3 SEO Trends to Watch in 2015!

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We saw a lot of changes in SEO in 2014, and it looks like this isn`t going to change in 2015. So what SEO trends do we have to look forward to in the next year?

2014 was a big year for SEO, with a greater importance placed on supplying useful and interesting content, becoming more location specific, and the undeniable rise of mobile. So what does 2015 have in store for us? Well, it is set to be another big year for SEO, and yet again, it is all about making the consumer experience better by reducing the amount of spam and cutting corners that we are currently experiencing.

Mobile and Voice Recognition Technology

According to Ofcom, the rise of British people who use mobile devices to access the internet between 2013 and 2014 went from 49% to 57% and this figure is set to rise still in 2015. As a result of this, Google are placing ever more importance on websites which are mobile friendly. It is beneficial for businesses to be mobile friendly because it not only delivers a better experience for their mobile customers, but also can give a boost to their Google rankings.

Google are already penalising websites which aren`t mobile friendly in mobile search, and are beginning to put mobile friendly labels on search results. This means that companies who don’t make their websites suitable for use on mobile devices will end up losing out and falling down those ever important organic listings.

Other technological advances, such as voice recognition technology on smart watches, mean that Google are set to adapt their search algorithms to incorporate these new devices. The way that we may speak a phrase probably differs from how we write one and the algorithms will be increasingly taking this sort of information into account.

Social Signals

It is thought that social signals are set to become increasingly important in SEO. This means that popular content on social media will cause higher rankings on search engines. As Google’s ultimate aim is to provide the most useful and relevant information, it makes sense that they take into account social signals when determining search engine rankings.

Although Google deny it, according to KissMetrics, when a site reaches 100 Google+ followers, their ranking leap ahead by 14.63%. This is a significant difference, and Google explain the rise as being due to the increased interest that a popular piece on social media creates. Whatever the real explanation, putting out great, ‘likeable’ and ‘sharable’ content on social media is always a bonus, will become increasingly important in 2015, and it is likely that we are going to see some sort of social signals having a definite effect on search engine rankings.

Personal and Useful

We’ve been saying it all through 2014, but 2015 is set to be more of the same. Google’s quest to give searchers the most relevant and useful information continues, and this means that to get the best search results, you need to follow suit.

Not only it is increasingly important to put out the right content which is useful or interesting and relevant, we are now seeing a trend towards the building of personal relationships. It is no longer good enough for companies to have a website or social media page for people to peruse. Now, increasingly people are looking to build personal relationships, create two-way conversation and be engaged. Consumers increasingly want to do business with people again.

2015 is set to be another year of algorithm changes as Google continues in their quest to improve the search experience for their users. Although it’s good to know the details of how these things work, Google rewards most of all, honesty, transparency and a willingness to make a website as user-friendly as possible, and this is worth bearing in mind at every single stage of your optimisation campaign.

Danielle Haley
Freelance SEO Essex
Danielle is the Co-Director for one of the leading SEO agencies in the South East - Freelance SEO Essex.

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