We Geek Out So You Don't Have To: Web Rendering Edition

Google's Web Dev Relations team recently put out a great resource on understanding and improving web rendering. We all design our websites, experiences, and content for users, i.e., actual people, and Google recommends the same. Their consistent stance is "don't focus on search; focus on users". However, here in the real world, we know that it's never quite that simple. At UpBuild, we've been obsessed with how client sites render for search engines for years, so it's especially cool to see this topic get more of the spotlight this month.
 

So that you don't have to slog through all that documentation, we asked Alex Ramadan — one of our Senior SEOs — to give us his take on it. Here's what he had to say.
 

"My biggest takeaway after reading this (and then watching some videos and reading other articles) is that most websites can still be fully functional and serve their readers with simple HTML, CSS, and minimal Javascript. Websites can be simple, and simple is fast, and fast is good. 
 

If you have additional dependencies or need Javascript to add interactivity or features to your site, try to only load what users need when they need it, keeping pages simple, server requests minimal, and websites accessible on lots of different devices and network speeds. Another added benefit here is that simple websites are easier for everyone to use, including those with disabilities who might rely on technologies that utilize web standards to make a site more accessible. Overcomplicating your website could make disability-focused tools less reliable, thus preventing certain groups from using your website.

Overthink your content and the purpose of your website, not the frameworks or fancy visual features that might look cool but provide little value (and can actually hurt your website's performance). Whether you're using server-side rendering, client-side rendering, or some combination of the two, focus on accessibility and speed and let that be your guiding light when building your sites."

Curious to learn more? Access the full resource here.

Why You Shouldn't Be Using Medium

It's not that Medium is a bad platform (it's pretty awesome for certain things), but it's definitely not where you should be hosting your company's blog. The quick and easy TL;DR is that the blogs you set up on Medium are designed to benefit Medium, not your company. Your company should always be your blog's primary beneficiary and the fate of your content should always rest in your hands. From a strict SEO perspective, make sure that your time and energy is helping build links to your site; not Medium's.

UpBuild's Alex Ramadan (this somehow turned into an "Alex Newsletter") wrote a fantastic post last week unpacking why you should really avoid using Medium to host your company blog. It's well worth a read.

Got Remote Jobs? This structured data is for you!

As a remote company without a central office, UpBuild was elated to get this Search Console notice last week. Google's reaching out to webmasters who have sites listing remote jobs so that they can encourage them to leverage the appropriate semantic markup.

It feels very old school, but the recommended `jobLocationType` value is `telecommute`. If you want to have your own jobs appear as "remote" and be searchable as such in Google's Job Search experience, then you now have that power!

Note that in order to qualify as a "remote" job, the position needs to be fully remote; not simply part-time work-from-home.

If you need anyone to take a look at your markup, you know who to ask. 

Read more on Search Engine Journal.