2015 SEO Trend Watch
January 28, 2015

2015 SEO Trend Watch

In the world of marketing, the only constant is change and digital marketing is no exception. Each year we see the landscape change and will need to reevaluate our strategies to stay ahead of the curve. One thing is for sure, whether you’re an entrepreneur with a small business or a growing brand, you’ll need to pay attention to the below trends for 2015 and formulate a strategy to make your digital marketing efforts successful.

The future of SEO successes will be in its integration with all aspects of digital marketing. It should no longer be thought of as a separate discipline, but as one of the many tools in your digital marketing toolkit.

  1. Mobile is a must
    Consumers are demanding convenient content on the go, and if consumers are demanding it, then you can bet this is a factor in Google’s algorithm. In order to rank high, you’ll need to make sure your site is optimized for mobile and includes location extensions so that clients can easily find you with whatever method is most convenient to them.
  2. More emphasis on social signals
    Specifically on Facebook and Twitter and less on Google +. In the summer Google announced that it was ending it’s authorship program due to low adoption, so in the future, less emphasis will be placed on Google+. While Google has denied in the past that its ranking algorithm takes into account social signals from Facebook and Twitter, there is an overwhelming amount evidence that shows they have and will continue to use social signals to determine ranking.
  3. More emphasis on implied links
    In the past, express links dominated link-building strategy. These are traditional links, which point to your webpage with a clickable URL. However, as these links have been widely abused through spammy techniques and negative SEO, Google continues to place more emphasis on another, more credible, method for determining positive references. Implied links reference or mention a brand or site without actually linking to it. They are less likely to be manipulated, and are therefore becoming a major factor driving search engine results.
  4. Content marketing becomes even more important
    Gone are the days of just focusing on the technical components of traditional SEO such as keywords, title tags, metatags, etc. However, traditional SEO is not dead, it’s just evolving. We need to focus more attention on delivering engaging content that adds value to people’s lives. Whether it’s educational articles that help your customer solve a problem, or an interesting video that delivers a compelling message, there has to be unique value. This value is driving search engine results, but also helps you make conversions once someone actually visits your page.
  5. Relationships are king
    Rankings will depend more on building relationships and less on technical SEO. While traditional SEO techniques are an important piece of the puzzle, the human element is paramount to any long lasting success stories. In an increasingly digital age, people are starving for human connection and they value it immensely in their business relationships. Studies show that the most successful brands are those that “humanize” themselves. People want to deal with people they trust, so nurturing relational strategies such as blogger outreach campaigns, building relationships with brand advocates, reaching out to influencers and engaging on social media is key.

The future of SEO successes will be in its integration with all aspects of digital marketing. It should no longer be thought of as a separate discipline, but as one of the many tools in your digital marketing toolkit.

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