The Future of SEO reveals the biggest investments of 2024

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While the past informs mistakes that we should not repeat, the future presents opportunities that we must prioritize. As the curtains draw shut on 2023, it’s only prudent to learn from this year’s biggest investments to better map the path toward SEO success. That’s exactly what we’ll be doing here today, as we examine the biggest SEO investments of the year that has been so that you can know where to quite literally put your money in the coming weeks. 

 i) Content marketing (blogging) 

If 2023 has proven anything, it’s that nothing is dethroning content marketing as the king of SEO. In fact, according to a study by CMI, more than 70% of marketers rely on blogging as a key aspect of their search engine optimization strategies. 

As to why marketers prefer this form of SEO, study participants cited its unrivaled ability to connect with leads at a deeper level compared to other forms of SEO. 

Just to validate its position on our list, most businesses allocate up to 8.7% of their revenue to content marketing regardless of size and niche. This translates to between $6,000 and $10,000 per month. While it may seem like a pretty hefty recurring expense, content marketing more than makes up for it with businesses averaging 500% ROI. 

ii) PPC and search advertising at large

Pay-per-click advertising is often viewed as a shortcut SEO tactic toward boosting web traffic, leads, and conversions. However, I find that even seasoned digital marketing experts leverage this form of SEO for more targeted and profitable advertising. And with an average return on ad spend of about 200%, it’s not hard to see why.

In terms of investments, most businesses are spending at least $9,000 a month on Google PPC ads specifically.  This goes to show just how much faith brands have in PPC and search advertising at large. 

iii) Video Marketing 

Also coming to the forefront of SEO investments is video marketing. Providing a more enthralling way to intrigue and engage your audience, this form of SEO is also quickly becoming one of the strongest tools of marketing. 

That said, here are a few important numbers regarding the investments and trends in using video for SEO: 

• 92% of brands say short-form video has the best ROI
• 35% of online advertising budgets go to video advertisements 
• $75 billion is the cumulate video ad spend for the year
• 42% of video marketers spend up to $500 per video ad

Overall, the statistics indicate that a lot of brands are placing their trust and money in video marketing, which is a testament to its effectiveness. 

iv) Social media advertising

Social media has been a powerhouse when it comes to catalyzing conversions for brands. It allows companies to reach their markets where they like to kick up their feet. And with the average person spending on average 2.5 hours daily on social media channels, I understand just why marketers are increasingly targeting these platforms.

In fact, social media marketing investments have been on the rise over the past few years. Social media ad spending hit over $173 billion in 2022, and 2023 projections show that it will surpass that sum by over $ 95 billion, which represents a massive increase in investments therein of about 54.9%. 

v) Voice SEO

The growing popularity of voice assistants has also created a paradigm shift, as marketers now begin to turn closer focus toward voice search engine optimization. In 2023, the world has more than 125 million voice search users.

Compared to text searches, voice search features a 300% higher likelihood of containing local search queries. As a result, many digital marketing experts are also channeling a sizeable chunk of their budget toward voice SEO, particularly for the purpose of elevating local SEO strategies.  

By the close of 2023, voice SEO will reel in about $60 billion in sales, with most companies spending on average between $300 and $500 to optimize a single web page for voice search. 

vi) Email marketing 

A 4200% average ROI makes email marketing a mouth-watering prospect for marketers. So much so that the email marketing software market has hit a valuation of over $1.1 billion, with Gartner estimating that this market size will triple by 2031, thanks to a CAGR of 11.8%. 

Here’s a closer look at the level of investment that goes into email marketing: 

• 69% of marketers today use email marketing as part of their SEO companies
• Companies are spending between $2000 and $12,000 on email marketing monthly
• The average business spends about $2,500 on email marketing monthly 
• Email marketing will remain a top priority for 71.8% of brands

All in all, research indicates that, on average,  email marketing claims up to 7.8% of a business’s overall budget. And companies will keep on spending even more in the coming year, thanks to its particularly high return on investment and the fact that it’s truly a marketing workhorse. 

vii) Affiliate & influencer marketing 

In a bid to leverage the prominence and appeal of more well-established players, many brands are also shifting focus toward affiliate and influencer marketing. Several brands are in fact using these strategies to do most of their SEO heavy lifting. 

But don’t just take my word for it. According to a report by Luisa Zhou, the cumulative spend on affiliate marketing was a massive $7.4 billion back in 2021. Of course, that figure has only exploded since then. 

In the same vein, influencer marketing has also caught on like wildfire going by the size of the investments pouring in. Most brands are spending about $50,000 on influencer marketing, while some are diverting as much as 40% of their marketing budget on this aspect alone. We can only expect this trend to get even bigger in 2024. 

The biggest takeaway

If you ask ten different digital marketing experts about the best way to perform SEO, you might get ten different answers. However, one thing they’ll agree on is that search engine optimization will be around for a long time to come. In fact, in 2023, more than 68% of brands raised their SEO budgets which goes to show that SEO investments have been on the rise.  Hopefully, you now have a great idea of where exactly to put your money in SEO.