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Google’s primary goal of providing the most relevant answers to a search query will not change in 2016.
However, some changes in technology and the behavior of Internet users will lead to an improvement in the search engine optimization strategy.
Understanding them will help you make the right decisions for your business or team.
Read on to see some of the top focus areas in SEO for 2016.
Related Article: 6 Toxic SEO Habits You Should Stop Today
Mobile is making the difference
Many mobile users have switched to verbal search phrases as they speak into their phones instead of typing on a keyboard. These verbal search phrases may differ from written ones because the spoken query contains more errors and colloquialisms.
One way to ensure a business appears in mobile search results in the age of spoken query is to use structured data or “rich snippets” in your website code. Google, Bing, Yandex and Yahoo collaborated to create schema.org, a markup for HTML that improves the way your page is displayed in the SERPs. Add signals around important pieces of metadata that send better signals to Google with a confusing query or one that uses colloquialisms or errors. Making sure your website contains these rich snippets will put you ahead of the competition in 2016.
Gratifying the search engines doesn’t stop with a better coding structure. To satisfy their own on-the-go users, search engines want any company’s information to be easily accessible on all types of devices.
Search engines want to provide the best answers And they do it at the convenience of their users, whether they are in the car with a phone, in front of the TV with a tablet or at their desk at work. Google has made it clear that websites without smartphone and tablet friendly interfaces will drop in the rankings, and most digital marketing agencies and companies have seen this warning come true. Once in the realm of art and conversion, website design now also dramatically affects search optimization.
This demand to redesign a site often seems unfair, as a website overhaul can be expensive. However, if customers are using smaller screens, it only makes sense for companies to comply. After all, studies by major advertising agencies such as Nielsen and MDG Advertising reveal that a mobile search is 61 to 80 percent likely to result in a sale for local businesses. Google’s change to display the first three local search results instead of the previous seven indicates that it is also focusing on the mobile user.
Despite the takeover of mobile (the smartphone is the most widespread device in the world), most businesses, especially smaller local shops, have not converted their websites to a mobile-friendly design. If you’re not sure if your site is mobile-friendly, Google will make it clear with their “Mobile testing tool.” DEnter your web address and in seconds it will tell you if your links are set too close together, if the text is too small to read on a phone, and if your viewport is set up for mobile or not.
Related Article: The Value of the Keyword: Why It Matters in Content Marketing
Evolution of contents in 2016
Content boosts SEO and rankings by attracting backlinks from quality websites. Search engines see the backlink as a vote of trust or respect for the article/website. The more and better a website links, the higher it will rise in the ranking and the better the visibility.
Despite the popularity of video and images, content will always have a place in effective search engine optimization. Google’s zero moment of truth Research tells us that the average customer reviews ten pieces of content before purchasing. Other studies tell us that the B2B consumer’s content consumption habits allow them to be 65 to 90 percent certain which marketer they will patronize before making the first call.
Up until this point, companies have struggled to get content, any content. With their teams in place now, they will begin to deliver more robust and quality content to their audience. In addition, they will better segment their audience to deliver more personalized content to each. These moves are designed to boost your backlinks and overall SEO efforts.
With the rise of low-cost, easy-to-use video platforms like Periscope, Instagram, Blab, and Vine, companies will replace some of their written content with video. These videos will begin to appear on a blog and social media posts/product pages and will eventually overtake the written word as the dominant form of content. Google, itself, is now experimenting with video ads in search results.
Social Networks and Search in 2016
How social games in search can be complicated. Google search experts Matt Cutts and Jon Mueller have said that social signals do not play a role in ranking. Perhaps not directly, but further exploration shows that they do so indirectly. A social presence drives traffic to pages and traffic is the fifth most important factor. After all, the more people see and share your article, the higher your page rank will be.
Also, Google treats each social media post as a page for search, but the sheer volume of content prevents it from getting the last tweet or post. Still, most experts agree that in 2016 Google and other search engines will index more posts on social media channels.
Getting an outside opinion helps. Look for Moz’s HQ 2015 Search Ranking Factors Report finds that social signals are the ninth “correlative quality” or important factor for high search rankings. Moz researchers can’t go beyond the walls of Google Castle to get the exact formula, so they do correlative studies. They study the amount of social activity compared to a website’s ranking and other factors to determine how social impacts SEO.
Google is certainly aware of the importance of social media to shoppers. Lori Wizdo of Forrester explains that for every piece of content a potential B2B buyer consumes from your website, they go elsewhere for three more. They get this content from social media, review sites, and search. If buyers are making decisions through social media, Google needs to take that into account. Finally, the relevance of social media to search engine optimization is still a matter of debate, but we conclude that it has an impact.
Related Article: How a Utah Moving Company Conquered Local SEO, and You Can Too
Application optimization will increase in 2016
With so much accessing the internet via mobile, a company’s application code becomes more important than ever. Search engines want your app code to be easy to crawl and will look more closely at “deep links” that point to specific pages in your app. All medium and large businesses should consider investing in their own app.
The ways in which the search engine ranks websites will inevitably evolve and change. Stay on top of these changes in 2016 to increase your rankings and make your website more relevant.
What SEO changes did you make in 2015? What do you plan to do in 2016? Let us know in the comments.
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