Every year, digital marketers poise their pens to scribble down marketing trends they think website owners should engage in for the following year.

Most suggestions are predictable, others verging on ridiculous and the rest copied from other sources.

These lists can offer valuable insights – so please check out our marketing predictions for 2016 here – the crystal ball of online marketing! Oh come on, we got in early, it counts.

We also thought it might be amusing to take a look back over this year’s predictions. And we were right – it was amusing! Check these out!

Misunderstanding semantic search

Semantic text is supposed to understand the context of search terms and improve search results. Google spokesman, Matt Cutts said the Hummingbird algorithm will affect 90% of all searches. It does, but not always in a good way.

When you type search terms into Google, Hummingbird considers user interests and throw up results based on their previous search history. And some results look like they have literally been thrown up. They’re a right mess!

You could argue that search engines have made a Googley by inventing an “intuitive” search system in the first place. But then again, marketers have not worked out they need to tweak their content so it matches broader search terms.

The problem is, marketers are still focusing on keywords – and that strategy went out with flared jeans.

The new expression for keywords is “co-occurring” words so if you have a product that has the same name as an animal let’s say, there is an opportunity to feed on searches for said animal.

Outreach

When Google smashed link building with the deadly Penguin algorithm and disallowed back links from third party sites, everyone and their grandma declared guest blogging was dead.

As a consequence, there are a lot of SEO agencies wearing mourning black and missing out on great opportunities for their clients. More fool them.

Outreach still presents the opportunity for brands to build an online profile and position themselves as an authority in their industry.

Online success requires trust, and there are few SEO techniques online that scream “trustworthy” more than brands strutting their stuff in industry magazines.

Low quality blog content

Search engines demand quality content. So do readers. Yet there is still an awful amount of poor quality content being published across the web.

The main reason for this is because online businesses are making one of two mistakes.

Firstly, they are publishing content too often, but do not have the budget to pay good writers. So they pay low for cheap writers to produce poor quality content. And a lot of it! This is a strategy that will get you nowhere.

So they produce content themselves – but all too often it’s by someone who’s been working for the company since they left school. And it has been so long since they went to school; they have forgotten the correct use of spelling and grammar.

Misplaced messaging

Personalised marketing was supposed to be all the rage this year and it would have worked if it wasn’t for those pesky emails – the misplaced ones anyway.

When a consumer takes the time to fill out your forms and divulge information about their interests and preferences, they expect to receive special offers relating to their interest and preferences.

Yet most don’t. And the modern consumer does not have time to waste on marketing messages that do not interest them so unsubscribe from email lists.

Brands know they rely on customer loyalty, yet most chase them away by not being loyal to their customers.

No mobile-friendly website

The number of people using their mobile devices to search online is the fastest growing industry ever. Google and web designers, (us included!) harping on about making web design responsive to mobile screens.

When a bundle of web owners failed to listen, the Big G took action and launched ‘mobilegeddon’ an algorithm that downgraded all websites that did not fit snugly into a 5-inch screen.

Webmasters had enough warnings, but Google still had to take action and force the issue with a bombshell. The fallout would have been hard for those that got hit.

It will be interesting to see what other digital marketers advise for 2016 – but even more intriguing to see how many actually walk the talk!