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SEO Links: What to Know Now

by Jason Unger, Founder

Search engine optimization (SEO) may always be changing technically, but as we’ve pointed out again and again, the goal of every search engine is the same: to deliver relevant results to actual human beings.

So while you can focus day in and day out on optimizing your sitemap or developing “deep” content, if your goal isn’t to provide value to your users, then you’re going about it wrong.

(This is the crux of the amazing Whiteboard Friday video from Moz that we blogged about recently).

Today, let’s take a look at few great SEO resources that are relevant to both delivering a great experience to your users and helping your placement in search engine results.

Responsive Design Improves SEO – SEO Nick

The ultimate gatekeeper of how a website should be enhanced by search engines, optimizers strictly note Google’s rules to ensure that their website is created to the search engine’s preference.

Google has suggested responsive design when optimizing a website for smartphones, which is reason enough for SEO’s to jump on the bandwagon and follow this design approach.

The fact of the matter is Google favors responsive design because it makes their life easier. Prior to this design approach, maintaining optimal user experience meant additional website versions were necessary for the content to translate well on mobile devices and tablets.

Responsive design is good for your users, as more and more of them are visiting you on their smartphones and tablets. You know that. So it only makes sense that Google would prefer a responsive website. In fact, they’ve recently started identifying mobile-friendly sites in search results, as seen below.

mobile-friendly

There’s also a technical reason responsive sites are better for your SEO. Previously, many sites had a mobile version at http://m.url.com. A mobile version at a different URL essentially competes with the desktop www version. Having one responsive site at www means no self-made competition.

In fact, just yesterday, Google announced that they will increasingly use whether your site is mobile-friendly as a ranking signal when displaying search results. So this matters – big time.

7 Ways to Get Traffic and Leads When Google Won’t Send Them – Moz

You can’t count on Google.

No matter how great you are as an SEO, counting on Google to send you traffic is risky business. Also, feeling entitled to free traffic from a search engine monopoly is a bad business model.

I’ve always been a proponent of the idea that the best SEO strategy is the one that doesn’t count on Google. Such strategies aren’t only more profitable; they are also the most likely to last.

YES. Stop relying on Google for traffic. It’s just another traffic source, and building your business on it is setting you up for failure.

The beautiful thing, though, is that if you are successful in driving traffic to your site through other means, Google will realize you’re delivering value … and then send more traffic to your site.

The ideas in this YouMoz blog post aren’t revolutionary – they’re foundational to building a web presence.

Three Misconceptions About Modern SEO That Confuse Content Marketers – Copyblogger

Danny Sullivan, founder of Search Engine Land and Marketing Land, talks to Copyblogger’s Brian Clark in this podcast focused on the role of content marketing in SEO.

Image via Google

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About Jason Unger

Jason Unger is the Founder of Digital Ink. He built his first website on Geocities, and hasn't looked back since. Digital Ink tells stories for forward-thinking businesses, mission-driven organizations, and marketing and technology agencies in need of a creative and digital partner.

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