SEO trends for 2016 – yes, already…

Yes, it’s only August and a ‘2016’ titled post has already appeared. Apologies. But as 2015 has whizzed by Google has not failed to live up to its reputation for SEO shocks, twists and turns. Over the past 8 months websites have been hit for mobile unfriendliness and web marketers have become increasingly focused upon the ever more important social media element of their strategy.

So, as every savvy marketer knows, preparation is everything when it comes to getting ahead in the Google rat race – here we outline four ground shaking trends to prepare for as of 2016.

1. Company mentions via social media will become as authoritative as links

Links will remain important (that is where these links are naturally placed upon valuable online sources), however mentions via social media will become increasingly powerful and 2016 could well see them approach becoming as important as links for SEO ranking.

2. Google will go even further on mobile un-ready penalties

For the websites that remain unresponsive and designed only for desktop rather than for mobile up, there lies an ever more uncertain future of Google penalties ahead.

3. Google may shift from Google+ to Twitter and Facebook for social signs

Google will be shifting away from the (not so very popular…) Google+ platform for social signs and will increasingly draw from the unparalleled popularity of Facebook and Twitter.

4. Black hat practices are about to become all the more serious

It has been no secret that Google has been hitting bad SEO practices hard over the most recent years, however 2016 and beyond looks set to see Google locking down even further on black hat practices (such as mass link buying, social media follower purchasing and spam forum, blog and comment posting).

Google is always chopping and changing its algorithm and these SEO moves could be among the biggest ones yet.