In 2016, SEO is moving in the direction of speaking to its users directly, and calling people in. SEO is focusing on what your visitors have to say about your site and that is the direction google is going in.
Below are the most important SEO factors that you should care about in 2016, and how taking them into account may change your ranking scores for the better.
First is usage data; this information focuses on the visit and conversion methods and it looks at what people are doing on your site. For example, identifying bounce rate and dwell time. Dwell time, is a new aspect of usage data that you should care about because it identifies the amount of time a visitor is spending on your site, as well as on each page. Google aims to look at your site as a whole rather than indexing each page separately. Looking at this information allows you to get a feel for what pages your visitors are naturally attracted to.
The second SEO Factor is perceived value. SEO is more about what visitors think about your website, rather than what google thinks about it. More traffic = More value, the more your name comes up the higher the number of visitors to your site will be. This naturally will lead to higher lead conversation, and again higher traffic.
We cannot express enough how important it is to have a mobile friendly site for rankings. 50% of your users are on mobile phones! The domination of mobile users has commenced and Google is no stranger to letting you know that you should get on board. It has even taken steps to make sure you are, or else you will be penalized. More so, you are more likely to get punished by your users anyway since more than 50% are actively searching on mobile.
The Tone of your website talks and speaks volumes. The tone you are setting for your visitors, and how easy it is for them to understand it is important because it is the means you use to communicate with them. This goes into your readability score. For example if you are writing lots of complicated content for a site mostly meant for images and videos, you won’t receive a good readability score. Reason being is you have to keep the visitor interested on your site and cater to their needs and wants.
These SEO Ranking Factors for 2016 are important for anyone looking to better their ranking numbers. If you notice, most of the factors have to do with how you communicate with the user. Are you speaking to your audience in such a way where they are going to respond? That is what google is looking for in 2016.