SEO is dead. Long live the SEO. It was not uncommon to hear these words echoing through the corridors of digital marketing and SEO companies in 2013. But what had caused this stir? Industry analyst declared that the ‘Hummingbird’ and ‘Panda’ updates spelt the death kneel for SEO. But they were wrong. The barrage of updates from Google only had the effect of making SEO industry stronger and helped it to evolve even further. 2014 will test the character of the SEO industry and surely the companies with a clear focus on quality will emerge victorious.
Content Marketing: A paradigm shift from keywords
Content is all set to play a pivotal role in SEO marketing even in 2014. In fact, it is all set to become even more important with the ‘Hummingbird’ update attaching more emphasis on semantics rather than keyword phrases. This implies that Google will award higher rankings to websites that have detailed content rather than search for matching keyword phrases. Let us look at a few ways in which you can align your content marketing strategy with Google.
1) Create an Editorial Calendar: SEO companies can borrow the time tested concept of an editorial calendar from the journalism industry. It will help them to attach a deadline to all their projects and have a metric for measuring performance. Newspapers and magazines have an editorial calendar ready for an entire year. An editorial calendar for a SEO company should include the following:
Here is a basic format of an event calendar that can be used by SEO companies: 
2) Generate fluidic content: The announcement of recent updates by Google has once again highlighted the importance of good content. In depth and well researched articles will be the flavor of the year with Google’s ‘In-depth Articles’ acquiring prominence. Content writers cannot be restricted to keywords any longer and have to look at the broader picture. Offering fresh and well written content to your customers will enable you to perform better on Google.
3) Acknowledge the Google Updates: The ‘Hummingbird’ and ‘Panda’ updates from Google are all set to take effect in 2014. These updates will also bring about changes in the content strategy with more focus on semantics. This is again a reminder to break away from the restriction of keywords and infuse character in your content.
Embrace the evolving mobile platform
Mobile devices now corner a huge chunk of e-commerce business. The rapid increase in the popularity of tablets and mobile devices has already triggered a demand for responsive websites that are compatible with mobile devices. Responsiveness will help your website to adapt to various devices and develop a robust web presence. Let us look at a few ways in which you can offer a stupendous mobile experience to your users.
1) Offer an engaging mobile experience: The first rule of mobile SEO is to focus on engaging your customers. A rich mobile experience is all about offering real time information to users.
2) Have a flexible website: A recent research has proved that the growth rate of traffic on smart phones is as high as 125 percent. Developing a website that can adapt to the mobile environment will surely drive more traffic to your website.
3) Discourage content heavy websites: Websites with a lot of images and content may not be suitable for the mobile environment as they can take a long time to upload. Make your content snappier and rely more on thumbnails.
4) Go Local: A recent survey shows that about 70 percent mobile users expect a business to be within 5 miles of their location. Make your contact details readily available to your customers on mobile phones to spruce up your sales.
A new social media landscape
The year 2014 will also bring in its fold various changes in social media marketing. There will be more focus on offering customized content for different social network platforms. Companies that modify their content based on the requirements of a particular social networking site are bound to reap higher dividends.
1) Chalk out a strategy: Decide the social media platform that will help you to reach out to your target audience in an effective manner. Allocate the maximum budget on the site where most of your target audience is.
2) Understand the nuances of social marketing: Facebook is meant for more causal engagement with your customers with an aim of creating brand awareness. While, Linked-In has a formal personality and should be employed in a professional manner. Understanding these nuances will help you to score more points on social networking sites.
3) Jump on the Google+ bandwagon: After spending a lot of time in the sidelines, Google+ is finally hogging the limelight. Mark your presence in Google+ as it will help you to garner quality traffic.
4) E-mail Marketing: This is the tried and trusted SEO tool that has managed to withstand various challenges. E-mail marketing is one of the cheapest and most effective means of communication and with mobile devices gaining more importance every day; it will be the next big thing in the year 2014.
5) Social Media Analytics: If you have not measured your success last year then make it a habit in 2014. Social Media Analytics will help you to measure the engagement level of your customers including likes, comments, +1’s and so on. It will translate into more control on your business.
2014 will throw up many challenges and also present companies with various opportunities. But, it is important to adopt a comprehensive view and think in terms of digital marketing rather than SEO alone. Companies that adopt a broader perspective will have higher chances of success in 2014. So, let the SEO flag fly high in 2014!
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