The AI revolution has changed the way people search! Businesses used to focus on Search engine optimisation or SEO to gain organic traffic. As digital marketing flourished globally, users have shifted to AEO or Answer Engine Optimisation. While SEO and AEO might sound similar, they serve unique purposes for boosting the right traffic visibility. Businesses looking to boost their brand have shifted their digital marketing strategies from SEO based content to SEO-friendly content. Here is why: 

What is SEO? 

SEO is search engine optimisation used to rank websites on search engines. It is simple, stuffing keywords to ensure the right traffic words are added to the content, making it more visible to the users who search for it. 

SEO focuses on key areas:

• Optimising Keyword: Using popularly searched keywords in your content. 
• Building Backlinks: Linking credible websites to our content to boost the scale of visibility.
• Technical Search Engine Optimisation: Working on site optimisation for faster loading and a solid, user-friendly structure. 
• Content Quality: Uploading researcher and original content for users to engage with. 

What is AEO?

AEO is Answer Engine Optimisation. It is a new concept shaped by how people search for content online. Instead of completely focusing on keywords, it works on voice search prompts and answer boxes with summaries. It helps to frame the content to directly answer the user's question.  

AEO focuses on key areas:

• User Intent: It helps to create content which is framed according to the user's intent. It answers specific questions respectively.
   
• Structured Data: It uses codes which help the search engines to understand the user's requirements.
   
• Voice Search Optimisation: Voice search gained popularity as digitalisation scaled. To capture the market of voice searches, businesses have started to upload content with the help of virtual assistants like Siri or Alexa.

AEO vs SEO

To make it easier to understand, Answer Engine Optimisation helps websites get selected for finding the right answer, while Search Engine Optimisation helps websites get higher visibility in search engines. Here are the key differences between AEO and SEO:

Why is SEO for Students Essential?

SEO is the foundation of digital marketing. Students who want to explore a future in digital marketing need to decode SEO practices to ensure their best performance. 

• SEO helps to build skills in understanding the performance of your content and conversion from clicks to clients for every project. 
• It helps to learn about analytic tools which ensure that you can understand the outcomes of your practices. It explains user behaviour, conversion metrics and high-demand keywords which can boost your visibility and popularity in your niche. 
• Working on SEO boosts your portfolio, which can make you a better fit for multiple career opportunities. 
• Knowledge about SEO practices is essential to understand the AEO growth and application strategies. 

Why is AEO for Businesses Essential?

AEO is the future of user search practices. With the advancement in technology, customers have shifted their search methods to voice-oriented practices. To capture this market shift, Answer engine optimisation is required for business development.

• The rise of AI assistants has changed users' ability to find better and quicker answers through voice searches. 
• Business visibility in AI answer bots boosts their reliability and brand credibility among clients. 
• Precise answers help customers to trust the business and build customer trust on the site. 
• AEO is an efficient marketing practice which reduces the resources spent on ads by directly appearing on voice searches.

Digital Marketing strategies combining both AEO and SEO

Smart marketers choose to balance SEO and AEO. They don’t choose a single practice. Moreover, they integrate them to get the best results for their digital marketing strategies. Here is the step-by-step guide on how to integrate AEO and SEO in your practices:

1. Including keywords in questions and their answers combines both traditional and modern approaches to gain users' visibility. 
2. Content can be structured to combine both long-form SEO articles withshort-form AEO FAQs to complete the website structure. 
3. Using bullet points, snippets, and tables in content can help to optimise the content and make answer detection easier for users. 
4. Technical SEO helps to ensure your website performs faster and becomes user-friendly.
5. Monitor your performance ranking via SEO and ensure your snippet visibility via AEO for better content structuring. 

Conclusion 

The discussion for AEO vs SEO is no longer optional. Students who focus on traditional digital marketing strategies leverage SEO, while new era businesses are leveraging AEO. Both strategies are used for visibility, user ease and digital presence, why not combine both? SEO can help you to be visible to your target audience, while AEO ensures you answer their queries accurately. By blending both the business and students, they can merge their learning to make a powerful digital presence that is future-proof and built to last.