State Of SEO Report: Top Insights For 2025 Success – Search Engine Journal
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Large AI Overviews on SERPs are affecting visibility and causing a dramatic decrease in traffic.
Discover the State of SEO in 2025. Uncover the pressing challenges, emerging trends, and strategies that SEO professionals are implementing for success.
What opportunities are other SEO professionals taking advantage of? Did other SEO professionals struggle with the same things you did this year?
Our fourth annual State of SEO Report is packed with valuable insights, including the most pressing challenges, emerging trends, and actionable strategies SEO practitioners like you have faced over the last year and what they see on the horizon.
Find out how top search teams are tackling challenges. Download the full report today.
In 2023, 13.8% of SEO pros said content creation was the top challenge for SEO professionals. However, in 2024, 22.2% (up from 8.6% in 2023) of all SEO practitioners surveyed revealed that algorithm changes have become the primary concern.
In fact, 30.2% of those we asked pointed to core and general algorithm updates as the main source of traffic instability over the last 12 months. This finding is in stark contrast to 2023, where 55.9% of SEO pros felt algorithm updates helped their efforts at least a little.
Why?
Simply put, creating the most helpful and expert content no longer guarantees a top spot in the SERPs.
To complicate matters, Google’s algorithms are constantly evolving, making it crucial to adapt and stay updated.
Our survey revealed that budget limitations (cited by 19.4%) are the number one barrier to SEO success and the primary reason clients leave (by 41.0% of SEO professionals surveyed.)
With everyone feeling the financial squeeze, how can you gain an edge?
Learn how to overcome budget barriers with even more insights in the full report.
SEO Industry Changes:
Performance Disruptions:
As you explore the data in the report, you’ll find that 20.0% of State of SEO 2025 respondents indicated that keyword rankings and organic pageviews (11.7%) are the top tracked SEO metrics.
However, when these metrics fluctuate due to uncontrollable factors, it’s essential to build business value into your tracking.
Focus on the quality of your traffic and prioritize efforts that bring in high-quality users.
The most challenging skills to find in SEO professionals are technical SEO (18.9%) and data analysis (14.8%).
Meanwhile, 18.2% of respondents indicated that the most desired skills in candidates are soft skills and 15.7% said the ability to build and execute SEO strategies.
Want to grow as an SEO professional?
Develop rare and desirable skills.
SEO is increasingly integrated with other marketing disciplines, so cultivating exemplary collaborative skills and learning the languages of other fields will make you highly valuable.
The State of SEO 2025 Report is your go-to resource for understanding and mastering the current SEO landscape.
Download your copy today to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges, opportunities, and insights that will shape SEO in the coming year.
Stay informed, stay ahead, and make 2025 your best year in SEO yet!
Angie Nikoleychuk is the Content Marketing Manager at Search Engine Journal. Along with social media, copy, and marketing, she has …
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