Adapt or Get Left Behind: 5 Search Strategies for 2025

We’re already a twelfth of the way through 2025 (how!?), but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to make some SEO content marketing resolutions. The search landscape saw a dramatic shift in 2025, and maintaining your organic presence requires adaptability and an appetite for risk. 

These five content marketing resolutions are designed to hone your 2025 SEO strategy and ensure your content is discoverable and measurable. 

This year, you will…

1. Think Beyond SEO

Not every piece of content is going to be an organic winner—and that’s okay. A polished newsletter deepens subscriber loyalty, a snappy video may be an Instagram superstar, and an insightful podcast can underscore your E-E-A-T (expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trust), underscoring  your brand and subject matter experts as industry thought leaders.

When planning your 2025 content, ask yourself: What is the best channel for this piece? Should this be an article, or would it have greater chances of success if it was targeted to succeed via newsletter promotion or social? Should this be an article or would it work better as a data-driven report, or as a thought leadership piece from one of your executives on LinkedIn? Tailor the piece to its intended platform—and don’t try to shove a square peg into a round hole. Organic search is incredibly powerful, but it shouldn’t be your sole traffic driver or reason for developing content. Multi-channel strategies help diversify marketing streams and reduce your reliance on Google’s unpredictable algorithms.

2. Go Back to Basics

Scattershot SEO strategies won’t cut it in 2025. Gone are the days of aggressively targeting every semi-related keyword in hopes of driving traffic. (Basic budgeting advice from an advisor-oriented investment bank? Sure, why not?) This year, define your brand’s core expertise. Choose three or four topic areas that align with your products or services, and focus on becoming the go-expert in those areas. And those areas alone. 

If you sell sustainable kitchenware, hone in on topics like “zero-waste cooking” or “creating an eco-friendly kitchen.” Avoid the temptation to chase high-volume keywords only tangentially related to your brand. (You’ll probably never be the experts on pantry organization, and that’s okay.) Recent algorithm updates reward topical relevance and penalizes shallow, unrelated content, especially when the brand fails to prove expertise. Strategies laser-focused on your core topics both improve rankings and build audience trust.

3. Don’t Ignore Branded Keywords

Branded keywords often fly under the radar for SEO, but they deserve your attention—whether you’re just starting out or an established brand. Branded keyword optimization helps control the narrative for your company and captures a high-interest audience. New brands can look at competitors’ branded keywords for examples of what keywords might pop up for their own brand, and thus need content. (You can also target your competitors’ branded keywords for a little extra strategic pizzazz.) 

For established brands, use an SEO tool like Semrush or Ahrefs to research branded keywords. What are potential customers searching for — reviews? Product comparisons? Troubleshooting tips? Ensure you have dedicated pages addressing these branded searches, so potential customers always end up on your domain. After all, these searchers are already aware of your brand, so they’re significantly more likely to convert! 

Monitor who else ranks for your branded terms, too. Are competitors outranking you? Is the sentiment positive or negative? For example, if ratings and review sites pop up for branded keywords, you may want to review common complaints and address those concerns to improve rankings. 

4. Think Outside the Google Box

Search behavior is shifting, particularly among Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Platforms like TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube are increasingly used as search tools. (And even if TikTok is under threat again in the United States, users will flock to a replacement like Instagram Reels or another new app. This advice still applies there!) 

Your social media presence should go beyond promotion to think about users’ search behavior, too. Are you answering common questions about your brand, expertise, or industry? For e-commerce brands, have you initiated influencer campaigns to ensure your product appears when someone searches “best X”? 

And don’t overlook Reddit! Here, users are seeking human, nuanced answers. Targeting Reddit requires walking a tightrope between community and promotion, prioritizing genuine human-to-human engagement over non-stop pitching. But successfully executed, a Reddit SEO strategy can have massive payoffs. 

5. Convert, Convert, Convert!

Well, of course, I want to convert readers, you might be saying — but we’re always surprised by how many brands don’t know what they want their content to do. The days of “traffic for traffic’s sake” are over—today’s SEO shouldn’t be just about organic traffic. It should be about getting the right organic traffic that’s primed to purchase, subscribe, or follow. Whether your goal is newsletter signups, transactions, or lead generation, design every piece of content with conversion in mind. 

Start by defining your key metrics. Next, craft content that aligns with those goals. Clear calls to action and intentional internal linking will help guide organic users toward conversion. And don’t forget to test rigorously! Experiment with different headlines, layouts, or calls to action to figure out what identifies with your unique audience. 

Use these five 2025 resolutions to create a roadmap for navigating today’s turbulent SEO landscape. This year, prioritize content that delivers meaningful value — both to your users and your brand.

Ready to set some search-driven resolutions of your own? Get in touch to discuss which tactics will be most effective for your brand.