👋 Bye Google, Hello TikTok
So the other day I was at a pub quiz, and I’m going to be honest with you, my team may have ever so slightly, minutely, surreptitiously, and I’d argue even justifiably, cheated on a couple questions—
I know I know, we shouldn’t have done it, but we were five people from the UK and the question was “What’s the state capital of Alaska?”… What were we meant to do? Not look it up? Anyway, imagine my surprise when I looked over to my friend searching for the answer not on Google, but on TikTok. TikTok!
After that, I decided to go home and look into it. Turns out that 40% of Gen Z searchers turn to TikTok or Instagram before even thinking about Google, and with the introduction of ChatGPT and other A.I. tools that could, in theory, tell us the answers to any burning questions we might have, it’s looking worse and worse for those specialising in SEO and website creation. For some SaaS and even B2B marketers, it’s a little bit daunting.
(The capital of Alaska is Juneu, by the way. How would we have known that?)
🪦Is SEO Really Dead?
No, SEO is not exactly what you would call dead, okay? Let’s just clear that up. So long as SaaS, B2B businesses, and a myriad of other organisations exist, it’s very doubtful that SEO is going anywhere. We still rely on search engines to look up information; we can still influence it; and it still yields results.
This chart sums it up perfectly:
In fact, 53% of all website traffic comes from organic search, and the first search result in Google averages 26.9% of click-throughs on mobile devices and 32% on desktops. People are still using search engines…
But – and it’s a Big But – it is a little outdated and could do with a bit of a revamp. Link building and over-optimising your keywords don’t work anymore, and AI and Machine Learning is starting to catch up – slowly, yes, but it is catching up.
🛀 SEO Needs a Lazarus Pit (like in Batman… let me explain)
I can’t believe I’m about to hit you with a Batman analogy about the future of SEO, but it’s where my brain went so strap yourself in.
In 1988, DC Comics released Death in the Family, a story in which the audience could vote whether or not Jason Todd – Batman’s second Robin – would be murdered by the Joker. Audiences didn’t like him and, spoilers, he died. Big time. Proper dead.
But then, someone shoved him in the ‘Lazarus Pit’ – a big pool which could bring people back to life and keep them young. He came back and took on the mantle of the Red Hood, and suddenly, audiences loved him. Maybe we need to shove the ageing SEO into a Lazarus Pit, reinvent the way it works, and get people back on board. Robin into Red Hood; SEO into something better.
Whether you like it or not, TikTok and AI aren’t going anywhere, so much so that Google is even going to start incorporating its own AI, ‘Bard’, into its search engine. So let’s embrace that and figure out how we can make the most of it.
Sam Hollis is a Writer for Fame, SaaS Marketer, as well as his own fictional short stories. He lives and works in Birmingham with his three cats and his dog (way too many pets, if you ask us)