Minimalist website design is nothing new and is something that probably will never go out of style. It’s a “less is more” approach to displaying content, images and navigation.  It’s a style that is high on impact and low on bells and whistles.

So, what exactly is the purpose of minimalist design?  

A minimalist design is a very clean and simple approach to creating a layout, but the goal is to do so in such a way that the layout is still interesting and meaningful. Although a minimalist design is one of very few elements, each of these elements should be carefully chosen, sized and strategically placed with a purpose in mind—to draw immediate attention to a product or service without being hindered by unnecessary distractions.

Achieving the right composition can be tricky because you want to include as few elements as possible to convey the message, but enough substance to create a good user experience while taking SEO results into account.

Google+, the tech giant’s foray into social media, is officially dead and no longer plays a role in content marketing. As of early February, people could no longer join Google+, and, as of April 2, the company will begin to shut down accounts and delete information.

The Birth of Google+

When it launched in June 2011, Google+ was like any typical social media platform: it allowed users to post and store images, provide status updates and share links to interesting stories on the web. Google+ offered “circles,” which allowed a user to slot what other social media sites called “friends” or “followers” into different groups with whom that user could share posts and updates.

The service grew quickly after its launch and amassed 40 million users by the end of 2011. For a while, Google+ was the darling of the tech community, and even Facebook considered it a potentially formidable foe at one point.

But Google+ never really gained traction, even after Google tried to enmesh it with its Gmail and YouTube services, which met with some backlash. Google eventually began referring to the service as an “identity layer” that shared and pulled together all a user’s activity across Google’s various properties. But that didn’t attract additional users either.

2018 is nearly over, and we all have our own lists of things we’d like to complete before the end of the year.

One task that should definitely be on your list is a quick review of your website.

Let’s be clear: mistakes on your website matter. An old phone number or malfunctioning contact form could keep you from acquiring a new customer, while inaccurate information and broken links can lead new prospects to decide you’re not a vendor they feel comfortable with.

Broken links and inaccuracies matter to Google as well – a poorly maintained site usually won’t rank as well in Google’s search results.

So what’s a concerned site owner to do? Here’s a simple checklist of 10 items to review on your website to make sure your site is in good shape:

One easily forgotten element in the battle to improve search rankings is simple linking.

Here are some easy ways to increase the number of links to your website:

1. Content marketing is the key here: Write new, useful content every month – no one will link to an old, outdated website that has nothing new to offer. This content can include:

We don’t do social media. We don’t need a blog. We don’t know anything about backlinks. We don’t have any videos or PowerPoint presentations we can use. We don’t have time to talk about new content for our site. We don’t want to change the way we do things.

“We don’t” and “we can’t” are the biggest reasons why industrial and other B2B companies fail in search engine optimization (SEO). With Google using more than 200 factors to rank websites (half related to site structure and content and the other half to content marketing and backlinks), and an ever-evolving algorithm that’s updated multiple times a year, there’s one thing that’s certain, SEO for industrial businesses requires a big commitment and a commitment to change.

It’s not enough to build a site that’s responsive and that utilizes Yoast or other SEO plugins. Effective B2B SEO means building your site from the ground up (programming, navigation and content) with higher rankings in mind and continuing with an ongoing content marketing and backlink building strategy that supports the work you’ve done to optimize your site.