Predictions to Planfor in 2016

Table of Contents Executive Overview

2016 Will Be the Year of Mobile

The Rise of Rich Answers

Leveraging Structured Data

Ensuring Content Answers Questions

Optimizing Geo for SEO

SEO Integration With First-Party and Third-Party Data

Next Steps

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Executive Overview

Just 2 percent of businesses are “very satis�ed” with their website conversion rates.

TeleTech 1

Search engine optimization (SEO) techniques play a

critical role in driving tra�c to company websites. But

for brands that want to boost their online marketing

performance, marketers and other decision-makers need

to keep track of cutting-edge trends and abandon old

school SEO strategies to achieve peak performance.

To succeed in 2016, marketers must pay heed to a number

of critical SEO trends, including how they go about utilizing

structured data and when it’s best to apply geographic

modi�ers. In this eBook, we have identi�ed six top trends

to watch for in 2016, along with best practices for

executing on each of them.

Source: Econsultancy’s 2014 Conversion Rate Optimization Report

Six SEO Predictions to Plan for in 2016 2

The popularity of mobile search continues to surge.

More searches now take place on mobile devices than

on desktop machines in more than 10 countries, including

the U.S. and Canada, according to Google.

As the world shifts to mobile, marketers need to pay close

attention to mobile site rankings. Google gets it – the

company changed its algorithm in April 2015 to include

‘mobile friendliness’ as a major ranking factor in mobile

search results.

“Even if an organization can’t a�ord a tool to help make

its website mobile-friendly, companies should consistently

compare desktop and mobile tra�c in order to understand

how user behavior changes between devices,” says

Travis Low, Vice President, SEO and Organic,

TeleTech Growth Services

Some simple steps companies can take to boost mobile

performance include improving page speed by making use

of browser caching and reducing redirects. Also, be sure to

use mobile meta tags to ensure search engines can crawl

each experience properly.

Trend 12016 Will Be the Year of Mobile

120.0

100.0

80.0

60.0

40.0

20.0

0.0

Billio

ns

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Desktop Mobile

113.4

85.6

U.S. Local Search Market: Mobile vs. DesktopIn 2015, mobile local search volume will surpass desktop

local search for the �rst time. By 2016, we expect mobile

to exceed desktop by 27.8 billion queries.

Source: BIA / Kelsey 3TeleTech

Six SEO Predictions to Plan for in 2016 4

Another big trend that will continue through 2016 is an

increase in rich answers in the search engine results page

(SERP). A rich answer is any e�ort by Google to answer

a query directly without requiring a click through to a

website. Rich answers are increasing in Google searches.

According to Stone Temple Consulting, 35 percent of

Google queries result in rich answers, representing a

38 percent increase since early 2015.

Rich answers typically result from queries like ‘What is

CRM?’ or “How do you pronounce gyro?” In order to earn

domain and web page authority and achieve a high ranking

in Google searches, your organization’s content should be

relevant and strive to answer those questions on topics

you want your brand to be associated with.

For instance, if your company is an online footwear retailer

and you’re looking to attract tra�c for Nike Air Jordan 9

Retro basketball sneakers, your web pages should contain

detailed information about the shoe. This includes when it

was �rst designed along with key features (foot support,

cushioning, traction). The more detailed information is

on a company’s web pages about a particular topic, the

higher the website’s search ranking will be.

Although rich answers were historically served up for

celebrity questions and other de�nitions, Google is

starting to display rich answers for technical and B2B

queries. Websites need to include content to support

these rich answer snippets.

Trend 2The Rise of Rich Answers

18.9%Rich Answers

81.1%Traditional Answers

1.7%Rich Answers

98.3%Traditional Answers

Google Bing

Custom Queries

Source: Stone Temple Consulting, 2015 5TeleTech

65 percent of search experts expect structured data to have an increased impact on SERPs into 2016.

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Structured data helps clearly label HTML which can

sometimes be confusing to search engines. When content

is formatted into HTML code, this can make it di�cult for

web crawlers to interpret the information e�ectively.

Structured data allows search engines to better understand

the information that’s on your organization’s web page and

then use this information to determine your

company’s search results listing.

“Structured data helps search engines better understand

the content on company websites and may reward these

sites with premium organic listings (rich snippets),” says

Low. By utilizing structured data, Google can determine

what your company’s web pages are about.

If a web visitor searches against a topic such as ‘top

ecommerce sites,’ the search results will display ratings,

reviews, recommendations for tools, along with rankings

by tra�c, revenue, etc. All of this information is pulled from

structured data. Brands can boost their SEO performance

by using Schema.org, a tagging vocabulary, to markup

web pages in ways that Google and top search

providers recognize.

