Search Engine Optimization Tips that will Shape Your Rankings in 2016

SEO techniques are changing at a rapid pace thanks to the updates that Google periodically makes to its search engine algorithm. This also means that the rankings of websites fluctuate rapidly. Although black hat search engines rankings are ‘a thing of the past’, SEO has evolved phenomenally and still works.

Here are few SEO tips that will help you stay ahead in 2016:

#1 Great Content

“Content is King!” You must have heard this phrase many times by now. However, this fact is not going to change. You do not have to worry about Google’s lethal algorithm. Develop a habit, and continue to write engaging content that entertains, informs, and entices the reader. Remember, your content is the key to attracting traffic and is very critical to achieving top rankings for competitive phrases. Inbound links are the biggest way to influence search engines. Creating incredible content that people will want to share is still the best way to earn links. Do not focus just on keyword research and stuffing keywords into text content on your website. The practice of sacrificing on creating truly engaging content will only cost you dearly in the end.

#2 Competitor Analysis

This is not a new concept, yet it continues to be one of the most overlooked aspects of SEO. Competitor analysis is the basis of SEO. Competitor analysis is nothing new, and companies have been researching their competitor’s links for years. However, by analyzing a competitor’s back-links and manually reviewing which links are high in value and noteworthy, you can perform a link outreach and try to get a link from the same site.

#3 Optimize for All Search Engines

It appears that search engines like Yahoo and Bing may slowly takeover Google’s market share in 2016. This may not happen overnight. Nevertheless, several other search engines such as Yahoo and Bing are working hard to become the default search engine on popular web browsers instead of Google. As a result, it makes sense to optimize for other search engines as well.

#4 Mobilegeddon 

By implementing mobile-friendly ranking algorithms like Mobilegeddon and the Google Mobile Friendly Update On April 21, 2015, Google has given a boost to mobile-friendly pages. Mobile SEO will continue to rise in popularity over the coming year making it important that your mobile marketing strategy is in place.

#5 Don’t just rely on Google

Google rankings may fluctuate. Although it may account for the majority of your traffic today, but what if future algorithm updates hit your website hard. What if your Google visibility, goes away tomorrow? Keep in mind that several other forms of Newsletters and subscriber-based content will help you hold on to traffic / customers no matter what search engines algorithms do. So reach out to your audience and continue to leverage content marketing by creating great content, focusing on blogs, using social media etc. — this will help you grow your audience and survive the whims and fancies of search engines.

Finally:

Search Engines have extremely powerful bots crawling the web. However, humans still do things like pick up phone and call you to get answers about your services, and they also sign up for your newsletters. Ensuring that the content on your sites is user centric and not keyword stuffed - is the best way to improve bottom-line results, and is one SEO technique that will never fail.