HOW AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSES CAN IMPROVE
GOOGLE RANKINGS IN 2015

Improving Google rankings in 2015 required Australian businesses to think beyond simply adding keywords to a website. Search engine optimisation was becoming a broader discipline involving useful content, mobile usability, technical website performance, local relevance and credible links.

One of the most important developments of the year was Google's mobile-friendly update. Beginning on 21 April 2015, Google increased the ranking of mobile-friendly pages in mobile search results. The update applied to individual pages and affected mobile searches rather than desktop or tablet searches. For Australian businesses, this made mobile website performance an immediate SEO consideration.

Businesses also needed to understand that there was no single tactic capable of guaranteeing a first-page position. Google used many signals to determine which pages were most relevant to a search. The practical approach was to build a website that was easy for search engines to understand and genuinely useful for customers.

Start With the Right SEO Foundations

Before investing heavily in content or link building, Australian businesses needed to make sure their websites had sound SEO foundations.

A search engine needs to be able to crawl a website, understand its pages and identify which information is relevant to users. If important pages were difficult to access, poorly structured or duplicated, other SEO efforts could be less effective.

A basic website SEO review in 2015 should have covered:

• Page titles
• Meta descriptions
• Heading structure
• Readable and descriptive URLs
• Internal links
• Broken links
• Duplicate or thin pages
• XML sitemaps
• Robots.txt configuration
• Mobile usability

The goal was not to make a website complicated. It was to create a clear structure that helped both visitors and search engines understand what each page was about.

Make the Website Mobile-Friendly

Mobile SEO was one of the clearest priorities for Australian businesses in 2015. Google's mobile-friendly update gave mobile-friendly pages a ranking advantage in mobile search, making it important for businesses to assess their websites from a smartphone user's perspective.

A mobile-friendly page needed to be readable without excessive zooming, provide appropriately sized tap targets and avoid horizontal scrolling. Google also provided a Mobile-Friendly Test to help website owners assess individual pages.

Businesses should therefore review their most important commercial pages rather than assuming that a desktop website would automatically provide a good mobile experience.

Check these mobile SEO issues

• Can visitors read the text without zooming?
• Are menus simple to use on a small screen?
• Can visitors tap buttons and links easily?
• Does important content display correctly?
• Do enquiry and contact forms work on mobile devices?
• Does the page require horizontal scrolling?

For an Australian business competing for customers through mobile search, mobile usability was no longer simply a web design preference. It had become part of search visibility.

Target Search Intent Rather Than Keywords Alone

One of the most effective ways to improve Google rankings in 2015 was to understand what customers actually meant when they searched.

Businesses often focused on individual keywords such as "accountant", "lawyer", "builder" or "marketing agency". These broad terms could be highly competitive and did not always reveal exactly what the searcher wanted.

A better approach was to identify different types of search intent and create useful pages around them.

For example, a business selling commercial software might need separate pages addressing product features, pricing, implementation, industry applications and support. Each page could answer a different customer need while naturally incorporating relevant search terms.

This approach also made the website more useful. Instead of forcing every keyword onto one page, businesses could build a collection of focused pages that answered specific questions and supported different stages of the buying process.

Improve On-Page SEO

On-page SEO remained a fundamental part of improving Google rankings in 2015. Businesses needed to make it clear what each page was about while keeping the language natural.

The page title was particularly important because it helped describe the page to both search engines and users. Headings could then organise the content into logical sections.

Important on-page elements

• Page title: Clearly describe the main subject of the page.
• Main heading: Give visitors an immediate understanding of the page.
• Subheadings: Break longer information into logical sections.
• Body content: Explain the topic naturally and comprehensively.
• Image descriptions: Use relevant alt text where appropriate.
• Internal links: Connect related pages and help visitors find more information.

Keyword placement still mattered, but repeatedly inserting the same phrase was not a sustainable strategy. Businesses were better served by writing naturally around the products, services and questions that mattered to their customers.

Create Content That Deserves to Rank

Content marketing and SEO were becoming increasingly connected in 2015. A business that wanted stronger organic visibility needed more than a few sales pages.

Useful content could answer customer questions, explain complex subjects, demonstrate expertise and attract people earlier in the buying process.

Australian businesses could create:

• Industry guides
• How-to articles
• Service explanations
• Product comparisons
• Frequently asked questions
• Case studies
• Research and commentary
• Practical checklists

The important point was relevance. Publishing large amounts of generic content simply to create more indexed pages was unlikely to provide the same value as developing genuinely useful resources for a defined audience.

Good content could also support other marketing channels. An article could be shared through social media, included in an email newsletter or used by a sales team when responding to a prospect.

