Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies continuously change as Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) never stops improving and updating its search engine. Web content creators and social media managers must always be aware of the tech giant’s latest trends.
2016 has blurred the lines between “web” and “social media” because Google has been indexing regular social media content on its search result pages (SERPS). Meanwhile, users are preferring to browse via their mobile apps rather than a computer.
There are two things to keep in mind: Facebook is currently the number one visited page on the web, and Google is changing its search engines to test a “mobile first” version indexer.
The ‘vlogging’ trend
Videos get 50 times better organic page ranks in Google compared to plain text content, and regular viewers click video links 41 percent more than static text.
The most successful YouTube videos tell intriguing and original stories in a way that viewers have not seen before. February 2015’s Android “Friends Furever” ad is a great example.
Video publishers must also support their content with keywords so people who may be interested can find it. Publishers should also include a link to their websites on every video.
Prominence of social media content
Links to social network with appropriate hashtags and keywords are playing a significant role in how search engines understand which websites are credible and relevant.
76 percent of marketers are using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+ to boost and support SEO strategies. Meanwhile, Google is indexing more and more content from social media to their search engine queries.
Mobile SEO trends
People are using all kinds of devices to access content. Tablets, smartphones, laptops, phones and even watches are becoming the standard navigation gateways.
Mobile search is growing up to 43 percent every year, while most smartphone users are searching for local business information and product reviews.
To see it in numbers, over 1.2 billion people access the web from their mobile devices, and 4 out of 5 customers shop through their smartphones. Google knows this and gives mobile friendly sites a ranking boost on its indexers.
Apps are trending as well. Mobile apps account for 52 percent of all time users spent on online digital media, according to Tech Crunch, and 85 percent of people prefer native mobile apps to websites, according to SearchEngineJournal.
Likely, voice search is a must, and web creators must learn to develop their sites with voice search in mind. The trend is becoming almost as important as selecting the appropriate keywords.
Content aggregation, quality content and SERPS alternatives
Search engines are giving priority for content sources that provide all the relevant information users need in a single place. But because Google’s SERPS will always prefer pages with lots of trust and authority, small companies can link their quality content on content aggregators. These are communities sharing and discussing content and online marketing ideas.
Some of them are Alltop, BizSugar.com or Inbound.org. Otherwise, webmasters can join niche communities on Google +, share their content on the site and provide useful information about their products and services.
Q&A sites like Quora and Yahoo Answers also offer an excellent opportunity to generate high traffic, but only if the creator can provide a real solution to a genuine problem.
Source: Business2Community