2016 is going to be an exciting year for SEO and it is just the beginning of what the future will hold. If you aren’t ready, your window may be closing to get found online.
Below are 5 SEO Trends for 2016 and Beyond:
Page Tagging
This isn’t really new, but page tagging has always been and will always be a key element for SEO. Page tagging means ensuring that your site has all of the proper components such as Titles, Descriptions, H tags etc. The more structured your site is and the more properly formatted it is in the eyes of search engines, the higher it will rank in search results. If you haven’t implemented proper page tagging yet, you better make it a priority in 2016.
Conversion Optimization
The main purpose of basically any website is to convert. Each site is different may have unique conversion goals or multiple conversion goals, but at the end of the day, their sole purpose is to convert. Some sites simply want to make money from paid advertising, other sites want a form to be submitted to request a quote, and others want to generate revenue through sales.
Regardless of your niche or business goals, your site needs to be great at converting. 2016 will be all about analyzing data and using that data to optimize conversion rates. The better your site converts, the more likely it will succeed in 2016 and beyond.
Local Search
If you own a small business you understand how important local search is to your success. As Google advances, local search is becoming even more advanced and being found online can make or break everything you have worked so hard to achieve.
One way that can help with your local search results is to implement schema markup on your website. Schema helps search engines understand what your business is about and where you are located and is a slightly advanced way of communicating with the search engines that are constantly crawling your website. 2015 was just the start of local search and it will be essential for ranking in 2016.
Voice Search
Mobile devices make up more than 50% of all traffic online and the majority of those searches are from smartphones. This is why making sure your website is ready for voice search is so important. Things like Siri are a perfect example is why. More and more people are using voice search on their smartphones when looking for solutions and if your site answers those questions better than your competitor, you will generate more conversion.
Content is Still King
Content isn’t just about writing articles or blogs and stuffing them with keywords you are targeting. Content in 2016 is about having diverse, informative, and exciting elements on your website. Some ideas that will help with rankings are amazing PDF’s, infographics, videos, images, interactive content, online quizzes or anything that will keep users engaged. Think outside the box when creating content and think about things that your customers will want to see.