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Seven SEO Trends in 2016, According to Forbes

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Seven Projected SEO Trends for 2016

I recently had the chance to review an article by Forbes.com regarding SEO and marketing trends for the upcoming year of 2016.

Video Content Will Overtake Written Content in ROI for B2C Industries and Brands

According to Jayson DeMers of Forbes.com, video feeds are beginning to dominate the search pages. Allegedly Google has already been experimenting with video advertising in its search results which means Vine, Snapchat, and similar video apps will hold more relevance in the coming year being that these mediums are becoming advertisement-savvy. The author notes that though this is trending and will continue to trend into 2016, full utility won’t be achieved for a few more years. Note to self: start an iDZYNS Vine and Snapchat…

Snapchat Is Our New Best Friend, Apparently

Mobile-Optimization Will Become More Important than Desktop Optimization

Now this is a trend we’ve been monitoring for some time. According to the article, the number of mobile searches surpassed standard desktop searches for the first time ever earlier this year, which comes as great news. So long as mobile searches continue to rise in number relative to desktop searches, a new and different way to approach SEO will emerge. We’re already seeing more value placed on local Search Engine Optimization which primarily promotes your site/service on the internet to local searchers. With mobile searching now on equal footing with desktop searching, I believe this trend will be a bell-shaped curve. Eventually I believe everything will come down to specific applications to access certain information, including a mobile-exclusive search engine app. We’ll see, though.

Digital Assistants

Digital Assistants Will Change the Way We Think About Search Queries

I believe this to be 100% true. We recently reviewed the Amazon Echo featuring the Alexa service platform (which you can read here), and I noticed something peculiar. When I wanted to search for information, I found myself asking Alexa a question rather than stating typical search terms, phrases, or keywords. For example, if I was at my computer, I would simply search for “World Cup Qualifier Match Schedule.” However, this is the way I was addressing Alexa: “Alexa, can you tell me the world cup qualifier results from today’s match?” As you can see, the keywords here are “World Cup Qualifier,” so that aspect does not change. But now whatever search engine Alexa used searched for my spoken string, not simply just my keywords. As we progress through this next year, I believe broad, yet relevant questions will be finding their way into Meta information on pages all across the internet.

Siri & Alexa Ain’t Got Nothin’ on Cortana…

Aggregated Content Will Diminish the Power of News and Event Coverage

When is the last time you started a news-binge or data-mining expedition by going directly to a news outlet website? Aside from Democracy Now, rarely do I visit a news site directly. Nine times out of ten, I’m being redirected to news sites via social media like Twitter and FaceBook. This is an ever-evolving trend since the inception of social media, and even these outlets have capitalized on the success of trends such as these. Twitter now showcases ‘moments’ and “while you were away” posts, substituting for what would be a daily news-brief. Though this is great for the end-user, us Marketeers will now need to focus on original content more than ever in order to stay relevant in search engines.

Let’s be Honest: This is Basically my FaceBook & Twitter Feed

Social Content Will be More Readily Indexed

Speaking of social media, this is a prospective nightmare for any SEO Specialist. More than ever, Google is increasingly indexing tweets and FaceBook posts. Henceforth, social posts should and will be considered similar to independent pages. Most of us have seen these pages, such as an independent tweet being showcased. Be prepared to work with clients much more closely on their social media regarding any SEO campaigns in the upcoming year to increase their presence in the ever-growing sea of social media content.

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Willy Wonka Understands SEO

Deep Links in Apps Will Become More Important

As I mentioned earlier, one of these days unique content will be application-exclusive–and Google is fully anticipating this. Google has indexed apps for some time, and now is definitely the time to hop that bandwagon. Deep Links, or links that refer to application content, will continue growing in importance in Google’s search indexes. As Jayson DeMers put it in the article, “If your medium-sized or larger business doesn’t yet have an app, now’s the time to create one. If you still don’t think it makes sense for your business, at least get your business listed on as many other apps as possible.

Check out the Wikipedia page for Deep Links for more information.

All of them. Every. Last. One.

Local Search Will Get Even More Local

The game for local SEO has gotten increasingly small. So small, in fact, that you now get different search results depending on the level usage of your keywords. For example, one searching for ‘guns’ on google will return a lot of generic news and probably some ads. Now a search for ‘AZ guns’ won’t particularly limit your search to Arizona, but Google will take that into account. However, searching for these two search terms on mobile, you are likely to find the gun shop just down the street from you, whether or not you live in Arizona. This is the power of Local SEO, folks. It would be wise to optimize your campaigns with local keywords and universal keywords to ensure your traffic remains as relevant to you as you do to your traffic.

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Remember: Think Global, Shop Local

Recap

2016 will bring so many new tech trends, it’ll make your head spin. Mine’s already spinning and we’re still 6 weeks away from the new year. One thing’s for certain: As we continue to onboard new clients, our work is cut out for us. Following some of the forecasts for the year, our SEO and PPC marketing campaigns will be stronger than ever.
View the original article on Forbes here.

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