If you’re involved in the SEO space, then you probably already know that 2014 was a rough year for search. Google absolutely hammered us with powerful updates and left many scrambling to rethink their entire SEO strategies. With that said, we’re two weeks into a new year and it’s time for a fresh start. How should your brand refresh its 2015 SEO strategy?

Even coming off of a difficult year, many pieces of your SEO strategy are as important as ever. For example, content will continue to play a significant role in search rankings. With Google’s insatiable appetite for content, it’s important that you’re updating your website frequently. This means not only adding new posts to your blog, but making sure your web page copy stay current and is displaying the most relevant information.

For businesses, it is absolutely critical that you get your website running mobile-friendly, responsive design. Google is now labeling search results with a “mobile friendly” tag, and if you’re website isn’t compatible, you could be missing out on valuable new leads. Mobile continues to gain more market share when it comes to how people access the Internet, and to keep your brand relevant, you must go mobile.

Another good step to refreshing your 2015 SEO strategy is implementing SSL/TLS protocols for your website. Google is putting more and more value on secure connections, favoring sites with stronger HTTPS encryption over HTTP. With Google flat out saying that this will become an increasingly important ranking factor, it’s a rare and valuable piece of free advice that shouldn’t be ignored, especially when it’s coming right from the horse’s mouth.

Google is now setting its sights on search engagement – what happens when someone performs a search, clicks on a search, and returns to the search results page. This also encompasses the time spent on your website, number of pages visited, and bounce rate, the impacts of which are summarized here. Given Google’s new attention to these metrics, it’s important to do everything you can to keep your visitor from bouncing off your web pages and returning to the search results. To combat this, try enhancing your content with videos and images that are relevant to your brand to help keep your audience engaged at a higher level with your web page.

Between the Heartbleed scare and the end of Google Authorship, 2014 was a turbulent year for SEO. However, focusing on the major influences like quality content and responsive design will get your 2015 SEO strategy off on the right foot. Need help catching up? Drop us a line.