The rules of search engine optimization are always changing, and it is best to keep your ear to the street all of the time.

Here are some of the things that you need to know about SEO in 2015.

Citations, not links

Search engine optimization in the past was based around the amount of links that a site was able to generate on its own behalf; however, today, citations is a better description for what works. A link is a type of citation, but it is far from the only type.

Citations basically means any mention of your site at all. The mention does not have to be a link. If a review site mentions you in a review, this counts. If you are mentioned in a comment thread, this counts as well. These are much easier to build than links, so do not think that you have to trade any more.

Responsiveness is key.

Google has announced that it will begin to punish sites that do not have a responsive nature starting in April 2015. There is a definite push towards the mobile environment as a means of commerce, and the major search engines are simply following suit.

If you have an “m dot” website, you will need to upgrade your site responsiveness immediately or risk being completely delisted by Google. You should also make sure that this website has its own search engine optimization campaign ingrained in its layout as well as in its content. Mobile search is much different from desktop and laptop search.

Simplicity wins the day.

If you are looking to get the major search engines to trust your site, then streamlining it is definitely the way to go. If you overload your website with too many third-party apps, then you will limit the amount of users will visit your website for extended periods of time. This will raise your bounce rate and give the major search engines reasons to distrust your content.

Your site speed also makes a huge difference in your search ranking. Too many applications running on your website will slow down your site speed and cause the major search engines to punish you.

In order to maximize your search ranking, you should focus on:

• Site speed
• Bounce rate
• Click through rate