What Services Must an SEO Consultant Provide in 2025?
(Hint: Not Just SEO-Friendly Blogs)
The SEO industry is going through an interesting time at the moment.
On the one hand, you've got those that are saying it's no longer important. On the other, there are those who claim you can use AI to generate a ton of organic.
The truth? Well, that lies somewhere in the middle.
But in such a digitally turbulent time, what services must an SEO consultant provide in 2025? I've broken down the answers in this article, along with a few strategies you should consider for your brand.
Short on time? Here are the key takeaways
The world of SEO is rapidly changing, but the need for an online presence is also more important than ever. As such, the role of an SEO expert needs to change significantly.
While SEO is certainly more intricate than it used to be, online visibility can still be achieved, helping brands achieve business goals.
Rather than catering content to suit search engines first, brands should take a more 'user-first' approach.
Organic search traffic should still be at the forefront of any marketing team effort.
SEO in 2025 Looks a Little Different...
The days of SEO experts writing the longest possible article on a subject, with as many keywords stuffed in as possible, are well and truly gone.
And while a lot of the SEO world is losing their minds over this, trying to work out how they can game the system in 2025, I actually have a different perspective.
Finally, after years of verbally saying it, Google is putting user experience first! As such, more focus needs to be placed on writing legitimately valuable content that audiences want to read.
Former iterations of the Google algorithm would focus heavily on keyword placement to make educated guesses on the value of content. However, that algorithm has advanced significantly in recent years, with much more focus placed on reader engagement, dwell time, and the genuine value provided in the content.
For example, if you're writing an article on how to get fit into 2015, then a 3,000-word article stuffed with all the right 'cardio' and 'weights' related keywords would do very well, even if it just rechurned out basic information readers already know.
However, in 2025, Google is putting much more value on content produced by verifiable fitness experts, offering unique perspectives on getting fit from their learned experiences.
It's one of the main reasons I take so much pride in working with Eleven, a brand that focuses specifically on topical expertise and high-quality content. Not only that, but we've achieved some pretty great results as well!
With the inclusion of AI overviews and discussion forums in the SERP, it's more important than ever for brands to focus on the user first and build a loyal audience while implementing the basics of SEO.
But, perhaps most importantly, 2025 is all about having a brand voice that is distinguishable, provides value, and properly engages your audience.
5 SEO Strategies Your SEO Consultant Should Provide 2025
With all that in mind, let's take a look at how your chosen SEO consultant should be trying to please the search engine algorithms this year, while also ensuring users are at the forefront of your digital marketing strategy.
Get your digital ducks in a row
First and foremost, you need to ensure all of your foundations are squeaky clean and easy for Google to check and run through. After all, we don't want you creating brilliant content that readers would love only to then wallow at the bottom of the search because you have a poor site map or slow site speed.
Here are some quick technical SEO bits you should ensure are fixed and up to date:
Sitemaps: Ensure your website has an updated sitemap, as this helps search engines like Google find and index your pages more efficiently. That means checking you have internally linked pages where relevant, and the customer journey is seamless.
Navigation: Streamline your site navigation to improve user experience and help search engines understand your website structure. The best sites have clear toplined navigation, with more specific subcategories within each one.
Site Speed: Optimise your website’s loading times because faster sites are favoured by search engines and enhance user engagement. Personally, if a website runs slowly, I give up very quickly and go elsewhere!
Imagery Alt Texts: Include descriptive alt texts for images, aiding SEO and making your site more accessible to users who rely on screen readers. It can also improve your image-based organic traffic.
Error Pages: Customise error pages (like the 404 page) to guide users back to your main content and reduce bounce rates. Error pages are a nightmare for your website's health.
Voice Search: Optimise for voice search with natural language and question-based content to cater to the increasing use of voice-activated assistants. This process is more of a long-term play than an immediate fix.
Authorship: Clearly define authorship to establish credibility and authority, which can positively impact search engine rankings. Link these people back to the author's LinkedIn pages, as this adds validity and verification.
LinkedIn Bios: Ensure LinkedIn bios of your company’s professionals are current and reflect their expertise and roles, enhancing credibility and authority in your industry. This is a great signal for Google but also for your audience.
Mobile Optimisation: Ensure your website is mobile-friendly, with responsive design elements that adjust seamlessly to different device sizes, improving usability and search engine rankings.
SearchGPT guidance
2025 has also already seen an increase in how many AI overviews are shown within Google searches.
In fact, according to an AI Overview on the subject of AI Overviews (like some kind of AI matrix), 'AI Overviews appear in around 12.4% of search queries, with an average length of 169 words, often pulling information from multiple sources, and most commonly showing up for 5-word queries in the Health and Safety niches; around 7.2 links are included on average when expanded, with 33.4% of those links ranking within the top 10 organic results for the query'.
More importantly, these AI Overviews also appear at the top of search results, making their placement even more prominent than the highest-ranking content.
As you can see from the image above, it's as important to become a linked AI Overview source as it is to rank at the top of Google Search.
So, how do you go about doing that?
Well, the jury is still out on that, and the role of an SEO consultant in 2025 is to be at the forefront of those discussions, trying to understand the inner workings of the AI algorithm.
However, in many instances (as with the above), the linked sources are also the top organic sources.
