​Search engine marketing in 2015 – how to be a winner

Everyone makes resolutions to do better at the start of a new year, so why not add “improve my search engine marketing results” to your list for 2015? There have been many algorithm changes on the likes of Google in 2014, and more should be expected over the coming months.

Of course, we can never quite be sure what is going to alter and when, but there is a lot we do know about search engine bots and now is the time to ramp up your efforts and help your pages rank better.

Our to-do search engine marketing resolution list should help you make a specific and actionable plan to boost your online success in 2015.

Know your customer

• It is important that your pages assist the bots in crawling and indexing your website accurately, but writing solely for them could alienate your human visitors, and they are the ones who keep you in business. Take time to reconsider your customer base – you could be surprised about how your targets have changed since you last assessed your marketing efforts. Find out what your customers really want and ask yourself how you can tap into new markets.

Know your competition

• It is also vital that you know what your competitors are doing. Check their website and ranking and also look at how they use social media. Understand how they operate to find out how you can do better.

Plan thoroughly

• With knowledge about your customers and competition you can now make a thorough plan. Set out clear goals, determine how you plan to reach them and know how you will track and analyse progress. Be sure to cover all aspects of search engine marketing and that your goals are achievable and measurable. In his plan you should also set out your schedule – what you will do when and where you want to be at each stage of the year. Don’t forget to plan ahead for key dates such as holidays.

Map each action

• You must look at each stage of the process in your customer flow, from how they find your site and which page they land on to how they interact with your company and go on to make a purchase. The path from search engine to conversion should be clear, easy to navigate and give each customer what they want.

Optimise wisely

• With a wealth of information to hand and a clear plan of action you can now begin to optimise your pages. Content is still king so make sure it is relevant, readable and contains a clear call-to-action.

Track and analyse

• Once your marketing efforts are underway you must check in regularly with the stats and analyse whether to continue on the same path or if you need to make adjustments. You can use A/B testing to assess the effectiveness of different options, but don’t forget to take on board customer feedback – either direct, via social media or based on the conversions you are seeing.

Act now and make 2015 your best year yet for search engine marketing. And don’t forget to stay up to date with any changes to the search engine algorithms!