Has SEO (Search Engine Optimization) played a role in your business over the last few years? If it has and you’ve spent any time reading about this subject, you’ve likely come across articles that proclaim the death of SEO. Although that topic is always a popular one for people who are looking to generate some extra views, it’s something that gets repeated year after year.

The reality of this type of marketing is as long as consumers are using search engines to research things they need and make purchases, SEO will be around. That’s why you won’t find any mention of the “downfall” of SEO on our list of its current state in 2016. What you will find are some suggestions based on the very dynamic nature of search engine optimization. So with that in mind, here’s the direction this strategy will continue moving over the course of this year:

1. B2C Video Content

Written content has been the online standard for both B2C and B2B marketers. However, 2016 marks a shift for those in a B2C space. Due to the falling cost of video production and the ability of this type of content to reach consumers through Google and other channels, video will start to provide a better ROI for B2C businesses. While the same won’t be true for the B2B space this year, that doesn’t mean companies shouldn’t think about getting on the path now that will eventually be followed.

2. Mobile Search Engine Optimization

It’s now common for websites to receive more than half of their traffic from mobile devices. That’s why mobile SEO best practices like responsive design will become a default for business instead of an afterthought.

3. Social Content

You may have noticed that over the last year or so, Google searches often yield results from Twitter or Facebook’s platforms. While it took longer than many industry analysts thought for Google to get serious about indexing social content, they’re committed to it now and will continue to expand their scope during 2016.

4. Deep Links in Apps

In addition to indexing social content, Google is making it a priority to index content from apps via deep links. So if your business utilizes any type of mobile app, making it organized and crawlable will be very important this year.

5. Digital Assistants

People are getting more comfortable with speaking to their phone and asking it to search for things. This behavior is now expanding to other devices like Amazon Echo. Since these types of searches involve natural language, SEO strategies will need to take this shift into account.

If you want to ensure that your SEO efforts in 2016 keep you ahead of the curve, learn more about how Web Strategy Plus can help your business.