To achieve the top rankings in 2025, your content must focus on a few key things. These include topical expertise authorship, unique quality content, and a first-person approach to content.
As AI continues to advance, brands like Google and ChatGPT are desperately looking for more high-quality content to scrape to improve their tools. Rather than getting sucked into the 'posting content for the sake of posting it' approach, focus more on quality over quantity.
Along with that, you should also ensure you are providing Google with all the signals you can to show your content is of the highest quality. One way to do that is by focusing on adding authorship to your pieces and linking those authors to a well-filled LinkedIn profile.
All these signals show Google your content is of the highest quality and that it should be used as a linked source for the increasing amount of AI Overviews that are being used.
Getting you involved in discussion forums
The keen-eyed amongst you may have noticed that alongside several AI-based updates, Google has also added another important element to the SERP: Discussion Forums.
You might be wondering why this is important for your brand. After all, when most people think of SEO consulting services, they think of someone who provides relevant keywords, competitive analysis, and other on-page technical skills.
However, given the Discussion Forum feature's position in the SERP (approximately seventh in the rankings), this should also be part of the SEO consultant job description.
Given Google's need for more organic and unique content, it makes sense that it will continue to value these forums, regardless of the content quality.
So, how should your brand be using these forums for better SEO results?
Well, one option for more advanced brands is to actually create a forum for themselves! By creating a forum, you can get plenty of insights into customer behaviour and thinking and now also gain the benefits of potentially ranking higher in the SERP through this no feature.
For smaller brands that are looking to get their name out there, having team members answer forum questions related to their product or service is a great way to gain more organic traffic and build your brand.
Just be sure that your outreach is genuine and conversational, no one likes it when a brand joins the group chat with a very clear and obvious call to action for your business!
This is a tactic that I have used to very good success for Originality.ai, as they aimed to study the sentiment on AI content detection, while also growing their brand name.
Discussion forums should play an important role in your content calendar, much like social media posts, blog pieces, and email marketing do.
A more 'generalist' approach to organic traffic
As I mentioned at the start of this blog, Google makes up the majority of most website's organic traffic, with as much as 93% of traffic coming from search engines.
But that doesn't mean it will stay that way going forward.
Neil Patel did a really interesting study into ChatGPT usage last year, highlighting that while Google isn't getting used any less, ChatGPT is getting used a lot more.
So, with more consumers trending towards AI for quick answers, your chosen SEO consultant should also help you look toward other avenues for organic traffic. That means investing in vlog content, imagery, LinkedIn, and more.
A good SEO consultant will suggest a more rounded approach, even if it involves services they can't provide (I've yet to meet an expert in SEO who can create high-quality video content).
You want your chosen content partner to provide transparent and open guidance on your content plan rather than one that tries to take all your budget for themselves.
Develop true thought leadership
As people become more savvy to affiliate marketing and influencer marketing and change their search trends, it is important that you adapt with them.
One way to do this is by creating a strong thought leadership program. Not only will this help increase your organic traffic from social media pages (a signal that Google uses to then rank your website and content as a result), but it will also ensure you have strong brand authority.
Why is strong brand authority so important in 2025? Well, with so much mistrust circulating in the digital world between consumers and brands, ensuring your senior leaders are at the forefront of the conversation is a great way to build trust with your audience, making them more loyal readers, sharers, and general engagers with your content, all of which are crucial actions for effective SEO efforts.
Traditional SEO strategy
Lastly, a quality SEO consultant shouldn't completely lose sight of traditional SEO tactics. Sure, they should be taking a more general approach with your content strategy, but they should still be factoring in content pillars, long-tail keywords, and gap analysis, to name but a few traditional tactics.
To achieve those results, the right SEO consultant will take advantage of marketing-leading content marketing tools, ensuring everything is tied into one overarching plan, pushing your brand forward, and providing you with the results you deserve.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, SEO consultancy is set to look a little different in 2025. You'll have those who continue to bury their heads in the sand, providing the same SEO advice they did ten years ago, and you'll have those who claim they can automate everything and that their ChatGPT prompts are better than everyone else's.
And then you'll have those that sit in the middle, that are ready to adapt to constant changes, and provide you with long-term strategies that contain a smattering of short-term wins along the way.
SEO consultants like me!
Get in touch today and let's have a chat about getting your content strategy up to scratch and suitable for 2025 and beyond.
If you're not convinced yet, check out some of the brands that did take the leap to work with me and have seen great results.
Frequently Asked Questions About SEO
What is the impact of AI-generated content on SEO
In 2025, search engines have advanced algorithms to distinguish AI-generated content. It's essential for SEO to ensure that such content is not only original but also provides real value to users. Websites may face penalties if AI-generated content is used manipulatively or if it doesn’t meet quality standards set by search engines.
How has the importance of E-E-A-T changed by 2025?
The importance of Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) in SEO has grown, particularly for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) websites. Search engines are placing a higher emphasis on verifying the credentials of content creators and the factual accuracy of content, especially in critical topics like health and finance.
How does social media impact SEO in 2025?
Social media continues to influence SEO through increased brand visibility and direct traffic generation. Active social media engagement helps to promote content and create backlinks, which indirectly boosts search rankings by signaling the popularity and relevance of your content to search engines.
