It is almost the end of 2014 and SEO has witnessed yet another year of changes and ambiguity over the changes made in the algorithms of the popular search engines. Year after year the SEO experts have proven how their unique techniques help bring your website to the top of a search made using a search engine.

In fact there were many changes on how to market a business online effectively in 2013 and 2014 has been the same as well in terms of changes. In fact, 2014 has witnessed more changes that in the previous years.

There were several changes made by the search engines in 2013 that affected the way in which the SEO experts strategies their marketing campaigns.

Here is a short description of the SEO techniques that were expected to evolve and did evolve in 2014.

Social Media:

The importance of social media has grown many fold as was predicted in the past and now has a larger impact on SEO. Google Plus has become an important medium too; since if you link your content to your Google plus account it tends to increase the search engine ranking. But that is not all. Doing so also enables you to improve the Google Author rank. And at the end of the day a good Google Author Rank is also quite beneficial when it comes to generating effective articles. Furthermore even Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest now play an important role when it comes ranking.

Multi-Screen Marketing:

There has been a steady increase in the mobile traffic (web traffic coming from mobile devices) over the years. In fact as per the statistics only 11.1% used their mobiles to surf our websites however that figure rose to 17.5% in 2013. It is estimated that the figure is close to 31% in the year 2014. The web development firms and business owners have now accepted this facts and more number of responsive website are being made. The effort to make it easy for mobile users doesn’t stop there. In addition to responsive websites many of the websites also have special mobile voice search feature, Geo-targeting and even QR Codes.

Content:

The changes in the search engine algorithms, coupled with the stricter rules of Google to penalize website when it comes to posting content has improved the quality of the content to some extent. The quality and quantity of the content has improved. More number of articles that are published these days are information and thorough and simply for the purpose of including a few good keywords. At the same time alternative forms of content like videos, info – graphic content, etc are gaining more importance. Content has played a very big role in ranking and is likely to continue to be of importance.

Guest Blogging:

Guest Blogging in another very effective SEO trend in 2014. Historically link building has been one the main efforts of the SEO team. Though the importance of link building and the type of links that are of significance has changed over the years; it has still remained in the picture. 

Keywords:

Using the ‘Keywords’ within a blog post and at relevant places on the website is still a good idea and is effective. However their significance has decreased. More number of articles were published which do not revolve around the keywords. In fact the relevant keywords are now being developed based on the article, domain ad URL.

Looking ahead to SEO in 2015::

• Since 2015 is almost upon us as we get ready to celebrate the New Year in little over a week there are a few things that can be safe to say about SEO in 2015. It is beyond doubt that targeting mobile traffic will be key factor in 2015 since it is likely to be on par with the other forms of web traffic if not overtake them. Thus it is expected that more number of businesses and web development companies will optimize their SEO efforts and develop a strong mobile oriented SEO strategy.

• Social Media has always played an important role in SEO and will continue to do so with renew strength. It is likely that ‘real time’ marketing tactics may be more effective. It is highly unlikely that a business will not be opting for the SEO optimisation of their website.

• Hence if you are one of the few businesses who do not have a SEO strategy of your own it is time to seriously consider starting off yourself or seeking help from the experts. Google is likely to penalise slow websites when it comes to ranking. Hence including all the bells and whistles to make the website feature rich and content heavy is in the past, since it will work against you. More number of Web Development companies advice against such designs and it is time the business owners listen to this advice.

• Good quality content from influential Authors is likely to be very effective even in 2015. Using content that is keyword centric, short and to the point, and effectively made for the purpose of search engine ranking is likely to be highly ineffective. Furthermore more importance is likely to be given to content that includes the current and happening topics while the articles with repeat or old topics will not be very effective.

Conclusion:

• The SEO industry has witnessed massive changes over the years and 2014 was no different. Although it is safe to say that the trends are continuing to point in the same direction and thus the SEO strategist do have some fixed method or strategy they can follow for their long term strategies.

• The factors like social media, alternative content (video, info graphics), social blogs, and internet forums continue to be very effective. However good quality content is likely to be the most effective in the years to come. Hence a clear conclusion is drawn here; hang on to the good SEO team of yours since you will require them when it comes to implementing your strategies; but at the same time make sure you also maintain a team of good and effective content writers.

• Alakmalak is a  Web development company and also provides Digital Marketing services since a very long time. They have developed more than 2000 websites for client from all around the globe. At same time they also understand the importance of SEO and the role it plays to make the website you develop highly effective and come top on the search list. Their dedicated team of SEO experts, SMO experts have been helping business owners with their websites and continue to do so effectively.

• The new seo techniques in 2014
• The SEO tactics and Techniques in 2014
• The SEO techniques that evolved in 2014