SEARCH MARKETING - ‘WAS, IS, WILL’

Search marketing has become a vital tool in any brand’s digital repertoire. When search marketing was born in the mid-1990s, manual submission, the Meta keywords tag, and keyword stuffing were all regular parts of the tactics necessary to rank high. In 2004, link bombing with anchor text, buying hordes of links from automated blog comment spam injectors, and the construction of inter-linking farms of websites could all be leveraged for traffic. In 2011, social media marketing and vertical search inclusion are mainstream methods for conducting search engine optimization.

Just like everything digital, search marketing has shown dynamic behaviour, changing and evolving every day. It has transformed from a marketing tactic, to more of a branding play for brands and search marketing agencies alike. Brands (primarily with the assistance of a search marketing agency) are showing a renewed commitment to investing resources in a comprehensive, SEO optimized web infrastructure that is search engine friendly given the engines’ constant promise to refining their algorithms over time. What does the future hold for Search Marketing? Let’s take a look at the top trends that will direct search marketing going ahead:

Mobile will Rule the Roost

2014 saw a huge increase in number of clicks and impressions from smartphones, and mobile isn't slowing down in 2015 either. 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. With the rising trend of creating a responsive web presence and giving priority to consumer experience on mobile by brands, mobile PPC will also take the centre stage in 2015. As mobile searches are increasing day by day, brands will need to prepare themselves to monetize these searches in 2015.

Persona Targeting Comes into Play

Search marketing has always been based on keywords. A search marketing agency has typically advised brands on building their web content around desired keywords for effective capitalization of their digital possibilities. This might evolve in 2015 as persona targeting will gain importance. In the world of online searches, personas are developed based on how a user interacts with a website (browsing patterns, how they interacted with the website, etc.). Retargeting allows us to create a bigger pool of potential consumers based on website interaction. Persona targeting allows brands to look at what makes the person distinct in real life, thanks to social media data, and relate that information to both how they acted on the webpage and what keywords they used.”

All Hail Quality Content

Quality content will still be the King in 2015. Throughout the past few years, content marketing emerged as an important trend in the SEO community. In 2015, the significance of quality content in search marketing will only increase as people have smartened up in their virtual habits. They are more aware of spam content and have learned to identify it at the outset. They have become less and less patient resulting in high bounce rates and lower webpage sessions. Content in 2015 (as always) will need to be relevant, engaging, and interesting.

Media Coverage will be an Important Factor

Working in tandem with your social media marketing agency’s efforts, effective utilization of industry bloggers and media agencies will lead to increased mileage in your search marketing initiatives. Google gives a lot of consideration to industry leading media outlets. Networking with these agencies and bloggers will be another advisable move in 2015 for search marketing.

Explore Less-Crowded Platforms

Platforms like Bing and Yahoo have lesser traffic; but guess what, they also have less competition (and cost). Marketers would shift a part of their search marketing budgets to capitalize untapped and less-crowded platforms like the ones listed above.