5 Social Media & Search Engine Marketing Trends in 2016: SHIVAM

1. Mobile optimization is a must.

Last year, mobile generated more traffic than desktop and laptop search. With virtually everyone using their smartphone or tablet to find information online, it goes without saying that business owners must cater to the needs of their mobile audience to generate leads and increase conversions.

If your website still isn’t optimized for mobile, then you risk losing out to your

competitors. This is reinforced by Google’s Mobilegeddon update, which favors mobile-friendly websites.

Be sure you use responsive web design to provide the best user experience to your visitors regardless of the device they’re using.

2. Local SEO will be even more important.

With the launch of My Business, Google places even more importance to local

SEO.

There have been significant changes in how Google presents search results for local terms. Different search elements are used to provide immediate information regarding local businesses.

It is imperative to have your business listed on Google to improve search visibility. Google My Business is a great place to get started, allowing you to control multiple accounts from one central location.

3. Social posts get ranked higher.

It’s a good move to try to rank your blog posts and universal assets (videos, images, news, etc) on the results pages, but this year you shouldn’t forget to rank your social posts as well.

Many marketers are already utilizing social media to gain more visibility in search engines. When customers enter your company name, you must make sure that your social media profiles are seen on the first page. This should be further leveraged for your reputation management and monitoring. Various social media sites also now encourage long form content, most notably Facebook with their revamped Notes feature.

Various social media sites also now encourage long form content, most notably Facebook with their revamped Notes feature.

4. Dark traffic gradually becomes clearer.

If you’re using Google Analytics, then you know how frustrating it is to try to decipher dark traffic—the kind of traffic whose source you do not know. Analytics simply includes it under direct traffic. This can affect your marketing campaigns. As a marketer, you want to know as much as possible about your audience.

Thankfully, dark traffic has gradually come to light over the past few months. Digital marketers expect that this year will mark the end of dark traffic, with analytics tools getting more precise information regarding their source.

5. Link building continues to be effective (think SEO).

Many say that link building should be avoided altogether, especially after the Penguin update that demolished millions of websites last year. But links are arguably the most important ranking factor. As long as links are used by search engines for ranking web pages, they will remain effective.

Just keep in mind that when it comes to links, quality trumps quantity. Be sure your links are contextual and relevant.

Also, don’t forget to optimize your anchor text ratio. Avoid using the same keywords as your anchor text to avoid any spam detector.

Conclusion:

These trends will permeate the social media and search engine marketing landscape over the course of the year. Some of the biggest names in the industry including Google, Facebook and Twitter are already releasing new feature after new feature, improving the overall experience of their users while simultaneously keeping marketers on their toes as they try to adapt to all the changes.

By preparing for these trends, you can beat your competition and be rewarded with increased visibility and better brand awareness.

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BY : Shivam Sheoran