2024 Wrapped: SEO edition

2024 in search: 12 months, 7 updates 

In 2024, there were 7 official moments when the organic search results were shaken up, during and/or following a Google update. This is the lowest number of updates to have taken place in a single year over the past 4 years.  

The variety of updates was also limited to Spam Updates and Core Updates alone, since Google announced in March 2024 that Helpful Content Updates would henceforth be included under Core Updates.  

Spam Updates are intended to separate the wheat (valuable search results) from the chaff (spam) even more effectively. Google is somewhat less transparent about the approach and algorithm changes during a Core Update, but the aim is comparable: to provide users with the best possible results in search, according to Google's most up-to-date insights. 

Shifts in the online market: 4 sectors 

How do we see the impact of these updates reflected in the data? We compare 4 different sectors: electronics, finance, interiors and travel. For this purpose, in a Share of Voice analysis, we compare our keyword-level data for the top 20 search results per sector at 2 points in time, 1 January 2024 and 1 January 2025.  

We measure how many of the selected relevant search terms, a mix of commercial and informational terms, are in the top 20 at both points in time (the indexation percentage), and what the average position of these indexed terms is (average position).  

An increase in the indexation ratio is an improvement, and the same applies to an increase in average position. (We reversed it to better match the positive connotation associated with an increase.) Ideally, you therefore want to be in the top right of the graph; the websites that have declined in visibility for this set of search terms are shown in the bottom left. 

So, what market shifts took place within the organic top 20 over the past year? 

What trends do we see? 

To identify trends in the shift data, we compare all fallers with one another and all risers with one another across various areas. For example, do we see similarities in domain authority (DR)? Differences in the type of website? Type of provider? The content’s scope and quality? Do any technical shortcomings stand out? And so on. 

Our findings at a glance: 

Organic fallers in 2024 

• Many strong domains among the fallers: 3/4 of the websites that declined had a DR higher than 60. 

• The size of the websites varies considerably, from 509 indexed pages to as many as 723.591. 

• Among the fallers are major names: both Apple and VTwonen are well-known names among the general public.  

• 3/4 decliners score poorly at first glance on E-E-A-T.  

Organic climbers in 2024 

• Many domains with a medium DR of around 50, and 1 high outlier of 79. In 2024, DR was therefore not the decisive factor for growth or decline.  

• Here too, there was a wide range in terms of website size, from 1.055 to 33.441 indexed pages per domain. On average, the climbers were smaller in size than the decliners.  

• Every one of the climbers has its E-E-A-T in order, and often offers users (and Google) something “extra” on top of that in the form of a unique quality mark, demonstrable offline authority or an extra strong focus on its own expertise. 

A closer look: Shop.vtwonen.nl vs. Eijerkamp.nl 

Shop.vtwonen.nl and Eijerkamp.nl, at first glance 2 comparable homeware webshops, active in the same industry. Nevertheless, the former performed poorly in 2024, while the latter website was among the biggest climbers within the organic top 20.  

The visibility score, calculated based on position in combination with search volume, only increased for Eijerkamp.nl over the course of 2024. Based on our interior industry keyword tracking, Shop.vtwonen.nl was already considerably less visible than its competitor, but suffered an additional blow in May.  

Honourable mention 

The real winner of 2024? In the Netherlands, that was undoubtedly Wikipedia.org. We deliberately excluded the well-known knowledge base from our Share of Voice analyses by industry, for 1 simple reason: Wikipedia was growing too fast. With improvements in indexation rates of more than 25.000%, the rest of the data rather fades into insignificance. 

This development fits neatly with our observations around helpful content and E-E-A-T. Although the online encyclopaedia still has a reputation for being an unreliable source of material, the opposite is true. Anyone can add and edit the articles, but strict quality checks are carried out by specialist moderators.

Moreover, many Wikipedia articles contain a long list of (scientific or otherwise) sources in their references, while the nature of the website creates naturally built-up, exceptionally strong domain authority.  

Helpful? We are generally quite content ;). E-E-A-T-proof? Check. 

This was SEO 2024; on to the next 

Long story short: at website level, we draw the same conclusions that we previously outlined at a high level. Strong authority is great, but if it is limited to the backlink strategy alone, it is no longer enough.  

Show your users that you are the expert, that you have first-hand experience with your product or service, and seize every opportunity to demonstrate your trustworthiness. Success with helpful content and E-E-A-T = success in search. In 2024, and, if we have to look into our crystal ball: also in 2025.