Local Mobile Search

Posted: Saturday, December 10th, 2011 by | Filed under: , ,

We’ll wrap up our discussion on mobile SEO by going into finer detail about how exactly mobile SEO is changing the landscape of web marketing. With desktop sites, scale plays a major role in page ranking and search relevance. However, with mobile sites, this is no longer the case. More importance is given to proximity of location or vertical business/product/service category suitability. That is, no longer do big brand names/chain stores have an automatic advantage in results pages. For example, in terms of mobile queries, Sally’s Organic Groceries Shop now has just as much of a chance in a local search results page as does Whole Foods. Local mobile search opens more doors for businesses of all shapes and sizes, so if you are just starting out and want to get noticed, you’ll definitely want to optimize your mobile site so that you can start taking advantage of the perks local searches can grant to smaller businesses. In addition, another helpful content marketing suggestion for mobile devices/smartphones is to submit your site to places that are responsible for a lot of mobile traffic (such as the most relevant directories).

One of the best SEO tips for mobile devices is to make sure that your site is easily accessible and clear. It is imperative that your site be crawlable at the code level. Did you use the correct robots.text file instructions? Are you using Flash? Are all of the pages you want indexed stored in the public domain? These are things that any SEO would ask when optimizing a desktop website, and mobile sites are no different. Read more …

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Optimizing Mobile Websites

Posted: Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 by | Filed under: , ,
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Welcome back to our series on web marketing for mobile phones/smartphones. Today, we’ll discuss more ways to optimize your mobile site.

As mentioned in our previous post, it takes a mobile user longer to enter the same number of keywords as a desktop user. For this reason, mobile queries are often much shorter, and search engines like Google try to compensate for this brevity by providing predictive phrase/query suggestions, which from an SEO standpoint, would be great in helping to determine what keywords your business should try to rank for.

An important aspect of mobile SEO is location. In order to enhance the user experience, mobile search engines present results in a different manner than desktop search engines. As mentioned before, mobile users often tend to be on the go, and their needs tend to not only be location/task specific but also immediate. As a comparison, you would not be able to do a comprehensive research report on a mobile phone the way you would on a desktop. The experiences are completely different.

To get the most out of mobile SEO, you need to gain a better understanding of how the mobile experience differs from the desktop experience. Read more …

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SEO for Mobile Phones

Posted: Friday, December 2nd, 2011 by | Filed under: , ,

Last time we talked about how companies should incorporate mobile SEO into their game plan.  Now, you could pay to have mobile ads. However, the focus of this series will be on content marketing and organic search (in other words, what you can do without paying for advertisements).

You’ve probably heard the term “mobile friendly site” before. Unfortunately, some people assume that making a site mobile friendly is the same thing as mobile SEO. In reality, the two are different and not interchangeable.

The first step in mobile SEO is to decide whether or not you need a dedicated mobile site or a mobile friendly version of your current site. Although the number of smartphone users is rapidly increasing, there is still a very large mass of people who still use the traditional mobile phone. If you know that you have a lot of customers that still use traditional mobile phones, then you are better off with a dedicated mobile site. Smartphones, on the other hand, are able to view web pages much like they appear on desktop browsers (just on a smaller screen).

Similar to SEO for desktops, SEO for mobile phones also begins with keyword research. However, with mobile keyword research, it is important to remember that mobile search queries are often shorter than desktop queries. Whereas desktop queries tend to be more descriptive, mobile queries are shorter. The reason for this is not simply due to the inconvenience of typing a long search query on a tiny screen with a small keypad. It is also due to the fact that mobile users tend to always be either on the go (e.g. going to work, trying to find a restaurant, shopping, waiting on line) or sitting down (perhaps on the bus, at a restaurant table, at the office desk, etc.). Simply put, mobile users on the go don’t have time/patience for thoughtful, descriptive search queries.

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Smart Phone Marketing

Posted: Tuesday, November 29th, 2011 by | Filed under: , ,

When people think about search engine optimization and search engine marketing, they usually think about how to optimize their website as it would appear on a person’s computer screen. However, the beauty/challenge of internet marketing is that the field is constantly changing and evolving to adapt to new technological advancements and/or consumer behaviors. For instance, it is impossible to ignore the rise of the smartphone. Just think about how many people you see on the bus or inside a store with their eyes glued to their iPhone, Android, or Blackberry.

The rise of the smartphone means that it is no longer enough for SEOs to optimize their websites as viewed by computers—they also need to optimize their mobile websites. Google recently published a study called “The Mobile Movement: Understanding Smartphone Users” that stated that 77% of smartphone users use their phones to visit search engine websites, with nine out of ten of these mobile searches resulting in an action (such as purchasing or contacting the business). Practically all smartphone users use their mobile devices to look up local information, with 88% of them taking action within a day (which suggests that these searches are indicative of immediate needs).

With mobile searches playing such an influential role in consumer behavior, it is wise/beneficial for a business to optimize its mobile site. However, shockingly, only 4.8% retailers have a mobile site. It is apparent that many businesses are completely missing out on this juicy market. Due to the high number of mobile searches that are conducted each day, anyone truly interested in SEO and content marketing should seriously consider learning more about mobile SEO.

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