Numerous changes affected the SEO industry in 2015. As 2016 approaches, marketing managers and agencies are reviewing the impact that the previous year had on their performance, drawing conclusions and planning their next step. The industry in 2015 is virtually unrecognizable from that of 2010 for example, and the next year will bring even more changes. As we move toward 2016, we should take a quick look at what can we expect in the next year when it comes to SEO trends.
1. CRO (Conversion rate optimization)
Conversion rate optimization is a method of using analytics and customer feedback for improving the performance of one’s website. It can actually be utilized to improve any website metric, but it is often associated with obtaining new users, downloads, registrations, etc. Basically, it is primarily used for recognizing what the customers are looking for when they click on a website, in simple terms, and if you are running an ecommerce website this is probably something that you are familiar with. While SEO experts are able to drive traffic, CRO is great at engaging visitors. Recognizing this, many businesses are embracing CRO; as a matter of fact, Venture Beat recent reports stated that conversion rate optimization is becoming a crucial part of every marketing strategy.
2. Local Search
This trend was expected to go off this year, but the SEO market analysts are predicting that the trend will explode in 2016. As the competition increases, owners will have to find smaller target niches in order to reach relevant visibility. One of the best ways to achieve this is to optimize more locally. Moreover, as the percent of mobile searches grow yearly, most of the mobile searches are performed on the move. With the emergence of wearable gadgets, such as Apple Watch, on the go searches will be performed even more frequently, with even more urgent needs.
3. Google’s battle with Content Algorithms
For the last couple of years, Google is going after content farms – a common name for low-grade websites whose one and only objective is to draw search traffic by hoarding meaningless content taken from various other websites with original content. These subtle changes in the search engine’s algorithm will be unnoticeable to average users, but they are expected to improve the search results drastically. Therefore, in 2016, if you are a marketer looking to improve your rating, you should make sure that the content you are providing is unique, well written and interesting. Gathering content from different sources will only lead to low ranking and potential penalties.
4. New Phases of SEO
In the following year, the world of search engine optimization is ready to take a giant leap forward. Depending on the customer’s journey, companies and marketers are expected to put together different strategies and methods to categorize SEO into different categories. Creating an SEO strategy now will include a distinctive campaign for each step of the customer’s journey. For instance, the customers at the start of their journey and the ones at the end are targeted through different sets of keywords. In addition, customer behavior attributed to website use and conversion will be acknowledged and taken into account. In simple terms – if you’ve neglected your SEO strategies for any reason at all, it’s time to pick up the paste or face extinction in the world of contemporary business. If you are not sure about the current state of your website, test your web presence with this website SEO checker. Might serve as a great starting point.
Let’s not forget the latest mobile friendly Google update. If your website isn’t responsive you are probably losing significant traffic. It is evident that standards are changing and increasing by the day so it will certainly be a daunting task if you are on a mission to follow up on all the latest SEO trends.