Hey Reader,

It's November, so it's time to blow the dust off my crystal ball and make some predictions about what's coming in 2025. 🔮

After watching the changes in our industry like a hawk lately (occupational hazard), I'm seeing patterns emerge that could impact anyone working in content and SEO - whether you're a freelancer, agency owner, bootstrapped business owner, or in-house marketer.

Here's what I predict we'll see:

🔎 Search GPT becomes a top search engine by mid-2025

Remember when we talked about what would happen if Google disappeared? We might get to test some of those theories sooner than expected. 😅

OpenAI just released their search engine prototype to a select group of users, and the feedback is unanimous - it's a legitimately better search experience. From what I hear, it's like Google's AI overviews, except with better sourcing and less advertising clutter.

When this goes public (likely in early 2025), it will mark the first time Google has faced serious competition in decades. That is huge.

For businesses, this means starting to think about search diversification now. Start tracking how much of your traffic comes from non-Google sources. Look at your conversion rates across different search engines. You might be surprised at what you find.

For freelancers and agencies, it's time to expand your SEO toolbox. Get familiar with Bing's analytics, start testing content performance across different search engines, and document everything. Your clients will need this expertise sooner than you think.

🎯 Bing optimization will become crucial for SEO success

Bing has been the butt of jokes in the SEO world for a long time, but it looks like Bing's technology is a huge part of what powers SearchGPT.

Optimizing your website for Bing will help you get ahead on SearchGPT, which may soon be more popular than Google because of its cleaner, more relevant results.

Business owners, when was the last time you logged into your Bing Webmaster Tools account? If the answer is "never," you're not alone. But your rankings in Bing might be totally different from Google, and that's about to matter a lot more.

For the SEO folks reading this, start getting familiar with Bing's ranking factors now. They prioritize different signals than Google does. Meta descriptions still carry more weight. Social signals matter more. These differences will be crucial selling points for your services next year. (I'll be putting a guide together for this soon!)

📉 Google search results will get even worse than they are today

If you haven't noticed, Google kind of sucks now. Web results are littered with so many videos, Reddit posts, and Forbes articles that it's impossible to find what you want.

This is due to Google desperately trying to maintain its profits in the face of stiff competition from AI.

When the US government declared Google a monopoly, I was hopeful it would help reign in the greed and store some of Google's former glory.

The Trump administration is likely to drop that case, however, which means Google is free to continue ruining its own product for short-term profit.

We've been saying this for a long time, but your marketing strategy needs to go well beyond Google. Build your email list. Nurture your social media community. Create content that brings people back directly to your site.

For freelancers and agencies, this is actually a massive opportunity. Your clients need someone who understands how to diversify traffic sources -- someone who can help them build resilient marketing systems that don't rely on a single platform.

👻 LinkedIn ghostwriters and AI editors will be in higher demand than content writers

Freelancers who can create engaging, high-quality LinkedIn posts will easily find work, since more people are realizing that they need to diversify their marketing streams, but don't have the time to do it themselves.

Similarly, people will realize that AI copy is useless without a talented human editor on your team.

The downside is that a single editor equipped with AI can replace two to three copywriters, making it harder for freelance writers to get ahead.

For businesses, this means rethinking your content team structure. You might need fewer writers but more strategic editors. Look for people who understand both the technical side of AI tools, the fundamentals of modern SEO, and the creative side of content. (Have we met?)

And if you're a freelancer, consider positioning yourself as that strategic AI editor. Learn how to use AI effectively while maintaining brand voice. Show clients how you can take junk AI content and turn it into something truly engaging and exciting.

The opportunities are massive for those who can bridge the gap between AI efficiency and human creativity.

🎨 A creativity renaissance will transform content marketing

Maybe this one is wishful thinking, but I have heard others say this: AI is making us more creative.

As SEO becomes more competitive, and AI makes basic/boring content more common, I think we'll see a large push toward creativity.

Businesses who want to get ahead in content marketing will encourage creativity and risk among content creators they trust.

And content creators, sick of working with AI all the time, will tap into their own creativity to seek refuge.

Business owners, start giving your content teams more creative freedom now. Test some wild ideas. Let them take risks. The data shows that genuine, creative content often outperforms the safe, AI-generated stuff.

For the creators out there - your creativity is about to become your most valuable asset. Start building a portfolio of your most creative, successful pieces now. And if you have been holding back on doing something because it seemed too weird, do it now and show it off.

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I don't know how many of these will come true, but I do know one thing: We are in for some big changes in the coming year. And now is the time to prepare for them.

Speaking of which...

Last week's "Combatting Content Decay" workshop dug deep into strategies for upgrading your content for 2025. If you missed it, I've just uploaded the full replay to YouTube:

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In it, you'll learn:

• How to identify content that is ready for an upgrade
• Techniques for refreshing content that work across all search engines
• My methods for using SEO tools and AI to make upgrading content easier

Reply and let me know what you think about these predictions. Too optimistic? Not optimistic enough? I always write back.

-- Liam

P.S. If you know someone who might find these predictions useful, forward this email their way! The more prepared we all are, the better. 📨