By Trevor Mashilo, Mashilo Digital
Google’s own trend data now separates SEO from every other marketing channel. Between early June and early September 2026, searches for “seo services” climbed 9.3%, and “search engine optimisation” rose 16.2%. Over the same window, “digital marketing” as a search term fell 22.9%, with estimated volume dropping from about 601,000 to 463,000 monthly searches.
People are searching for SEO more. They are searching for marketing less. The distinction matters for any South African business funding a channel mix.
What the numbers showed in our own account
Our own Search Console data told the same story. Across the 28 days to 11 September 2026, “seo services” drew 54 impressions but no clicks, sitting at position 42. It is the most-searched channel in our data and the least executed by us. That gap is an opportunity, not a failure: the query is large, and page four is not where it needs to sit.
Compare that with our paid-search queries. “Google ads agency” pulled 54 impressions at position 22.4, also with no clicks. The demand exists, but the channel itself is shrinking.
Why the shift is real
Trend data is a poor proxy for absolute market size. What it does measure is direction. A fall of 78.7% in searches for “google ads cost” over three months does not mean Google Ads died. It means the audience that used search to price paid media has moved somewhere else, toward tools, AI assistants, and comparative formats that bypass the search box.
SEO does not have that problem. Organic decisions still start with a search query, and those queries are growing. When attention moves toward long-term, owned visibility, the channel that captures first-page rankings wins the shift.
How a business should read this
If your current plan leans on the channels with shrinking search interest, stay disciplined about attribution. Measure enquiries, not impressions. If your plan has no organic search component, the trend data says you are missing the only channel where interest is rising.
We ran this exact diagnosis against the data from our own SEO services work. The search interest is there. What matters is turning 54 impressions at position 42 into a page that earns ranking and clicks.
The short version
SEO search interest is up while other marketing queries are down. The practical read for South African businesses: do not abandon paid channels, but stop treating organic as optional. The data window is 3 months and small, but the direction is consistent across every related query we measured.
This article was researched and drafted with AI assistance, then reviewed and edited by Trevor Mashilo. Based on Google Trends data (Google search, 6 June–5 September 2026) and Search Console data for sc-domain:mashilodigital.co.za (14 August–11 September 2026).