Future of SEO | What will SEO be like in 2026?

Search Engine Optimisation in 2026

2026 is shaping up to the biggest year yet in terms of SEO competition. Yes, we know every year it gets more competitive, but 2026 can expect to see many agencies rise, and at the same time, many fall. As AI is make SEO essential we really need to understand how to get your business found in AI search. This is where your digital marketing agency might be failing, and if they are failing, then your business will also suffer.

We have spoken many times on how AI content can effect your Google rankings, this is mainly because many agencies are using it to take shortcuts by relying heavily on these tools.

The most common things we are seeing, especially with your standard cowboy SEO company, which is most of them these days is that they are cutting costs by getting rid of their content writers and then replacing them with copy and paste content generated from language learning models such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini, and then saying they are working on your SEO AI Optimisation which is obviously incorrect. This happens even more often when it comes to Local SEO Services with these so call “SEO experts” spamming rubbish suburb pages as part of the SEO strategy with filler AI generated content speaking about the same things over and over again. If content is created just for the sake of creating content, then you will not be doing yourself any favours, and Google see’s everything! Trying to cheat Google is like cheating on your partner, you may get away with it for a few weeks, months, maybe even longer, but once you get caught you will fall so hard, and it will be very hard to get that trust back. We have worked with customers in the past that have been so heavily penalised from other dodgy SEO companies, we ended up getting get results faster on a brand new website with a different domain name!

Some obvious trends for 2026 SEO

As we can clearly see that search is becoming a lot more AI generative driven we will see search and SEO change with the following:

AI answers at the top of search results (already happening). Zero clicks, answers first! Yes, expect traffic to drop a bit, you are probably already seeing it.
Keyword stuffing all over the place will have little to no effect as search engines can better understand the context of the page and the searchers intent.
Trust and credibility are becoming increasingly important. Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust. This also means outreach will be even more important, so you can forget backlinks from sites such as xdsg324.com.
Holistic organic strategies carry a lot more weight now. You brand needs to be in all the important places, not just directories, but also relevant social channels.
The experience a user has on your website is very important. With millions of websites being created daily, Google (and other search engines) want to display the ones with not only good SEO, but also promote a good user experience. Always think of customer when designing your website. This means a responsive fast design is non negotiable.

What Should I Do For My Website SEO in 2026?

You could get in contact with Digital Debut and we will do it all for you. Done! Ok, on a serious note, these are the top things we have noticed this year that will be even more important in 2026 when it comes to SEO. To be critical, none of these things are new, this is standard SEO practice, but since the quality of SEO work has been diminishing with a lot of digital marketing agencies over the years these things are often missed, or done poorly.

Content is King!

We all know how the saying goes, ‘content is king’, but since the internet is now plagued with AI content that lacks originality and proper branding, having properly written human generated content outranks AI copy and paste content in just about all cases! You can still utilise AI software to give you ideas on what to write about, or let is start off a sentence and then you finish it off, but if you relying on it too much, don’t expect to rank on page 1 of Google with a 5 minute copy and paste. A child that knows how to click a few buttons on a computer can do this! Since SEO must be done on every page of your website for the best results, we understand content creation will take time – don’t stress, this is ongoing and your website should be updated with relevant content often.

Also, do not forget about your top level content changes, as these are the best things to optimise as soon as you start SEO.

Keyword and Market Research

A lot of people do keyword and market research, and then track these keywords but that is really it. Most of these keywords are not taken advantage of when it comes to top level optimisations or not mapped out correctly throughout the website. A customers website should have pages based on what people are searching for.

We created a basic website for one of our clients, and the website was created based on exactly what their potential customers were searching on Google. This has yielded some amazing results.

You can view the case study here.

Check your top landing pages for opportunities in Google Analytics

There is a lot of information you can gather from Google Analytics which will help you learn more about your web pages performance. If you sort your landing pages by organic traffic you can see which pages are performing the best in terms of SEO. Use these pages to internal link to other target pages of your website.

