Roger Montti, aka martinibuster, posted a thread at WebmasterWorld about a revised list of on-page SEO factors that he thinks are more important now in 2015, also with a list of those factors that are no longer important or as important.
The factors he put on the list as being more important in 2015 are:
- User experience metrics (all of them)
- Shorter title tags
- Original content
- Engaging content that provides an answer, teaches, informs, is useful, delights
- Original images
- Quality site design
- Descriptive meta description
The factors that he would go as far as to call deprecated, as in, no longer used by Google are:
- Keywords
- Focus on longtail phrases
- Focus on ranking for specific keyword phrases
- Lean code
The long tail does seem to be dead, it is more about the whole site experience and broader keywords than going after the big blue pineapple chair anymore.
Others added that responsive (mobile) friendly design and schema should be added to the list. I'd agree with that. But there is a lot more discussion around what should and should not be on these lists.
This is a thread you should spend some time in.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Image credit to BigStockPhoto for SEO