Source: Survey of 150 search experts conducted by Moz. Six SEO Predictions to Plan for in 2016

Trend 3Leveraging Structured Data

More than half of sales and marketing professionals (54 percent) found quality content creation as their most valuable SEO tactic.

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It’s been said that “content is king” and this still holds true.

However, the way that content is written for search engines

and users may be changing. As search engines evolve, the

content that populates web pages should be detailed enough

to answer questions that people pose in search queries.

Comprehensive content will help boost your organization’s

search results listing while also positioning your brand as a

knowledgeable source of information. After all, search

engines don’t rank companies. They rank content.

For instance, a company that provides package delivery

services would want to ensure that it has comprehensive

information on its web pages regarding topics such

as ‘logistics’ and ‘supply chain optimization,’ including

de�nitions and best practices. Doing so will help improve

your organization’s search results and expose your brand

and its content to more visitors.

Source: “Inside Enterprise SEO: SEO Survey Benchmarks for Large Companies,” Conductor TeleTech

Trend 4Ensuring Content Answers Questions

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Geo-targeting your organization’s website will continue

to become increasingly important for SEO as Google’s

algorithm has become much more geo-centric. Be sure

to include city names in content, meta tags, and titles

when applicable. Another SEO strategy for geo-targeting

is to build content around other local “landmarks” in order

to create a stronger theme for the locality, as long as it

is relevant for the user.

For instance, a healthcare provider that provides medical

services in southern California can list each of the 27

cities where its nurses are available and attach those cities

to geographic regions. In this example, the healthcare

provider can pair the word “Irvine” with nearby cities

to a county level page and link that to both a “Southern

California” and a “California” page in order to tee up

relevant search results for visitors.

Six SEO Predictions to Plan for in 2016

Trend 5Optimizing Geo for SEO

Consumers Search With Local Intent Across Devices

consumers conduct local searcheson search engines. They search on:4 of 5

88%Smartphone

84%Computer/Tablet

Source: Google Think, 2014. 9TeleTech

81 percent of marketers report they generate the highest ROI from data-driven initiatives when they use �rst-party data.

Six SEO Predictions to Plan for in 2016 10

First-party data – information a company has collected

about its audience (names, addresses, phone numbers,

transactional data) – can include information that’s drawn

from website analytic platforms, CRM systems, and

business analysis tools. When �rst-party data is integrated

with display ad campaign e�orts, it can serve as a powerful

resource for paid media and retargeting opportunities.

For instance, a retailer can draw on a customer’s behavioral

data (product pages they’ve viewed) blended with

demographic data to generate an o�er based on how

customers with similar characteristics have responded.

Meanwhile, third-party data that’s distributed by data

aggregators such as BlueKai, eXelate, and Acxiom can

help supplement �rst-party data for SEO and be used for

demographic, behavioral, and contextual targeting.

“You could use both data types to tailor a message to

lost customers based on why they stopped doing business

with the company and address that in the messaging to

try to win them back,” says Low.

Source: Econsultancy, Signal.

Trend 6SEO Integration With First-Party and Third-Party Data

Next Steps

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Before embarking on any of the key trends that are driving

SEO, it’s always a good idea to have the right foundational

components in place. This includes deploying the right

tools and building out the internal company infrastructure

that’s needed to help ensure that content can boost your

organization’s website ranking.

Another crucial component to powering SEO is having

compelling content so that your brand’s website and ideas

are discovered by consumers. Optimizing content includes

the use of title tags, meta descriptions, and H1 tags, as well

as relevant tags for images.

Using the right technology and content also requires

another critical component: having the right talent in place

to maximize both of these areas. “Companies need to have

specialized resources in each of these areas because a

technical engineer isn’t going to develop content,” says

Low. “If there are skill gaps, it’s best to work with an agency

or a third party to help supplement these skills.” Top SEO

skills in demand include link building, technical optimiza-

tion, site usability, content marketing (including content

creation and content distribution), and social media skills.

Staying on top of SEO trends and adapting quickly to

change can help your brand stay relevant and catapult

online marketing performance in 2016.

TeleTech

TeleTech is a leading global provider of customer experience, engagement and growth solutions. Founded in 1982, the Company helps its clients acquire, retain, and grow pro table customer relationships. Using customer-centric strategy, technology, processes,and operations, TeleTech partners with business leadership across marketing, sales, and customer care to design and deliver a simple, more human customer experience across every interaction channel. Servicing over 80 countries, TeleTech’s 40,000 employees live by a set of customer-focused values that guide relationships with clients, their customers, and each other.

For more information about TeleTech, please visit www.teletech.com.

About TeleTech