If you do not like looking at Google Analytics 4 like most of us, you can use your current report software to better present this data, providing you have this.

Schema Markup so that Google can understand your content better

This is a no brainer, but this often gets forgotten. Marking up certain parts of your web pages content will be able to help Google distinguish what type of content it is and push out that content with higher visibility in search results and even come up in LLM software results such as ChatGPT. Our must haves when it comes to schema’s are:

Local business schema
Services (or product schema)
FAQ schema if you are answering questions.

Make use of Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs, when done correctly, work like a charm. Most people just have a general FAQ page that does not answer questions as accurate. Wherever possible, have an FAQ on as many of your website pages as possible. Do not forget to mark these up using the correct schema with a change to appear at the top of the search results in the AI overview results.

Your mobile website speed must be fast for Google SEO Rankings

A lot of people forget about this, they create the best looking website but since it is not loading fast enough, it won’t be doing you any favours when it comes to rankings. This is why your SEO team should be across your website development with your web design company. Some of the things that assist with website speed that can be easily attended to are:

Image optimisation: Make sure your website images are all in webp format. You can compress images up to 10 times in some cases without any noticeable loss in quality.
Website Host: For a basic website you can get away with cheap website hosting services, but if you are really serious about the safety of your website and loading times, stick with a local hosting service. At Digital Debut, we offer local hosting solutions within Australia.
Caching: A lot of more common CMS’ already have proper solutions already in place, however there are a few plugins for WordPress Websites that can boost your website speed even further. Our favourite is LiteSpeed Cahce if you are on a LiteSpeed server, otherwise W3 Total Cache. You would need to get these configured by an expert to work properly without breaking your website.

Add your sitemap in Google Search Console

Don’t know why we need to mention this, but more than half of the new accounts we take on from other drop kick agencies, have not even added this in.

Adding your sitemap to Google Search Console will help Google locate and index your pages faster. This means you can see how Google ranks your site faster and then strategise accordingly.

Drop shipping SEO is pretty much redundant

Well, not really, but lets focus on the major negatives here. You do not want to hold stock but at the same time make some money. The biggest issue with drop shipping is you are sourcing products that are have the same images, product names, skus, product descriptions and images which are also being shared among hundreds to thousands of websites creating a mass duplication of content. Google will not rank you on a copy and paste strategy.

This does not mean we cannot make dropshipping work. For good ecommerce SEO marketing with dropshipping you need to put in the work. Not just click a few products from a supplier to feed into store and expect your Shopify SEO Optimisation or your WooCommerce SEO to work flawlessly (or whatever ecomm cms you are on). This means you need to:

Create unique product descriptions for every single product.
Assign different and unique SKU’s for all your products.
Change all the product names.
Even the images look different.

You must put in the work. There has only been once time we have seen a drop shipping website work well like this, and this was one we created for testing purposes! No paid ads, just pure organic search and organic sales! And yes, it was a lot of hard work!

People are searching differently online over the past few years

Over the past few years the shifts in consumer behaviour has changed a lot, some of these are:

“At home” keywords: These searches basically regarded anything that could be done at home, made at home, played at home etc.
Health & fitness searches: There has been a massive increase when it comes to health and fitness based search. This comes in many forms such as weight loss, personal training, supplements, foods and more.
Holidays: Since a lot of people are now working from home, there has been lots of travel and accommodation searches online
Informational searches: Have increased dramatically and covers all of the above really. Especially with LLM and AI informational based search.

This is why websites need to push with having quality content that is regularly updated to match with the search demand. Outdated, or copy and paste AI content really won’t do anything for your business.

SEO trends to be on top of in 2026 and beyond

High quality content in all its forms

As mentioned above, that ‘content is king’ still rings true, it’s only natural that it in a marketplace experiencing rapid growth in competition, content will likely be elevated from its previous position to something much more powerful. There are many ways in which SEO content is changing, and businesses have to be on top of them in order to remain valuable and competitive in the year ahead.

