5 SEO Fundamentals For 2016

Welcome back to Excellence Expected, folks. We’re jumping straight into January with an update on the world of SEO. Now, SEO (or search engine optimization) has always been a tricky subject. Mainly because Google has a habit of changing its algorithm annually. That makes it difficult for marketers to keep up.
Luckily, we’ve always been the first to follow Google’s updates, and 2016 is no different. As you know, we’ve been winding up for 2016 for a while! We certainly don’t want you to get caught with outdated SEO techniques. Or worse, penalised for doing so. With that in mind, what are the SEO fundamentals for 2016? Let’s take a look.
Keyword research
Keywords remain as important as they ever were. Remember, Google is looking for relevancy. Spotting particular keywords is still it’s number one priority. But, things have become a little more sophisticated over the past twelve months. As well as identifying one or two core keywords, you need an extensive list of ‘long-tail keywords’. These are all the surrounding words or phrases that are relevant to you. It’s all about casting a wider net.
On-page SEO
Once you’ve got these keywords prepared, and ready to go, what are we going to do with them? Well, as always, they need careful placement around your site. Try to ensure that your headers are filled with both core and longtail keywords. Insert them in your blog content (introductory paragraphs are best). Finally, get under the hood, and place them in your metadata, image tags, and coding.
Linking
Linking remains a controversial topic in the world of SEO, but it is still a vital practice. It’s still the only way that Google identifies your authority and reputation as an information source. However, the focus is now on quality of links, rather than quantity. There are also a few outdated practices to avoid (e.g. using anchor text). In 2016, you need to learn how to judge a link, and its quality. Linking is still the best way to build authority, but aim for high quality, relevant links only.
Website performance
So far, we’ve looked at the core aspect of SEO, including techniques you’re probably already using. Now, we’ll look at how Google’s algorithm is growing smarter. Specifically, Google are now looking at how well your website performs, particularly its load speed. Naturally, Google don’t want to send its users to a slow website (it makes them look bad). With that in mind, take steps to speed up your site. Loading up within three seconds is your goal here.
User experience
Search engines are even looking beyond performance, and into user experience. How easy to navigate is your website? Are users finding the information they came looking for? Google measure this by looking at your analytics. I.e. what’s your bounce rate? How long are people staying on your site when they arrive? Focus on improving the user flow and experience on your website as a priority this year.
As you can see, Google’s algorithm is getting smarter. That means you need to adapt to stay up to date!