By Jed Bell, SEO Specialist
According to the Chinese calendar, 2013 was the Year of Snake, however in the search engine marketing industry it was considered the year of the Hummingbird. It was a year full of changes, some were good and others bad, but they are all part of the ever-changing landscape of SEO. It is still left to be seen what the year of 2014 will be known as, but we will call it the year of branding for now.
Here are 5 SEO trends that will play a large part in your success in 2014:
1. Focus on ideas and not keywords.
Google made it very clear with their transition to fully encrypting the keyword data from users that they want websites to stop focusing on the terms that users are searching. Instead, try to understand the intent behind the search and deliver unique content that fulfills the need of the consumer.
2. Transition to entities instead of websites.
In the continuing effort to make interactions online more intuitive, Google has started to ascribe authority to websites on the topics that they are regarded to be experts on. They are training consumers to see the websites not as billboards, but instead as a representative of the brand; an entity. This is good for brands. It gives them personality and an emotional connection. With compelling content and technical knowledge of structured data, any brand can become a thought leader in Google’s eyes in 2014.
3. Create relationships instead of transactions.
The most successful online brands have embraced the concept that the relationship between the consumer and brand is no longer a one way street. Instead, consumers of this age want to be friends with their brands, which means an increase in returning visitors and time on site. For example, Chobani is no longer just a Greek yogurt brand - instead they are the encouraging friend helping you eat better. For example, take this tweet:
“f you’re going to start, here’s what you need to know. “Juicing 101” – cho.ba/1d1R8mg
4. Understand that social signals the success of an online brand.
It is no longer acceptable to only have a branded account on various social media platforms. In the consumer’s mind these accounts are the same representation of the brand - as if they are interacting with another human. Search engines regard company profiles the same way as well. Social media accounts portray the personality of a brand and if the content or interaction is boring, they will assume the brand is boring as well. Instead, the same amount of thought that goes into the branding of company should go into the creation of content for social media, so that it portrays an integrated social strategy that continually engages the consumer.
5. Structure your data.
Improve the success of a website’s SEO is by enriching the data by using schema.org markups. These markups are an easy way to identify data that is relevant for search engines. For example, the authorship mentioned above is implemented through a markup, which allows Google to designate the post as belonging to the website no matter if someone else reposts it. However this is only the beginning, because they are always adding new categories, including products, reviews or recipes; all of which can dramatically increase click through rates.
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