You may have noticed that we skipped Freebie Friday this week. Don't worry, we didn't forget about you. We were simply waiting to bring you this special edition of SEO SATURDAY. OK, that's enough cheesiness for one post.
As we mentioned earlier this week, the upcoming Google algorithm update has huge implications for non mobile-friendly sites. It's time to make sure your website is responsive in order to not get penalized in the search engine results pages. If your website isn't ready for "Mobilegeddon," it's time to choose your mobile optimization approach. As important as it is to prepare your website for this specific update, it's just as crucial to understand SEO fundamentals to ensure your cognizant of all the impacts your design choices have on your potential rankings. Fortunately, we're here to help you.
We'll get to the mistakes later in this post, but the first step you should take to avoid SEO mistakes is to learn the basics. Search Engine Optimization as a whole is not an feat task to tackle. There are many components that have to work together to boost your search rankings, which is increasingly difficult in the face of a long history of algorithim updates. Yet, even learning the basics and how each component works together will further your ability to design an SEO friendly website. It's important to understand what exactly SEO is, what you need to optimize to improve your rankings, and how to conduct keyword research to ensure you are including the terms into your design that will help rank your content.
SEO Basics and Keyword Research
Undisputedly, Moz is one of the industry leaders in terms of SEO and the resources they provide to understand SEO. One of these resources is "The Beginners Guide to SEO," which I've found to be the best and most comprehensive resource related to beginner SEO knowledge. Besides the fact that it's beautifully designed with compelling graphics, it provides an overview of everything from how search engines operate to how usability, experince, and content effect ratings. If you're a web developer, take a peek at their "Web Developer's SEO Cheat Sheet," which digs into technical SEO. If techincal SEO tickles your fancy, I highly reccomend checking out Patrick Coombe's list of reccomended reading on Inbound.org.
Ready to take the next step into actually conducting keyword research? Rachel Sprung, Product Marketing Manager here at HubSpot, has you covered. In her "How to Do Keyword Resarch for SEO: A Beginner's Guide," she covers each step that's necessary (and the tools that can help you) to find out exactly what your target users are looking for.
SEO Mistakes to Avoid During Your Next Website Redesign
With the above resources, you should feel confident in your ability to set forth on your SEO journey. Erik Devaney, Content Strategist at HubSpot, has compiled a free guide to show you how to redesign a website without making the most common SEO blunders. With tips and tricks from marketers and designers who've dealt with redesigns in the past, this ebook is filled to the brim with best practices. Inside, you'll find insights like the quote from Doug Davidoff, CEO of Imagine Business Development, below:
The biggest mistake I’ve ever made was designing with SEO
at the top of the priority list. It made the site awkward and
ineffective.
The best way to fix this is to focus on creating value for your
personas and delivering the user experience they would like.
When you focus on those items, SEO takes care of itself.
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