The Top 8 SEO Trends in 2016 (Infographic)

Evolution… a term that can describe what may transpire in the world of SEO in the coming year. 2015 is nearing conclusion so all eyes are keen on knowing the hottest trends and developments in stock for the coming year.

2015 has been a big year for SEO. Businesses and digital marketers took more notice now on the power of mobile with the rolling out of the much-awaited Mobilegeddon algorithm updates. Local rankings have been overhauled with the switch to the 3-pack results, similar to mobile searches, a strong move towards aligning desktop and mobile user interfaces. On top of that, the introduction of the new algorithm update on content quality and other minor updates, are shaping the future of search.

As digital marketers review the impact of these changes on the ranking performance, they should also brace themselves for major changes in search in 2016. So, what are the trends and shifts businesses should expect to see in 2016?

1. Dark Traffic Coming to the Light

Pubcon and SMX East are two of the largest SEO conferences in the USA. A great deal of insights and takeaways can be derived from these proceedings that can set the trends for SEO in the coming year. The Link-Assistant.com blog went out of their way to document and publish a guide to some of these insights and takeaways.

2. Gain Prominence with Rich Answers

There is a 38% increasing trend in how Google’s search results are returning Rich Answers according to a study conducted by Stone Temple Consulting. These are direct answers to user’s search queries that are derived from public domain data or from information that are already licensed to Google – and usually appear at the top of search results.

3. The Double-Algorithm Approach to SEO

To better provide search users with what they need, Google is on the move towards delivering search results that utilize user behavior as a significant ranking factor based on previous SEO experiments performed.

Want more? Check the infographic below.

Embedded from CJG Digital Marketing.