Will the SEO solutions used in 2015 be effective in 2016? | Weboptim
The world of search engine optimisation is changing, with something new emerging every month that changes our practices and forces us to reassess our priorities.
While the solutions that will work well in 2010 are very different from today, we believe that some of the practices will be effective until the end of time.
But as 2015 draws to a close, it's important to look at which elements of your SEO campaigns will be usable in 2016 and which will be lost due to a change.
What changes?
In 2015, we witnessed a number of changes in search engine optimisation, from a reduction in the number of ranking factors to changes in visibility.
We can use these changes to retrospectively determine Google's priorities and use them to estimate what to expect in the near future:
Social media will play an even more important role in searches
Currently the social media plays only a minimal role in determining the ranking, although its indirect role is likely to be significant. Stronger social signals (such as sharing) may help to achieve better rankings to a small extent, but social media is more likely to generate traffic to our website as a large external channel.
However, Google and other search engines are constantly working to include social media in searches. Twitter posts, for example, are already appearing in search listings.
This trend looks set to continue in 2016, with the visibility of social media posts in searches set to increase, but even this is unlikely to have a direct impact on rankings.
Desktop-to-machine SEO is losing ground
In 2015, the mobile traffic has already surpassed the amount of website traffic coming from desktop computers, Google has released the so-called. Mobilegeddon update.
So 2015 was the year of mobile, and 2016 is set to be no different. Google CEO John Mueller statedthat sites with a mobile-only interface will not be penalised in the ranking.
Information-based content is becoming less/less important
Content providing general information becomes obsolete. This is partly due to the fact that content found online is becoming oversaturated and new technological developments such as Google Knowledge Graph.
Today, digital assistants and advanced algorithms can answer users' questions without navigating them to an external site.
So instead of general information, the focus is increasingly on niche, specific topicswill be needed.
External links will change
The importance of links to websites has gradually declined, but new forms of link building have emerged. A brand mentions, which do not use explicit links and off-page reviews are new forms of off-page optimisation.
More forms of linking will emerge in 2016, such as in-app links.
Local SEO will continue to evolve
More regional SEO changes are expected in 2016, thanks to the development of wearable technology, greater activity by local businesses and changes in overall consumer demand.
A reviews and the citations will become increasingly important, and geographic searches will become more specific, serving the city and its surroundings even better.
What remains the same?
A lot will change, but some practices will still be effective for a few years.
Content remains king
Despite the declining importance of information-based content, the unique, quality content will continue to be useful. People need opinions, comments, entertainment. We must continue to provide them with that.
On-site optimisation is still about user experience
Some on-site factors are increasing in importance, others have decreased. website protection will be a more important consideration than before.
But the point is that the tricks within the site focus on the user experience. If they make the site faster, safer and easier to use, they might be good for search engine optimisation (or if not, they might improve conversion rates).
Authority building is still important
To build a reputation, you need off-page signals such as inbound links, social signals or reviews.
Although the types of incoming links vary, the brand mentions, the off-site lists and the consumer reviews, as new forms of off-site authority building, will remain. The more relationships we build, the more effective we can be.
Summary
There are many best practices to consider when (re)designing your SEO campaigns. But the above covers the top priorities. However, there is a significant degree of uncertainty surrounding these predictions, as past trends and patterns do not necessarily dictate the future, which is influenced by a myriad of unseen factors.
One thing is certain: search engine optimisation in 2016 will not be the same as in 2015. Technologies, systems and trends are changing too quickly to support any one goal or practice for too long.
Be aware of the changes in the industry, and when change comes, adapt.
Source: searchenginewatch.com