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Board index » Announcements » 2026 SEO Forecast: What's Changing with Google, AI, and SERPs?
⭐ amanda
Memmber
Happy New Year, WorldTradeForum Community! 🎉
I hope everyone had a restful break. Now that 2026 is officially here, it’s time to shift gears from holiday sales strategies to long-term SEO viability.
2025 felt like the year AI became unavoidable, and 2026 looks like the year it fundamentally changes how we get traffic.
My main strategic questions for the VIPs and Admins this year are:
[list]
[*]How do we protect traffic when SGE (Search Generative Experience) continues to answer queries directly, cannibalizing organic clicks?
[*]What new KPIs should we be tracking beyond clicks (e.g., visibility, authority signals, trust)?
[*]How crucial is E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust) going to be for smaller niche sites compared to large publishers?
[/list]
I’m keen to hear what everyone is prioritizing in Q1. Let’s make 2026 unstoppable! 🚀
amanda (vip) - Memmber from Where the stars are
🛡️ bylla
Administrator
Happy New Year, Amanda and Team!
How do we protect traffic when SGE (Search Generative Experience) continues to answer queries directly, cannibalizing organic clicks?We stop relying on the traditional 10 blue links model that is clearly dying. SGE feeds on clean, structured, and trusted data. If Google is going to summarize, we need to ensure we are the source of truth they summarize from. This means technical rigor must increase by 10x. I predict a massive algorithmic shift focusing on source verification. For those of us running large networks, 2026 is the year we either perfect our internal linking and canonical structures or we go full chaos mode 🤘😎 and focus on non-traditional discovery methods (like pushing RSS feeds hard or diving deep into niche forums where Google doesn't dominate). Also, speed. Latency is becoming an E-E-A-T signal. bylla (admin) - Administrator from /dev/null ;-)
👤 carl
Member
Excellent points, bylla!
Speed and structure are non-negotiable, especially on our deal platforms where milliseconds determine conversions.
From a content and platform strategy perspective, if the SERP is consolidating, we need to diversify where our audience consumes our content.
[list]
[*]Should we accelerate our efforts on short-form video content linked to our deals? (Google Discover loves video)
[*]How can we adapt our member-submitted content (like deal feeds) to be more 'E-E-A-T' compliant? We need to verify the Experience of the user submitting the deal.
[*]I suggest we create a new 'Verified Contributor' badge for members who consistently post high-quality, non-spam deals. This is gamification applied to authority.
[/list]
This is all excellent. 🎄🔥 Here’s the action list for Q1:
✔️ Carl: Draft the "Verified Contributor" criteria.
✔️ Rachel (internal note): Audit site speed performance on mobile.
carl
👤 fbe
Member
I agree with the focus on E-E-A-T, particularly the 'T' for Trust.
From an affiliate marketing standpoint, if Google is prioritizing fewer, more authoritative sources in SGE, the volatility of traffic for smaller niche review sites is going to be brutal.
We need to focus our efforts only on affiliate programs and networks that provide high, sustainable conversion rates and pay on time. If we are putting 10x the effort into content creation and verification, we can't afford networks that drag their feet on payouts.
I’ve had great results with Impact and Awin recently — both provide strong data and seem to have reliable merchant vetting, which indirectly supports our own E-E-A-T.
fbe from In my happy place 💘
Always smiling, always coding! 😄💻🌟
Keep it simple. Keep it fun! 🎉✨
— Part of the Xavier Media Crew —[/size][/center]
👤 MikeMarketing
Member
MikeMarketing checking in.
This is a necessary discussion. We're seeing across the board that generic 'Top 10 List' content is dying rapidly. The market is consolidating around brands that have actual, verifiable authority and physical presence (or at least strong social proof).
How do we protect traffic when SGE (Search Generative Experience) continues to answer queries directly, cannibalizing organic clicks?We need to stop thinking about Google as the destination and start thinking of it as the first step in the customer journey. Our goal isn't just the click; it's getting cited in the SGE snapshot, thereby establishing brand recognition. 2026 is the year of the 'Authority Hub.' If you aren't the best, verifiable resource on a specific, narrow topic, you won't rank, period. This applies to both B2C and B2B trade content. MikeMarketing
⭐ amanda
Memmber
@Carl that’s actually brilliant 🔥
Gamification + social proof = unstoppable.
The idea of a 'Verified Contributor' badge that ties into E-E-A-T is exactly the kind of strategic thinking we need. It transforms a basic forum feature into a core SEO signal.
We should also consider how we surface these signals to Google. Maybe we need a specific schema (if one exists) or a dedicated 'About the Author/Contributor' section with links to their professional profiles/socials, thereby amplifying the 'E' (Expertise) and 'A' (Authoritativeness).
I’ll prepare a sticky post for the public forum summarizing our new Q1 Authority Guidelines based on these points. This transparency helps our members understand why we are tightening up content requirements.
amanda (vip) - Memmber from Where the stars are
🛡️ bylla
Administrator
I like the trajectory here. If we are leaning into Authority Hubs and Verified Contributors, we must be ruthless about site structure.
If we have contributors posting content, we need to ensure that their 'Expertise' (E) is centrally linked to our core 'Authoritativeness' (A).
Schema Markup Alert: