SEO News

It doesn’t feel like a year since Hannah wrote a review of search in 2013 but here we are again. A lot has happened in our industry but we’re all still here and it’s as interesting as ever.

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We’ve already asked the SEO community what they think will happen in search next year, and now it’s time to reveal what search experts would like to see happen in their industry in 2015.

Here’s what they came up with…

Penguin integration

Nick Fettiplace, SEO director at Jellyfish

I’d really like to see Penguin finally become more closely integrated into the core Google algorithm, similarly to how the Panda algorithm was in 2013. 

We saw a lot of frustration throughout 2014 from those who had worked endlessly in correcting their algorithmically penalised backlink profiles but were yet to see any kind of recovery due to the Penguin 3.0 update taking so long to surface. 

By the time the update took place on October 17 2014, it had been 12 months since the previous major update.

Google’s John Mueller recently suggested that they were getting closer to a greater integration of Penguin into the core algorithm, so this move is definitely on their roadmap. 

To me, this will have a positive impact on organic search.

(Related post: Penguin 3.0: what’s it all about?)

Pitching to bloggers

Andrew Girdwood, media innovations director at DigitasLBi

I would like to pitch an editorial idea to a blogger without getting a ratecard response “I’ll blog about this if you pay me to” in 2015. 

I make that wish as a busy blogger.

(Related post: Five lessons for effective blogger outreach)

Data insight

Ruth Attwood, advanced search consultant at 4Ps

This is an obvious and continuous development – but always worth mentioning – with an increasing number of clients implementing tools like Google Tag Manager, the importance of turning information and data into insight increases. 

Clients will surely value more insight across data from content, SEO and PPC as this trend continues. 

I am wondering what kind of tech, accessible to ‘beginners’ can help us get ahead.

Successful content community

Andrew Girdwood, DigitasLBi

I would love to see someone make a success of a blogger and/or content community. This is a chance for a win-win between publishers and the agencies that wish to influence them. 

As a blogger I don’t like having to hunt through the web for ways to detect the latest viral video attempt. 

One of this year’s greatest viral videos

As a marketer I dislike having to hunt through the web for a blogger who might be interested in our latest viral video attempt.

(Related post: The 10 most common mistakes of blogger outreach)

Give us back our (not provided)

Will Critchlow, founder and CEO of Distilled

The release of some excellent new data to replace the loss of keyword (not provided) data. 

I’m not holding my breath, but I think it’s a shame because I think that if Google didn’t have such a dominant position, competition would push them to provide better ways to measure the value of organic search and I think it remains a crucial issue as the marketing mix continues to evolve.

(Related post: Has (not provided) become a major barrier to effective SEO?)

Access to Webmaster Console

Andrew Girdwood, DigitasLBi

I would like better access to keyword data via Google’s Webmaster Console. 

The data provided in the downloads is even more limited than the integration the console allows, and the console doesn’t allow for enough analysis.

Implied links

Nick Fettiplace, Jellyfish

There is much talk around brand mentions beginning to serve as ‘implied links’ across the web. 

So for example, the mention of your brand name across relevant or authoritative websites would start contributing more prominently as a ranking factor for your website, even if it is not backlinked. 

Building your brand just got even more important! 

For me, this also creates greater opportunities for better integration of your wider marketing strategies with your SEO strategy. 

The relationship between the two will become closer and more powerful. 

So it is important for marketeers to begin ‘tying together’ their channel activities in a smarter way, knowing that what they do ‘over here’ is now more likely to affect performance ‘over there’ and vice-versa.

User experience

Ruth Attwood, 4Ps

User experience needs to be a higher priority for brands. 

Taking technology and using it to create a better and more joined up user experience as they go along their purchase journey, ensures that they are not lost, confused or irritated by the process. 

Putting customers back into the heart of strategies for brands means that they need to think about delivering a killer UX (particularly on sites that are technically decent).