Recently we have been looking over some of the SEO factors from the last couple of years. Some of them made us laugh, because a lot of them are still very relevant. Of course some of the factors seemed a bit elementary compared to what we are doing in today’s search environment. It goes without saying that we are still trying to achieve natural-looking link profiles. This is something that will most likely always be relevant and a consideration to Google, unless they take a completely different direction with their algorithm. Let’s face it though, anything is possible at this point. But what pieces of the SEO puzzle do we need to consider in order to be successful with SEO in 2014.
What has 2013 Search Taught Us?
When we take a look back at 2013 the first thing that pops into our head are the number of algorithm changes and how fast Google was able to implement them.
Not only that, but look at the many advancements of things such as: Local Carousel, Hummingbird, Google Now, Knowledge Graph oh and let’s not forget the secure search or should we just call it (not provided). Of course, we can’t leave out Penguin and Panda. Google continues to update their algorithm, however they are more about things you might have done wrong in the past. We want to talk about how you can be successful in 2014.
SEO is Forever Changing
Let’s be honest the (not provided) change didn’t take us by surprise, however it was a big hit to take. One positive to take from this is the realization that as an SEO company we shouldn’t be so narrowly focused on ranking a specific keyword in search results. Google is making changes very quickly and all of their changes in one way or another are related to local, mobile or social. Think about it this way: keywords are not going to help you in the Local Carousel, but proximity and review generation will. Google is no longer going to be in the business of propelling your keyword strategy, however your social efforts will. It’s a great assumption that Google will not be giving you a knowledge graph box for a specific keyword and definitely not because of a link to your site. We are going to have to get more creative as Online Marketers.
On top of the above-mentioned changes, we cannot forget to talk about the Hummingbird update. Hummingbird tells us that Google is starting to bring everything together by tying in localization and conversational searches (what they like to call semantic improvements) that are already popular on mobile.
SEO is Coming Together
People have said in the past that SEO is dead, but it has never been dead. In 2014, on-site SEO will be as important as ever. In 2014, content marketing, creating enticing and insightful content for link building and social sharing will still be a hot topic. The issue is these old tactics are coming together with new mediums that will impact your search results. One example is making sure your local listing is optimized, has positive reviews and is receiving a good local-social integration.
We know that websites will need targeted content, they will need to be crawled efficiently, and everyone wants to rank in the desired one, two or three position on Google. But that is easier said than done. As we move forward we will need to also focus on off-site vehicles to help drive traffic. What exactly does that mean? Well think about allowing your audience to help build a local presence, think about building a community rather than a brand. This is a brand, but it’s a socialized brand and can keep your audience up-to-date in real-time. Finally, don’t just optimize your site, make the site an experience for the mobile users and anyone else that is seeking content.