Educate your potential customers

A brand should look towards informing their customers rather than aggressively promoting to them if they want to rank well organically. With the AI overview and people chatting to AI software it is very important that your web pages explain thoroughly about your product or service and how it differentiates amongst other players in the market.

With the ease of information online in a matter of seconds customers are more interested in learning about a particular brand before buying or making an enquiry. One thing many brands should consider doing is switching up their content to become an information hub with very well placed call to actions instead of just saying “we are the best, buy our product or service” over and over again.

There is nothing better than nurturing a customer relationship through putting your brand forward as an industry authority. This creates a sense of trust and reliability amongst customers.

You want to create informative content for both your web pages and blog. The blog is the best way to prove that your brand knows what it’s talking about and has the goods to back it up, so consider regular blogging relevant information to show your customers that you are at the forefront of your industry.

So, in 2026 SEO will be simply more than keywords and links. Your brand must build authority and have carefully thought out and structured information whether you are selling or product or service whilst promoting a good user experience. Also remember to go back to the basics as SEO is now more important than ever if you want increased AI visibility.

Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

Questions Asked About SEO in 2026

How SEO will be in 2026?

The state of SEO in 2026 will be dominated by AI-powered search results, zero-click responses, and UX signals. The quality of content, trust, authority and the complete brand will not only be more important, but absolutely vital. Agencies who are trying to take shortcuts and use AI-automated filler content will find it difficult to rank.

Will AI content, negatively impact my Google rankings?

Yes, if it is low quality, not reflecting your brand well and just a copy paste. Search engines can not only spot duplicated spam content but also AI content and penalise sites that use it to cut corners. Human generated, brand specific copy still outperforms chunks of AI generated content.

What steps should I take to get ready for AI search on my site?

Focus on strong unique content and add appropriate schema markups (Local Business, Service, FAQ), work on the load speed of your site in particular to get better results from mobile users and make it a good user experience. Establish your brand authority in all relevant channels, not just directories.

Is keyword stuffing becoming less effective?

Yes, search engines are much better at understanding search intent and context better than previously. Keyword stuffing and over optimisation isn’t going to help you rank better, it will do the opposite. Really the best practice is to strategise and map out your keywords across your site, then write for humans, not solely for search engines.

How much does website speed matter for SEO in 2026?

This is taken very much into account, especially on mobile. Slow-loading sites are ranked lower. Run image optimisation (WebP format especially), quality hosting and caching to improve speed

In 2026, Do I Still Need to implement schema For SEO?

Yes. Proper use of Schema will help search engines interpret your content and improve the potential exposure within AI summaries and rich results. The main schemas can be defined as Local Business, Service/Product and FAQs.

How do I come back from bad SEO by another agency?

A well-done strategic SEO rebuild can even end up performing better in the long run. Every situation is different and you need to speak to your SEO expert on how to fix the problem.

Worst case, sometimes easier to just start from scratch with a new website and domain, especially if your current site has been penalised for spammy content or backlinks.

Does dropshipping SEO still work?

It’s tough but possible. You will have to develop unique product descriptions, custom SKUs, original images and food-strong content strategy. Copy-paste dropshipping stores from the supplier rarely do not rank.

How is search behaviour different now than it was a few years ago?

There has been an increase in “at home” searches, health and fitness questions, travel and holiday searches and detailed information queries. People demand correct, thorough answers and they expect them fast. In many cases through AI powered search.

Why is fresh content important for SEO in 2026?

Search engines favour fresh content, new information signals that your site is active and credible. Frequent updates also allow you to align with changing search trends and customer inquiries. However, do not create content just for the sake of creating content. It must serve a purpose and meet a demand, even if very niche.

Future of SEO: What will SEO be like in 2026?

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