As we look ahead to 2024, many museum marketing managers will be asking themselves, “How will SEO help my museum in the next 10 years?” While we don't have a clear outlook for the next 10 years and can only speculate about the many potential technological changes and some of the Google algorithm updates, we can give you an idea of what to expect based on certain upward trends. It can be predicted to some extent. Not going anywhere anytime soon.
What is SEO? Why is SEO important for museums?
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the practice of optimizing content that is discovered through organic search engine results. For museums with limited budgets, having a website that appears in organic search results (as opposed to Google Ads) is a cost-effective way to gain exposure for your museum and serve your audience. That's an excellent method.
After all, museums are subject matter experts. So when the public has questions about art, science, and history, it makes sense that museums have the answers. For many museums, being at the top of search results aligns with their educational mission.
Museum SEO trends
The following SEO trends will not only impact museums in 2024, but will help shape the future of search for years to come.
Optimize for user intent
The most important thing for museums to keep in mind when optimizing their websites for Google in 2024 is user intent. SEO is no longer just about writing lots of content with dozens of keywords in hopes that Google will see your page and rank it favorably. Google wants to know that your page is what users really want.
So before we get into the specific trends that will spread from here, we should always remember that users, not search engines, come first. The more informative and engaging your content is, the better your long-term performance will be. This is good news for museums, which are trusted content experts.
Museums should not rely on click-to-search
A recently developed feature that allows users to find answers to their questions directly on the Google search engine results page allows users to search for specific answers for additional information, especially if the question only requires a short one or two sentence answer. No more clicking on web pages.
For example, where you used to have to go to a website to find out a museum's opening hours, Google now provides that information in feature snippets. This means fewer people will click on his website for museums and more basic information will be covered on the search results page.
Functional snippets are not limited to visitor information. For example, the image below shows search results for “Sue the T Rex”. This is the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered and is one of the must-see exhibits at Chicago's Field Museum.
While the museum's page about Sue the T. rex appears first in search results, Google also lists a Wikipedia page about the dinosaur. This featured snippet is sure to attract clicks that would once have gone to the museum's page.
Relevance of featured snippets
Featured snippets are unlikely to disappear because they provide search engine users with an efficient and convenient way to find the answers they're looking for as quickly and easily as possible. Museum marketers may find this inconvenient because this feature prevents the actual search results that require a click from appearing near the top of the page, requiring users to scroll down to see them. not.
While it's true that featured snippets have been around since 2013, they've undergone some changes to help them stand out in search results. Snippets are developed to include byte-sized media such as translations, calculations, dictionary definitions, and price lists, so they're more than just simple text excerpts.
How to get your museum featured in featured snippets
Google uses an automated process to select and display featured snippets by scanning the web search list. The system determines which snippets are most useful based on your query and highlights the most relevant snippets it finds. Snippets are much more likely to be shown to users who enter your question as a query.
Museums cannot automatically indicate to Google that text on a webpage is intended for snippets. Instead, the best way to display snippets is to find the most commonly asked questions among museum audiences and provide short, concise answers that Google's algorithms may prefer.
What about rich snippets?
Rich snippets are another type of snippet to keep in mind. Think of these as a companion to featured snippets. Rich snippets don't appear as high in search results as featured snippets, and are used to display additional information or related links below specific search results.
Some rich snippet content may include additional links to your website, price lists, product reviews, recipe ingredients and metrics, details about specific songs or albums, and many other types of information.
Unlike featured snippets, you can optimize your museum website for rich snippets. To do this, include all relevant information in your webpage's metadata and schema code. This helps show Google what your page is about with specific details that you can include in small rich snippets.
If your website is built with WordPress, there are plugins to help you structure your data for rich snippets and manage your museum's SEO.
How BERT changes the game
Another big development to note is something called Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT), which affects both featured and rich snippets among search query results.
Google introduced BERT, a new neural network-based method for pre-training natural language processing. Simply put, this algorithm update helps maximize the relevance of search results based on the search intent behind each query.
The “bidirectional” element means that BERT examines search queries for context by scanning phrases both left-to-right and right-to-left to maximize accuracy, whereas other natural language processing pre-trainers This means that the system is only looking at the language in one direction. From left to right, determine intent.
As a result, BERT allows Google to more effectively determine which search results are most relevant based on a user's query. If you want your museum's website to appeal to his BERT, you may want to perform your own Google search as you research content topics and look for FAQs with answers in featured snippets. .
Put mobile device indexing first
More and more people are relying on their mobile devices to conduct their searches, and this trend will continue into the next decade. Google's focus on mobile-first indexing is nothing new. In 2016, Google announced that it would first focus on mobile search indexing, and completed its rollout by July 2019.
Mobile-first indexing means that your museum website must always be mobile-optimized. If your website is mobile-friendly and well-optimized, it's more likely to appeal to mobile users when they perform a search. A mobile-optimized website also prevents users from leaving due to content visibility or ease of navigation throughout the website using a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile platform.
So this is not just about museum SEO, but about better serving your audience.
Museums embrace the spread of voice search
Another big change we've seen recently is voice search. This change will become even greater as the decade progresses. Millions of users are already using devices like Google Home, Amazon Echo, Alexa, and Siri to make searching easier than ever, and that number is expected to grow.
Voice search provides users with results based on a search specified in the form of a question. Just like with featured and rich snippets, you can try to optimize by simply answering some of the questions you might be asked using voice search. Contains relevant answers that Google likes.
This may be particularly relevant for museums, which as content experts are well placed to answer these types of questions. These questions are more likely to be about your collection or the subject matter you work with, and less likely to be about opening hours or exhibition tickets.
Ultimately, the most important step to take when optimizing your museum website's SEO for the future is to better understand your audience's needs and, through them, their language. Whether it's a vague search phrase or a specific question via voice search, the more you show people what they're looking for and how they're looking for it, the more likely you are to stay ahead of your competitors. Masu. .
Museum SEO
As content experts, museums are well-positioned to provide high-quality content that Google values. Museums should view providing SEO-friendly content not only as a good marketing move, but also as another means of achieving their educational mission. SEO only requires a little work for museums to create the right content and structure it correctly. The search engine will do the rest.
Is your museum prioritizing SEO? How has your museum's approach to search engine optimization changed over the past few years?
