The world of search engine optimization shifts with every new Google update and smartphone release, but there are some major changes that professionals who chase those elusive first page rankings will have to adjust to in 2015.
The shift to mobile devices is going to be a major factor shifting into the new year. Companies targeting mobile SEO will have to use different tactics than they would for desktop SEO. Page load speed, for example, is much more significant on mobile, since websites naturally load more slowly on mobile devices anyway.
Voice search is also going to be a major aspect of SEO for mobile devices. Google recently released a line of code that allows other apps to integrate their voice search program, and algorithms to recognize voice are growing increasingly sophisticated.
This means that people are searching with more complex queries, like “where is the nearest pizza shop?” rather than “local pizza shop” and “how can I fix my computer?” rather than “computer repair shop” and so on. Websites that target queries like this, and provide useful information in response, will likely be successful as voice search grows in relevancy.
Local searches will also be important, since many people are searching their phones for locations near them. Even large corporations could benefit from focusing locally if their customers frequently stop in on the go. You can focus on major cities or the location of your home office, but try to get that local foot traffic in the door.
It’s likely that Google with crack down even harder on tactics that are considered black or grey hat SEO, especially since they penalized a site as large as eBay this year. Google’s focus is on creating the best customer experience, so if you have any less-than-ethical links or tricks left over from a time when they were acceptable, try to clean them up before the new year brings a new wave of Google algorithm updates.
There is one thing that won’t change: content marketing is still king. About 92% of marketers consider content creation “somewhat” or “very” effective for SEO marketing, so companies should keep up blogging tactics and pack websites with helpful, searchable information.