We all witnessed some major changes in search and content marketing in the year 2015. Those changes have made it clear that creating content, just because content is the king, will not do the trick. Instead, you are probably going to reap more benefits if your content creation is guided by search and social data. That way you can boost engagement for your brand & attract the targeted audience.

Check out five more SEO trends that command your attention as we move into a new year.

1. Optimize Mobile Apps

The year 2015 will be known for Mobilegeddon. This was the year we saw mobile searches overtake desktop searches. So as mobile usage increased, the apps usage also touched a new high. A study revealed that 52% of all the time spent on the digital media was from mobile apps only. Also, top 500 merchants generated 42% of their sales from mobile apps. These stats clearly indicate that apps have become essential for mobile user experience and that any brand with high ambitions must optimize its mobile app.

Apps should be well-designed as well as reflect the brand’s vision, objective & message clearly! Also, keep an eagle eye on ratings and reviews. If users are struggling with the usage or are facing any issues, resolve them ASAP.

2. Structured Data will play a major role

2015 was also remarkable because Google introduced “RankBrain”. The Artificial Intelligence technology that has been created to better understand the search terms; especially the new searches. It quickly became the third most important rating signal within a few days of its launch, because of its effectiveness & success in interpreting the search terms.

To utilize this not so new addition, you should focus on Structured Data. Now, depending entirely on the spiders to describe what’s inside the website to the search engine will not do the trick. Instead, use structured data markup, as it precisely explains what is on the page & thus increases communication between a website and the search engine. As a result, search engines display the website more accurately. Structured data markup also helps your rich snippets appear in every possible search result, thus increasing your click through rates.

3. Easy to navigate websites

In this cut-throat digital era, engagement is going to be the center of attraction. Since there are so many options available, people will stop by your website only if they find desired content easily available & up-to-the-mark. If your content is not engaging or if your searchers are unable to find what they are looking for, they will simply hit the back button. Did you know that you can lose 50% of potential sales if your content is hard to find for the searchers?

Your site data will help you get a clear picture of consumers’ reaction to your site.

• Check if there’s a specific page that’s not being visited?
• Is your bounce rate higher than usual?
• Do many searchers enter your site, click here and there and then leave the website?

If the answer is yes for any or all of the above questions then your website or that specific page is hard to navigate. To deal with this issue, you need to look at how your website is organized. Ensure that your website is easy to navigate and understand if you don’t want to lose any potential customers.

4. Links will become more important

It is estimated that the biggest penguin update is about to be rolled out in a few weeks. This update will clean the links that have been troubling websites since the last penguin update.

If you want to take advantage of the upcoming update instead of getting penalized by it, you should carefully look at the current link profile. Also, try to get links from reputable websites. They are hard to get, but totally worth the effort.

Remember that they have become “a Reputable website” because they have set the highest benchmarks for themselves and others.  To get links from such websites, focus on:

• Creating high-quality content
• Easy to navigate website with an awesome design.
• Guest posts on good pages.

5. Overall Content and Online Presence

In 2016, your website will be judged by its overall presence and not just by your rankings. And to increase your online presence and reflect a grand image of your digital business, consider integrating your website with the rest of the online platforms.

The social media giant, Facebook is continually working on developing a better search and overall experience for its users. It means that the content you post on social media should be searchable and that you will have to take a strategic approach towards it.

Just making a profile is not enough; you have to give attention to even the minutest details. First of all, your About Us section should be very strong, since you are introducing yourself and the company to the consumer. Use words that are easy to understand, yet compelling. Crisp copy will always do the trick so avoid adding long & complex words. Copies like “customer satisfaction is our paramount goal” is too mainstream, boring and a deal breaker. Try something unique but in a subtle way.  Make sure that your image and copy complement each other. Also, since you have to make things searchable you need to use proper hashtags. Use tools to control how your content will appear after posting it. Ensuring that your articles and other posts are mobile friendly will also help you reign supreme.

Understand that website development & social media marketing are not entirely different; in fact they are the two parts of your overall web presence.

Final Thoughts

2015 was one remarkable year from every aspect. Many big updates and events happened, which made a huge splash in the digital marketing industry. As a business owner or marketer, it is getting pretty hard to stay at the top of the latest advancements. We know that running a business and taking care of the online presence at the same time is way too hard.

But you can lower the pressure by hiring an experienced agency that is specialized in SEO & almost every other aspect of internet marketing.

Need help? We can be of assistance. Just email us at sales@ebrandz.com and let our professionals do the work for you.