2013 was extremely eventful in terms of Google updates. Key 2013 changes included additional releases of Penguin and Panda, Hummingbird, and the most important- shift away from providing keyword data credits to encrypted search terms.

Many have gone so far as to ask whether SEO as a service is dead. For one interesting point of view, Google has implemented major spam-fighting initiatives that have shifted the playing field for SEO professionals and any Owner trying to get their site on the map in the year ahead.

In 2014, the need for a quality online presence has never been stronger, while the environment has never been more competitive. The potential to make a real ROI impact with your firm’s online marketing plan is greater than ever. Utilizing so-called “black hat” tactics no longer works. Your SEO professionals need to gear up and include a more robust vision of their area of expertise.

Everything You Learned in 2013 is Still Relevant, Just Amplified

When you look closely at Googles targets of the 2013 updates (ie, websites that cheated their way to the top of the rankings or provide no value to visitors), We can continue to expect micro adjustments to Panda and Penguin that continue to target both link quality and content quality.

Smart Owner internet marketers will benefit from keeping a close eye on their links, and will perform periodic audits to identify and remove inbound links built unnaturally. They will also initiate high quality content goals, this will remain critical.

Content Marketing is Bigger than Ever

Google will be looking at companies that have hearty content as a sign that they’re the kind of business Google wants to support.

Think of all the advantages of a great content strategy:

• Regular, helpful content targeted at your potential client.
• Social signals from regular sharing and engagement – Google+ is a must.
• Freshness and indicators that your website is alive and maturing.
• Increasing authority connected to your body of work.

Sound familiar? We have been pushing this on our visitors/clients for a year now.  It’s the very approach Google’s recent updates have been designed to reshape.

What changes you need to make in 2014 depends largely on where your Firm stands now in relation to an active content marketing strategy.

If you’ve just begun to move in the direction of content marketing, it’s time to really commit and diversify. If you haven’t started yet, contact us today for a Free Estimate of our Content Marketing Services. Please include your domain name and phone number.

Social Media Interaction add a Increasingly Visible Role

Social media has become a major player in the digital marketing landscape. Today, diversification is a major trend: depending on who you’re targeting, it’s no longer enough to be active on a single network. Most successful B2B firms are active on an average of seven networks. You must ask yourself the following questions:

• Are we taking our social media seriously? Have we implemented strong profiles, good content, reciprocity, and engagement?
• Is easy social sharing enabled for all of our content?
• Does our content strategy include a distribution through social networks?
• Are we active on the social networks that matter in our industry?
• Are we active on the social networks that matter to our customers?
• Are we active on the social networks that matter to the search engines?

Google’s updates are likely to increasingly rely on social signals as an indicator of good content.

Invest in Google+

It’s absolutely critical that you are capitalizing on your Google+ presence.

Moz’s most recent study of ranking factors confirms that Google+ is playing an increasingly significant role in a solid SEO ranking. The immediate areas to focus on include:

• Establishing Google Authorship of your content, and tying it to your Google+ account. Authorship, which brings your body of content together, will play an important role in the SERPs as well as strengthening your Author Rank.
• Those +1’s add up. It isn’t clear exactly how much Google +1’s directly contribute, but it’s fair to say that it’s a major factor in the “social signals” component of Google’s algorithm.

2015 will be the year of Mobile SEO. (now it is here)