The permanent thing in this world is change and so it does even on the World Wide Web. Today, there are so many facts and theories available over the web about SEO so how do you differentiate between the facts and the theories? Needless to mention that Google, is always developing and changing its algorithm. The funny thing is, you don’t have to figure out Google’s algorithm but instead, consider the live audiences. In this article, we have decided to discuss the SEO trends that have come up so far in the year 2016 starting with video and text content.

Rise in Video Content vs Written Content

In today’s digital age, online live users no longer have the time to read blogs and articles to stay informed. Mostly, they need information as fast as possible, almost in the blink of an eye. The same goes for the news, entertainment, and trending topics. Past few years and the current year, in particular, has seen a rise in visual content creation and sharing. This is where the Video Content comes in. It’s fast, straightforward, and the live audiences can follow the instructions immediately without jargons and unnecessary terminologies.

There is no doubt that the written content is king, but video content, on the other hand, might end up on the throne. Surely the demand for video content is rising but, the demand of written marketing content hasn’t exactly hit the bottom. In fact, the amount of content shared via blogs, emails, and social media channels only prove this for a fact. However, the amount of videos over the internet cannot be ignored either. As of today, there are more than 70% of live audiences who prefer to watch videos over reading. Thus, the demand for videos is clearly strong as per the internet users.

Another reason behind the popularity could be the cost. Making videos these days is cheaper as compared to the previous times. You don’t need studios and equipment anymore. In fact, by the use of your smartphone, you can make your own video that can be viral on the social media networks. Sharing and distributing videos has become very simple with sites like Vimeo, DailyMotion and of course YouTube.

Now talking about the written content, it does play a big part in marketing strategies as it is capable of attracting more audiences if marketed correctly. It also allows elaboration and nuance. It provides the information you need for instructional materials and has the ability to communicate with the audiences. Also, written content is easier to produce and it doesn’t require any tools as such.

Focusing more on mobile optimization

When talking about the latest SEO trends it is impossible to not include mobile optimization. Almost every person now uses their mobile phones to search the internet. Mobile has its different purpose, unlike computers. In fact, it is one of the most practical gadgets where you can communicate and stay connected online. Another fact that the use of mobile apps has taken the online marketing by storm. In fact, there are many companies these days that are developing or hiring developers to produce their free or paid apps. With so much happening in the mobile world mobile optimization was definitely needed for both websites and the apps because if the mobile surfing experience of your site is not good then you might just end up losing lots of potential clients. Your content might look great when it is viewed on the computer but visitors would not stay on your site for long if they have to zoom in. When your mobile experience is optimized for functionality and easy navigation, it generates affinity and trust to the users. This is why it is very important that the site is fully responsive for mobile phones in order to get traffic. People can recognize and connect with your brand easily if they are fully satisfied with their mobile experience upon your platform.

Usage of Spoken Search Queries

This SEO trend may not have become a major optimization factor yet but is definitely on the way to becoming one. Voice search simply means search engines using the combination of natural language processes instead of texts. Users will no longer have to type any text in the Google search but speak. Your website must have this kind of feature. As usual, Google will pull those websites to the front in SERP who are the most relevant answer to the spoken query. Thus, now you will see an increase in the site optimization tricks for spoken queries and How-To guides for making a spoken query friendly website. This is definitely one trend to look out for.

Social media influence and impact on the end user

Ever since social media networks were introduced to the world, it has changed the internet culture. Social media networks are very powerful tools of influence that can create an impact to your business brand and website. The current trends show that social platform search engines are trying to provide more and more content that is relevant to your likes, preferences, and geographical locations. This can be seen by users every day while looking for entertainment and news updates. Although search engines like Google do not consider social signals as a factor in rank improvement but these social signals can certainly help you in establishing authority in your field of work. In this case, even other industries aside from products and services are making the most out of the social media networks. If your brand is influential enough on social media, you can rest assured that you will create an impact on the end user easily.

Status of Local SEO in current SEO trends

Local SEO has been pertinent in building SEO strategies for a long time now and it will become even more important and stronger in future. Since search engines focus more on providing localized data to the end user they need to find where you are and what you offer. To make local search experience more effective changes have been made constantly to the search algorithms and the Pigeon update can be a good example for this. It is crucial to have a local page which includes the name of your business, address, map, services offered and promos if any.

These are probably the most discussed and talked about SEO trends in the year 2016 but if you know a few that are worth making to this list then please post your comments below.