2014 has been another fast-paced year for search engine optimisation. Google has continually rolled out updates, big and small throughout the year. Some you will have noticed, some you may not have noticed. Here are a few top SEO lessons from 2014 to take away for 2015.
Nothing has changed
If you have been practising white-hat all along. Nothing has changed. Everything that white-hat SEOs have been saying for several years now is still the same. Produce good content, keep your website interesting, keep your products interesting and earn those good quality links the right way.
Whiter-than-white
Google has made a few notable and very public manual actions over 2014, that have targeted SEO communities who previously thought that they were complying with the standards. The very popular community, My Blog Guest took a big hit with a manual action, making it even harder for bloggers, web masters and article writers to come together in a way that Google approves of. This means that earning those links is only getting more difficult and time consuming.
Content is still king
Google may be changing the rules about what it perceives as good content, but good content is still one of the best ways to earn those links.
Google makes mistakes
The almighty powers at Google still make things up as they go along and change things around. 2014 saw the disappearance of author photos, leaving the SEO community debating exactly what role authorship now plays within the rankings. Authorship photos weren\’t around for very long, showing that Google still uses trial-and-error and has to struggle to keep up with changes as much as the rest of us.
Local search is key
If you have a local business then Google has gone to great lengths this year to rank you accordingly. As more and more people use geo-location on their devices, Google is focussing on delivering relevant results. This means that your local SEO has to be top notch to keep up with the Pigeon updates.
Google won\’t stop trying
For every new hack that comes up Google will work tirelessly to try to thwart it. Even seemingly white hat techniques such as PR sites and blogging networks have taken a hit this year. This means that in 2015 the focus has to really be on producing the very best of everything to get those in-bound links and good content.