7 SEO Trends to Watch Out For in 2017

Searchengineland.com defines SEO as the process of driving traffic from the ‘organic’, and ‘paid’ sources to win the rat race of ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs). In today’s ever-so-competitive market, SEO is important than ever. It helps you drive quality traffic, get visibility, boost your brand and lend your business the credibility it needs to succeed. But what’s more exciting is that SEO provides better ROI than most other forms of online marketing such as PPC advertising, social media marketing, or email marketing.

But the ever-changing dynamics of the market have made the competition on the web fiercer than ever forcing businesses and marketers to become more innovative than ever before in their SEO endeavors. Everyone is in a maddening frenzy of creating SEO strategies to rank high on SERPs. So, when everyone is trying to do that, how would you stand out from the crowd? The answer is simple! You’ll need to embrace innovative, creative and upcoming SEO trends to stay ahead in the game, as explained in the SEO Techniques articles.

Here, we present to you 7 innovative, upcoming SEO trends to help you deliver maximum value and minimize the impact of ever-changing and demanding online market.

         1. The Rise of Video Content

Videos are great! In fact, a report by Marketing Land states that videos make for 62% of all Google searches universally. In addition, videos get 50 times better organic page ranks in Google as against plain, static text results. Video searches garner 41% higher click-through rate as compared to than plain, static text content, according to Relesoo.com. Given these stats, it’s not too difficult to understand why we many marketers chose to drive their modern marketing engine with the fuel of Video SEO in 2015. And we’re sure to see more and more marketers and businesses embracing videos this year too.

Video SEO strategies help you increase your engagement rate, offer convenience to extend your brand message, drive conversion rate, and of course, boost your SERP ranking. In a recent development, Google announced that it is all set to include video ads in search results. So, it is only prudent that you stay prepared with an effective Video SEO strategy aimed at ranking of your website up on search result page in 2016.

         2. The Significance of Mobile Optimization

Yep, we saw plenty of brands going mobile-friendly last year. And we’re expecting to see more brands taking up this trend in the upcoming year. With the rise in the number of mobile and tablet users, the need for better user experience for these devices has been increasing. Given that the mobile devices are likely to become more popular than desktop in the near future, it could mean that, soon, mobile optimization will become the norm, rather than exception.

And this is what’s persuading a lot of marketers and businesses to change the way they conceptualize and create SEO strategies for mobile searches.

So, ensure that mobile optimization finds a prominent place in your SEO strategies for the upcoming year to stay ahead of the curve. And in case, you’re wondering where to find effective resources for mobile optimization, a blog published at Designhill.com reveals a list of vital SEO tools and resources to make the process of mobile optimization easy for you.

         3. The Prominence of Voice Search Function

Another major change in the world of SEO will be in the realm of search modes. Today, almost all mobile devices use voice search functions. Technology is driving the change. Voice search function became a major hit with users last year. The popularity was spurred on by Microsoft, Google, and Apple coming out with their own versions of advanced voice-responsive assistants – Cortana, Google Now and Siri. This is likely to take away the pain of typing in keywords to run a search query on search engines. A fine example of this, one that represents this style, is Domino’s Pizza’s ‘voice ordering’.

We’re sure this trend will continue to take the world by storm this 2016 and traditional keyword-based queries will gradually diminish. So do well to ensure that your content is easily searchable through voice searches. Get set to find, pick and use keywords that are colloquial and conversational. In addition, optimize your site well for voice search way in advance to tap the ever-increasing number of users who prefer voice search over traditional keyword-based queries.

         4. The Value of Content Aggregation

This was a winner last year and it’s still here, the “content aggregation” trend. In an article on Digitalcurrent.com, Matthew Capala explains that Knowledge Graph, wiki, local, maps, social media, news, images and videos make for 85% of Google search results. This means that people now look for sources that provide all relevant information for a particular subject or topic under one roof. This is where content aggregation comes to your rescue!

In a blog published at imediaconnection.com, Rebecca Lieb explains that content aggregation is practical way of finding, collating, amassing, consolidating, presenting, sharing, and displaying content around pre-specified set of criteria to appeal target audience. So, do well to collect and curate content from different, high-authority sources and display it at one place for your users to see. We’re sure this technique will help you boost your SERP ranking. But refrain from stealing ideas and plagiarism. Give credit wherever necessary. Don’t infringe copyright policies. Never forget to play by these rules. Otherwise, you could end up getting your website penalized, no matter how much time and money you spend to ensure a user-friendly and easily navigable website design.

         5. The Power of Social Content

Content from social media such as Facebook and Twitter is likely to gain more importance on SERPs in the times to come. A recent report reveals that Google has already collaborated with these social media giants. So, don’t be surprised if your Facebook posts or your tweets turn up on mobile search result pages, in 2016.

We predict that in in 2016, more social media content will be indexed on Google and other popular search engines including Bing and Yahoo. This will make social content valuable. In fact, the lines between ‘web’ and ‘social media’ will begin to blur even further in terms of SEO strategies. So, get ready to find, collect and use your valuable social content to broaden your search visibility in the year 2016.

         6. The Craze of Mobile Apps

A report by Tech Crunch reveals that mobile apps account for 52% of all time spent on online digital media. Another report available on the Internet reveals that users spend 89% mobile time using apps. Given these stats, it isn’t too difficult to understand why more and more businesses are rushing to explore the advantage of mobile apps.

Reports further suggest that Google is all set to index apps for search purpose. In addition, the use of mobile for web search is on an all-time rise. Given this, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that mobile apps are sure to overpower desktop and mobile websites in 2016. People will use apps more than websites. This means that you’ll need to ensure proper links to apps for search rankings in 2016. Also, you must prioritize app optimization plans and embrace the techniques of in-app A/B testing. This also implies that you must carefully think about having an business app.

         7. The Potential of Local Search

Here’s another 2015 trend on the list that’s going strong this 2016. Entrepreneur.com reveals that local SEO is likely to gain solid grounds in the coming days. The increased complexity of Google’s local indexes is likely to increase local searches. If experts are to be believed, SERP rankings will soon be generated based on your exact location.

Since Google came out with is much-hyped “Pigeon” update, local SEO has gained significant prominence forcing businesses and marketers to focus on a local tangent. So, do well to look out for location specific keywords and personalize content basis your target audiences’ location to stay ahead in the game in 2016.

We expect these SEO trends are most likely to dominate the scene in 2016. Though some of these trends will go extinct like the dinosaurs, some of them will adapt, evolve and outlive the rest. Nevertheless, we’re sure by embracing these trends, you’ll be able to spearhead the market in the year 2016.

Did we miss out anything important? Please leave your comments and let us know.