2024 Google Updates and Your Self-Storage Business: Navigating the Changing Tides of SEO

Each year, to capitalize on potential sales leads, self-storage operators must set a course for their online marketing. But this means contending with Google and its important updates. How do you anticipate the changing tides to better navigate and succeed in the digital world?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quantity and quality of traffic to your website via free, organic search results. By staying abreast of the most recent and significant search-engine changes, you can formulate better plans and fine-tune your SEO effectiveness for 2024. By applying Google’s new standards to your digital-marketing efforts, you’ll enhance your user experience and boost your company’s online presence.

What to Expect

SEO guidelines are continuously being revised. Whenever Google announces an update, the marketing world is left in a tizzy, debating what it means for businesses. As a self-storage operator, you must be ready to incorporate the latest SEO best practices and look ahead to future developments. As you set your digital-marketing strategy for 2024, I recommend paying attention to two things: artificial intelligence (AI) and user intent.

Conversations about the recent advancement in AI vary. Some people feel it’s a handy tool, while others consider it to be the nemesis that will someday take over the world. In 2023, AI made its first foray into serious applications for everyday use via the rollout of ChatGPT. Since then, companies including Google and Microsoft have been vying to outpace each other with service offerings.

Thus, it’s fair to wonder about Google’s official take on AI-generated content. According to Google for Developers, it’s OK to use it sparingly as long as your website provides high-quality, useful and reliable content that meets Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines.

But there’s another critical factor here: Google will be applying AI in its search results to determine user intent. The technology will help search engines become smarter. In fact, it’ll increase Google’s capabilities exponentially. Rather than simply interpret the search terms a person has entered, the aim is to identify the intention behind the query. In other words, what did the user mean to accomplish? This advancement is part of Google’s overarching objective and what the digital giant has been attempting to achieve with previous updates: to create a more user-centric experience.

Important Steps to Take

As the operator of a self-storage business, you should prepare for these digital trends and enhance the effectiveness of your SEO to meet the latest changes. It can feel daunting, especially if you aren’t well-versed in digital marketing; however, the following important but effective steps can improve your strategy.

Focus on local search. In self-storage, every property has a physical address, and a facility’s success often hinges on location. Google and other search engines use a tiered system of rank factors to prioritize local inquiries and direct the most relevant results to the user; and geographic proximity is often a major contributor. For this reason, it makes sense to pull sales leads from the immediate area. Take advantage of local marketing to optimize your company’s online visibility.

One way to do this is to leverage location-specific content full of relevant keywords. For example, you might publish an article or blog on your website about resident attractions, schools or businesses. Google can then pull from this when indexing and ranking discussion topics for a user’s search query. By executing local SEO strategies within the framework of your business, you can emerge as a top contender in search results.

Craft content for voice search. Voice-activated devices have been in broad consumer use for some time. As people increasingly use the voice-search functionality of their mobile devices, smart TVs, virtual assistants and other connected products, there will be a compelling push for voice-search optimization in 2024. This means your web content should be written in a conversational style. Consider weaving multi-word keywords into your long-form content.

Update your website. The biggest and best anchor point for your digital marketing is your self-storage website. A better site will strengthen your digital presence. Focus on high-quality content that’s relevant to users. It should be well-written, informative, and easily scannable and digestible. Images should be used as well but to enhance rather than replace written content. Just be careful about image sizes, as you don’t want pictures to reduce your website load speed.

Stay Current

The perpetual advancement of technology means you can’t rely on the same online-marketing strategies for your self-storage business each year. To successfully navigate these uncharted waters, rely on industry best practices. Look for relevant resources, including experts, newsletters and online content, to help you keep up with SEO in 2024 and beyond.

Your ability to adapt to ever-changing search-engine rank factors will impact the overall success of your marketing efforts and business. By staying on top of SEO trends, you’ll ensure that your self-storage facility not only stands out but stands the test of time.

Jeanne Dotson is marketing manager for The Storage Group, a digital-marketing agency that specializes in campaigns and online technology tools designed to improve the online presence of self-storage facilities, drive higher conversion rates and increase revenue. To reach her, call 407.392.2328, ext. 931.