With the launch of Google’s Mobilegeddon, the role and significance of mobile SEO has increased like never before. At the beginning, mobile SEO was less about responsive design and more about WAP and XHTML. The apps were not able to be indexed and were mostly confined to app stores. If the web pages were formatted for the mobile searchers, they didn’t rank any higher in the search results.

Since the beginning, mobile SEO has evolved a lot and is going to do so in the current year as well. Listed below are 5 most important changes that will rock the mobile SEO in 2016. It would be great if you will take relevant measures before so that you can stay ahead in the competition.

1. Mobile-Friendly is going to rule

It is not necessary that all your searches and queries will come from mobile devices but a major chunk will surely come from it. With the Google’s mobile update, websites are compelled to make mobile-friendly content for better results. Since the number of queries directed from the mobile device is increasing, Google is tailoring its search results for mobile devices. With more people switching to smartphones for their internet needs, it is gaining momentum. If you are still not having a mobile-friendly website, it’s high time for you to integrate it and reap the benefits.

2. Make Way for Mobile Index

Since 2015 Google has started giving mobile-friendly content more preference in smartphone search results. Google is surely going to come up with a mobile index which will allow it to rank mobile sites differently from desktop sites. If this will be put on the floor, the whole idea of mobile SEO will change. By giving the searchers a platform-specific experience, you will give them the best experience ever. Moreover Google will rank the content of the site higher as compared to the sites whose content is not optimized for smartphone searchers.

3. App Redirect Spam will become outdated

The mobile index will eliminate app redirect spam in the search results. With the mobile index, Google would be able to see what was shown in the Search Engine Land long time ago. There are sites which though appear to be friendly to mobile searchers may have different content which will frustrate the mobile users to go elsewhere. It is expected that with the launch of mobile index in 2016, ultimate-guitar.com will be prevented from ranking for smartphones queries for which the user is forced to download the app first.

4. Being Responsive is not everything for SEO

Though having a responsive website is good for user-experience, it is not a factor for having an advantage for SEO. Do not get carried away by the claims of various SEO experts that being responsive is a must in 2016. There is no doubt that being responsive can be good for your audience and your site but it is not the only option you have. There are many other options for mobile configuration which have a positive impact on SEO. If mobile index will be launched, better options will pop up for showing the content regardless of the device used.