How Google Thinks: SEO Done The Right Way
People are always on the lookout for the search engine optimization (SEO) trick that will propel them to the top of a Google Search results page. Obviously, this does not exist, but if there were one SEO factor that summed it up, then it would be to design not for a search algorithm but for a person.
As a freethinking and complex human, there are a plethora of factors that your brain computes and acts upon as you experience the world in front of you. Google has been studying these factors since it launched 20 years ago, and we are way beyond the days of black-hat keyword spamming and buying spammy backlinks to rank higher.
Consider What Makes A Successful User Journey
In the age of high-speed internet and one-click checkout, what do we really want in a website's user journey? The simple answer is less time and more convenience -- to be able to digest interesting information or complete an action that will take as little time as possible and is ultra convenient for the user.
So, with this in mind, if I were a search engine, then I would want to reward websites that achieve this since they have satisfied my users. Did they find what they were looking for and leave happy? Is the website mobile friendly and fast? Are users getting to the bottom of the content as well as clicking on things? What are other signals out there, like mentions on other websites and links to the page in question?
