How Will SEO Change in 2016?

06 Jan How Will SEO Change in 2016?

Now that 2016 is here, the question isn’t if the search engine optimization (SEO) game is about to change, but how. Here are just a few predictions.

Long Tail Keywords Will Get More Important.
There’s a pretty good chance that long tail keywords are about to get more important, because people are already changing how they search. Digital assistants — like Android’s Google Now and Apple’s Siri — are actually useful nowadays. As more and more people use these digital assistants to search mobile, long tail keywords, such as “where’s the closest pizzeria,” will become almost as important as target keywords, like “local pizzeria.”

Content Is Going to Get Longer.
Content is still king, and it probably will remain so in 2016. After all, previous research shows that companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages, that 72% of marketers believe branded content is more effective than magazine advertising, that 69% of marketers say it’s superior to PR or direct mail, and that blogging increases web traffic by 55% for brands. On the other hand, while the amount of branded content increased by 78% in 2014, engagement with each piece decreased by 60%. That doesn’t mean it’s on the way out, though. Long-form content — pieces that are over 1,500 words — gets shared more often, which makes it likely that content is going to get longer.

Mobile Web Design Is Going to Seal Its Dominance.
Mobile traffic has been growing year after year. Last year, mobile searches exceeded desktop searches at long last. Given the way things have been going, odds are that mobile web development is going to get even more important. In fact, Google has even gone so far as to say that a desktop-specific website isn’t even required anymore. If your website designers have optimized your site for mobile devices, then you’re going to do much better than those who haven’t, because they’re probably going to be hurting this year.

These are just a few of the SEO predictions people are making about this new year. If you have any questions, feel free to share in the comments.