10 Things you Need to Know for SEO in 2015The times they-are-a-changing, and in the SEO world, they pretty much are always changing. It’s no industry for nostalgia, those who get stuck in the past, fall behind the competition. Unless you want to end up as roadkill you have to pay attention to the signs of the present and the future. While it’s impossible to read the mind of Google, there are certain signs that are worth paying attention to in order to not only have your bases covered, but to also excel against your competitors.

2014 was an intense year for SEO. Google went on an algorithm frenzy highlighted by the Panda update in May and then arguably a bigger one in October with the Penguins update. These updates were designed to penalize low quality content and websites with unnatural link structures. The truth is if you had your ear to the ground you should’ve known what was coming. Don’t get left behind when the next phase in SEO begins to unveil, here are 10 things you need to know right now in order to stay ahead.

Increasing Importance of MobileAny website that doesn't currently have a responsive website needs to take immediate steps to fix that. 2014 was a monumental year in marketing as mobile Internet use finally surpassed desktop Internet use. Marketers spent 49 percent of their paid search dollars on mobile platforms during the 2014 holiday season, according to a report from Marin Software, and many marketers expect the focus on mobile to increase in 2015. The ability for a brand to quickly and effectively deliver high-quality mobile experiences for consumers will certainly provide a competitive advantage.

Time for Bing?Many are predicting that Bing will lead the search engines in market share expansion as the search engine’s marketing skills overtake Google’s programming skills. Google will maintain dominance of market share, but Bing will expand. Bing has one massive and timely opportunity to gain ground in the search market and that’s the mobile experience. If they hit mobile search experience out of the park, then Google won’t be able to touch them.

HTTP vs. HTTPSProtecting privacy and personal information online has become a part of our national dialogue. With that in mind, Google has begun emphasizing the importance of utilizing HTTPS. While many websites have traditionally run on a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a Hyper Text Transport Protocol Secure (HTTPS) ensures that a website is encrypted and cannot be hacked. With Google beginning to test the waters in using HTTPS as a ranking factor, it will be important to secure your website with HTTPS in 2015.

SEO will Include Video2014 was a huge year for video. With YouTube brand engagement surpassing that of Facebook, and 44% of customers saying that videos encouraged them to buy, now is the time to set your sights on video marketing if this isn’t something you’ve already started. You’ll need to optimize your YouTube channel, include actionable links in your videos, and produce interesting videos that can capture an audience.

Long-tail Search TrafficLong-tail keyword queries tend to be more relevant and convert at higher rates than one or two word phrases, as a result of greater specificity, and ultimately, you tend to be dealing with a motivated purchaser.

One study stated that 16% to 20% of daily keyword queries had never been seen before. The stage is set for these figures to increase, especially as mobile devices roll out applications for vocal search queries and the engines become increasingly more adept at understanding long-tail intent. While taking advantage of long-tail search traffic can take significant time, it's a promising direction that can yield results in the long run.

Social Signals Will Be Even More ImportantChanges within the search engine algorithms have not just placed greater importance on the content, but they’ve also begun to rely more upon social signals to elevate results up the ladder in search ranking importance. With the popularity of social media, and its obvious indicators of trust and authority, many are just waiting for Google to take a large step in incorporating that into its algorithm. Eventually, we expect to see content and social signals integrated, with content of higher quality getting more social shares and thus rising higher in the search engine results.

Content Still Reigning ChampionContent marketing emerged as a significant trend in the SEO community during the past few years, and it's becoming essential for marketers. People have become less patient with Web spam and have learned to spot it more quickly, resulting in higher bounce rates and lower time and page sessions for many website owners. To be successful today, content needs to be thorough, as well as engaging and useful.

Placement > FrequencyKeywords help Google to understand what it is your brand does. To this end, the placement of your keywords matters far more than their frequency. Posting your keyword once in the title tag of your site and once in the header matters far more than stuffing it five times into the body copy. Google breaks your site down into key areas, with Meta information and headers taking top priority, body copy taking secondary priority, and side bars and footers taking the last priority. Therefore, you shouldn’t hone in on one specific keyword phrase, otherwise, your site earn a penalty for keyword stuffing.

Earning Links will be HarderEarned links and citations provide several SEO benefits including increased visibility and brand awareness, lead generation, and conversion rates. However, beware of negative SEO practices. It is expected to be a bigger threat this year. Still, keep up your link earning efforts and build relationships the old and proven way to boost your website authority. Just do not resort to spammy, manipulative, unnatural link structures, because Google is on the hunt to wipe those sites out.

The Basics of SEO Will RemainJust because it is highly specialized industry that continually updates itself, shouldn’t allow you to believe that there are no core principles to the SEO world. Successful SEO depends on two key factors: what you say about yourself (on-page SEO) and what other say about you (off-page SEO). Your job is to find the balance between those two, and if done with insight, you will soon be funneling more potential business your way online.