create High-Quality, Comprehensive Content

Google’s inclusion of AI into its search results is all about helping people connect more easily with the content that matters most to them. For most people, this means being provided with high-quality, comprehensive information on different topics.

As a business, filling this need requires you to take a deeper dive into the topics you cover. While answering a question directly is important, it’s also important for you to touch on other branching topics that could potentially be related to a user’s original query.

For example, if you’re a clinical therapist looking to improve online visibility for your clinic, you’d want to publish a wide range of therapy-related content on your website. This way, if someone searches for “therapy offices in [their area],” Google will not only see that your physical address aligns with the user’s needs, but that your website also has a lot of supporting information commonly referenced by similar organizations.

Optimize for Natural Language and Conversational Queries

Most people search for the same type of information in very different ways. While some people may ask full, detailed questions, others may simply enter the exact details they’re looking for as statements.

These personal preferences are all part of the nuances of natural, conversational language. AI-enabled search tools have become highly accurate at picking apart these nuances to provide consistent results for users regardless of how they choose to search for information.

One way businesses can make their content more relevant to AI algorithms is by weaving in semantic keywords and phrasing commonly used by users. A great way to do this is by adding an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section to your website. This allows you to use more natural phrasing around certain topics while providing direct, helpful answers to typical questions users might already be searching for.

Structure Your Data with Schema Markup

When structuring your content and website data, it’s important to look for ways to make it easier to crawl and index. Using schema markup is an effective way to do this. This process essentially categorizes the content you create with specific labels that search algorithms can reference as they display search results.

Image Source: Ahrefs

For example, if you were to type “recipes for lasagna,” you’d no doubt get a full list of cooking websites that feature that recipe. However, if businesses structure their webpages using schema markup, there’s a chance that their recipe would show up directly on Google’s rich snippets in search listings.

Getting listed in these snippets gives your website more real estate on SERPs without having to pay for premium ad placements. This makes it more likely for users to click on your website and can greatly improve your organic search traffic.

Improve the User Experience

For quite some time now, Google has penalized websites that try to use shady tactics like keyword stuffing to bring in more web traffic. Although using relevant keywords throughout your website will more than likely continue to be useful moving forward, Google has continuously stated that user experiences on-site play a significant role in search engine rankings.

It’s important for businesses to conduct regular site audits to make sure they’re continuously functioning the way they should. This includes looking at page loading speeds, mobile responsiveness, and engagement rates. These metrics help to gauge how likely it is that users stay longer on your site and interact with additional content. This signals to Google that your site is valuable to users and worth featuring more prominently on SERPs.

Build Topical Authority

Image Source: Single Grain

The introduction of AI-powered search has placed more importance on businesses establishing topical authority. Topical authority is a metric used by search engines to identify whether or not a website is seen as a reliable source of information on specific topics.

While building this type of authority doesn’t happen overnight, businesses should focus on taking gradual steps to establish themselves as subject matter experts in their fields. A good way of achieving this is by creating pillar content pages that branch off into other supporting clusters.

Instead of using one page of content to comprehensively cover a topic, pillar pages allow you to paint a broad overview of the subject matter while linking out to more comprehensive pages of content focused on related areas. The benefit of taking this approach is that it allows you to prove to search engines that you have a certain amount of expertise in your industry and are able to answer a wider range of questions surrounding a core topic.

Make Your Website Future Proof

It’s important for businesses to stay mindful of the new developments in AI-enabled search technology and how they can impact their digital marketing efforts. While not all the changes that AI-enabled search introduces are necessarily “bad” for businesses, they can mean a significant shift in your SEO tactics to maintain or increase your online visibility.

By following the strategies discussed, you’ll be in a better position to future-proof your website while establishing a strong SEO foundation you can build off of long-term.