2016 SEO Refresher: Terms You Need to Know to Stay Up to Date

2016 SEO - Things to KnowOne of the maddening parts of SEO is that you can never stay smug for long about how much you know.

Because what you know will soon be out of date.

If you’ve been busy hustling and have not been able to keep on top of SEO trends, this serves as a mini-refresher to make sure you’re keeping these items top of mind.

  1. Voice Search SEO

We know language, and keywords, have become more natural and conversational, especially when speaking to our handy Personal Assistants (PAs) to ask quick questions, look for directions, or find a new recipe for dinner. (Did you know that Siri showed up in 2010? Wow!) Voice search has picked up. Google recently stated that 20% of mobile queries are voice searches, and this figure is predicted to continue growing. Google’s CEO stated, “It’s not just enough to give [users] links — we really need to help them get things done in the real world.” Let’s keep an eye on this one. For more , check out my “What is Voice Marketing” 101 guide.

  1. AMP for Mobile Search

While AMP started out primarily for publishers, it’s expanded, most recently to recipe web pages. AMP FAQs states that AMP is created to show results from “news stories to videos, and from blogs to photographs to GIFs.” Here’s a great article: Are Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) Worth Marketers’ Time?

  1. App Search

According to Forrester’s research from 2015, we spend 85% of our time using apps on smartphones. And 85% of that time is spent on the following 5 app categories: social networking, TV and video, communications, games, maps/navigation and music. This is why the talk around “app search” is buzzing louder and louder. As more companies create apps, knowing this is where their target market is, marketers know those apps need to be findable as part of the ongoing quest to diversify discoverability.

  1. Social Search

Ever heard of Facebook’s Search? Facebook has started:

  • Autosuggesting content – when you start typing, Facebook is going to start offering suggestions and highlighting current news stories
  • Showing reactions and shares from friends and family about popular, timely world content and pop culture news
  • Helping you discover live video for trending topics. Facebook is also making it easier to find even more videos: “just type a few keywords into the search bar at the top of the screen to discover all sorts of videos about things that matter to you.”  Let’s see how this draws traffic from YouTube shall we?

Facebook live video

(image source)

And we know Facebook isn’t the only social media channel we are now using to replace Google. Check out my previous article discussing how consumers are bypassing Google and searching straight on sites like Pinterest.

To sum up, how do you wrap your mind around all of this? Clickz.com says it best:

One thing that’s becoming even clearer is that there’s no such thing as “being done” with your web presence. Between conversion rate optimization (CRO) and keeping up with advances in mobile and new browsers, you need to set aside significant budget for continued web development. If not, you’ll risk your competitors out-converting you and therefore out-bidding you in search and programmatic media.

More resources and reading for funsies:

https://moz.com/blog/eye-tracking-2016-how-searchers-interact-mobile-serps-desktop

http://searchengineland.com/marketers-need-know-google-assistant-google-home-250112

http://searchengineland.com/is-your-brand-prepared-for-voice-search-three-steps-to-get-the-conversation-started-247483

https://searchenginewatch.com/2016/02/22/what-will-googles-accelerated-mobile-pages-amp-mean-for-marketers/

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Jenny Munn

Jenny is an independent Digital Marketer and SEO Consultant with more than 10 years of experience helping companies and content creators generate brand awareness, traffic, and conversions with SEO. She is a frequent speaker and is on the faculty for the AMA (American Marketing Association) and has taught SEO to thousands of marketers over the past 10 years.
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