The SEO industry has experienced a lot of changes in the past year, and SEO professionals are expecting even more changes in the future. Our annual State Of SEO report contains data from more than 3,600 SEO professionals about their experiences over the past year and what they expect for the future. This report answers your most pressing questions about the SEO industry, including how SEO pros are reacting to changing technology and consumer dynamics. The two activities that participants spent the most time doing this year were technical SEO and SEO strategy and planning. This is likely in response to Google updates that have prioritize website speed, security, and stability. It's possible that businesses are also refocusing on technical basics after the huge growth of digital channels. SEO experts are expecting big changes and challenges in 2014 due to the increasing use of AI and machine learning by ad platforms and search engines. This will cause a loss of customization options for ad campaign managers, who will have to rely on algorithms to make changes based on performance data.
(source: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/state-of-seo-survey-data-ebook/467630/)