5 SEO Tactics to Kick-Start the New Year

Search Engine Optimization is constantly changing. Google and other search engines are continuously updating their algorithms for ranking websites. If you want to attract the most traffic to your website, you want to make sure that your SEO tactics for 2015 are the most up-to-date and effective.

Here are five SEO tactics for 2015 that will keep Internet traffic flowing to your website:

Transform Keywords Into Conversations

In the past, content could be crafted around a short keyword phrase. These keyword phrases were chosen based on researching the frequency of searches for those phrases. Today, algorithms are more sophisticated. They do more than look for the frequency of certain phrases. The search engines now try to discern the intent and meaning behind the search and match that up with the most relevant content.

This means that instead of short keywords, you should look for more conversational phrases or questions that a user might enter into a search engine. For example, in the past "gluten sensitivity" might have served as a good keyword phrase. Now you have to look for longer keywords like "what is the best diet for gluten sensitivity."

Links: Less Is More

Links to your website just as important as ever in good SEO. However, the focus is more on the quality of the link rather than the quantity. Due to advances in search algorithms, a few high quality links from authoritative sites are going to do better than many links to unrelated or spammy sites. Earning links from authoritative sites is going to require a lot of work. You have to establish your reputation as a thought leader in order to earn these links.

You can also try reverse engineering these links. Look for broken links on authoritative sites. Search engines penalize these sites for broken links. Create content on your site that can stand in for the broken link. Then let the website owner know that they can link to your content. They solve a broken link problem and you get an authoritative link.

Social Signals

Social signals are growing in importance for search engine algorithms. The number of likes and shares on social media platforms suggests that people value this content so the search engines make this an important factor in determining rank. So one of your top SEO tactics for 2015 will be to create content that people will share on social media.

The first step is to produce content that engages your audience so that they will want to like and share it. Appeal to strong emotions, be positive and use strong images to make your post attractive. The next step is to make sure that you promote this content on your own social media. You can also make it easy for people share your content by including share buttons directly in the content.

Go Mobile

Nearly 60 percent of adults in America have smartphones. Optimizing your website for these mobile phone users is becoming increasingly important. You want to make sure that your website is designed to work well on mobile operating systems. It must be readable on the small screen and easy to use. Google currently penalizes sites that do not provide a good mobile experience. It may also to start to reward sites that provide excellent functionality on smartphones. If you are not optimizing your site for mobile use, 2015 is a good time to start.

Security

Google is becoming more concerned with privacy and security on the Internet. Recently, it has started to reward websites using the strong HTTPS encryption with a slight ranking boost. Currently, this is not a significant factor, however, it signals a direction for future development. You may want to experiment with this encryption this year.

So stay on your toes with these SEO tactics for 2015. It is sure to be an exciting year in this growing industry.

Search Optics is a leader in digital marketing solutions for the automotive industry. Search Optics' automotive digital marketing services include custom websites, search engine optimization, paid search and mobile solutions that generate leads which result in sales opportunities. Search Optics specializes in car dealer marketing and automotive SEO services.