Strengthen Internal Linking

Internal links were an often-overlooked opportunity for Australian businesses looking to improve Google rankings.

A well-structured internal linking system helps visitors move between related pages and provides search engines with additional context about the relationships between pages.

A services page could link to relevant guides. A blog article could link to the service it discusses. A product page could link to technical information or related products.

Businesses should use descriptive anchor text that tells visitors what they can expect after clicking. The aim was to create a logical path through the website rather than add links simply for SEO purposes.

Build Local SEO Visibility

Local SEO was particularly important for Australian businesses serving specific cities, suburbs or regions. A business did not always need to compete nationally for a broad keyword when its customers were searching for a service in a particular location.

Businesses should make their service areas clear on their websites and keep important business information consistent across relevant online listings.

Location-specific landing pages could also be useful where a business genuinely served multiple areas. However, these pages needed unique and useful information rather than being near-identical pages created simply by replacing a suburb name.

Local SEO priorities in 2015

• Clearly identify the business location.
• Explain the geographic areas served.
• Keep business name, address and phone details consistent.
• Maintain accurate local listings.
• Publish useful location-specific information where appropriate.
• Encourage genuine customer reviews.

For local Australian businesses, improving visibility in geographically relevant searches could produce more commercially useful traffic than chasing broad national terms.

Earn Relevant and Credible Links

Links remained an important part of SEO in 2015, but businesses needed to focus on quality rather than quantity.

Acquiring large numbers of irrelevant or low-quality links could create risk. A more sustainable approach was to earn links because the business had something worth referencing.

Useful industry research, original resources, expert commentary, guides and genuinely valuable content could provide reasons for other websites to link to a business.

Australian businesses could also look for legitimate opportunities through industry organisations, professional associations, suppliers, partners and relevant publications.

The principle was simple: a relevant link from a credible source was more valuable strategically than a large collection of artificial links created solely to manipulate rankings.

Consider HTTPS as Part of Website Security

HTTPS was already a Google ranking signal before 2015. Google had announced in 2014 that secure HTTPS connections were being used as a lightweight ranking signal.

This did not mean that moving to HTTPS would suddenly push a website to the top of Google. The signal was deliberately small at the time. However, businesses could consider website security as part of a broader technical strategy.

For businesses handling customer information, enquiries or transactions, secure connections also supported a more trustworthy website experience.

Use Analytics to Find SEO Opportunities

Improving Google rankings should not be based on rankings alone. Australian businesses needed to understand whether organic search was bringing the right people to their websites and whether those visitors were taking valuable actions.

Website analytics could help identify which pages attracted organic visitors, which content generated engagement and which landing pages produced enquiries.

Search data could also reveal opportunities. A page might receive impressions for relevant searches but attract relatively few clicks. Another page might receive traffic but fail to generate enquiries.

These observations could guide practical improvements to titles, content, calls to action and landing-page structure.

Avoid Shortcuts That Can Damage Search Visibility

Businesses looking to improve Google rankings in 2015 could be tempted by promises of guaranteed first-page positions or rapid increases in backlinks. These approaches needed to be treated cautiously.

SEO was not a process where one technique could guarantee a particular ranking. Search results changed according to competition, query relevance, website quality and Google's ranking systems.

Businesses were better served by building useful websites and improving them consistently rather than relying on keyword stuffing, hidden text, artificial links or other manipulative tactics.

A Practical 2015 SEO Action Plan

For an Australian business starting an SEO improvement programme in 2015, the following sequence provided a practical starting point.

1. Audit the website: Identify technical, mobile and content problems.
2. Review important keywords: Focus on terms that reflect genuine products, services and customer needs.
3. Improve priority pages: Strengthen titles, headings, copy and internal links.
4. Fix mobile usability: Make important pages easy to read and navigate on smartphones.
5. Create useful content: Answer customer questions and demonstrate industry expertise.
6. Improve local visibility: Strengthen location information and relevant local listings.
7. Earn relevant links: Develop resources and relationships that can generate legitimate references.
8. Measure results: Monitor organic traffic, rankings, enquiries and conversions.

Conclusion

Australian businesses could improve Google rankings in 2015 by focusing on the fundamentals rather than chasing shortcuts. The strongest approach combined technically sound websites, useful content, relevant keywords, mobile usability, local search optimisation and credible links.

The year's biggest SEO change was the increased importance of mobile-friendly pages in mobile search. But mobile SEO was only one part of a wider shift towards websites that provided a better experience for searchers.

Businesses that treated SEO as an ongoing marketing discipline could build a stronger foundation for organic visibility. By understanding what customers searched for, creating pages that answered those needs and continually improving the website, Australian businesses could compete more effectively for valuable Google traffic in 2015.