How SEO Will Change in 2015 for Large eCommerce Companies
You arenevergoing to master search engine optimization, (SEO). You arenevergoing to masterlocalSEO, (LSEO). To be resilient within the marketplace of SEO, youve got to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. You must say to yourself, I will be comfortable with change.
SEO is a constantly on the move; changing, growing, evolvinginto what some may feel is a, well, a beast. Every search engine has a different algorithm. Of course, Google is considered the go-to SEO, a, beast, especiallysince its the most popular search engine in the worldand Google is notoriously secretive about how their algorithm really works. Sure, Matt Cutts (Googles webspam head honcho), is quick to dole out advice on his blog (especially with every new update), but youre neverreallygoing to know all the nuances of Panda. (Hey, even though we have rolled out Panda 4.0, lets re-roll out Panda 3 point whatever and scare the *** out of everyone.)
But this doesnt mean you cant stay informed, follow the best practices that have been established, and use a little common sense to see where SEO is headed. As 2014 winds down, its time to start planning your strategy for SEO in 2015. What has the era of mobile readiness, responsive design and a revival of, going local, done for the future of SEO? Quite a lot actually, and many websites are already behind.
There are SEO strategies for websites, then there are SEO strategies for mobile websitesand theyre not necessarily the same. For example, the page load speed of a site is admittedly (by Google) part of what determines a sites rankings. Its more common for sites to load slower on mobile devices compared to desktop. Prioritize page load speed in both desktop and mobile realms to keep your SEO game fresh. Prioritize your websites advantages on mobile. I say, Mobile is a Must priority for 2015.
As a major eCommerce company, you probably dont normally adopt LSEO best practices. Thats a mistake going into 2015. People enjoy supporting local, and sometimes theyll even do it when its cheaper, easier and faster to buy a product from a mega corporation. Make sure to pepper some LSEO into your websites, whether its focusing on some major metros, where the company is headquartered, or the home state of the founders. Check out Facebook in the last few weeks and look how many posts are saying to friends, lets buy local and from the self-employed, from your neighbor who sells online Lets give back to the community this Christmas.
You may not even realize youre engaging in black hat tricksmaybe theres a hidden, poor link left over from an earlier SEO expert in your site or theres duplicate copy you dont know about. Hire a reputable SEO agency to comb through your site and sniff out any black hat tricks. Maybe you havent been caught yet, or maybe you have been caught, and your rankings are suffering, but you havent really realize it yet. As algorithms become more sophisticated in 2015, the fallout from black hat tricks will get more severe, as they should. (These hat tricks are notorious for creating poor customer experience.) eBay was already slapped with a Google penalty for alleged black hat tactics in 2014, and if that giant can get in trouble, so can you.
The importance of content will only continue to growand you may be surprised by the poor content quality on some major eCommerce sites. Many businesses, such as Best Western, opt to have their content re-written each year for all 2,500+ North American properties in order to update their SEO and keep their content current. If you are a major eCommerce site, you can afford to do the same, and if you are a small eCommerce site, you cant affordnotto do the same. Its not a bad plan either way.
Most importantly, watch for those algorithm updates. Experts are guessing that Google is going to start rolling out Panda updates each quarter since thats been their MO for the past year. This means the next one is scheduled for the first of the New Year. Catch up now and get ready to play nice with the big ole Panda when he decides he wants to roll out his eccentric changes.
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How SEO Will Change in 2015 for Large eCommerce Companies