Optimization for Mobile Search
 |
|
Check Website
One of the basic predictions for the year 2012 in online marketing was the growth of the mobile share at the market. And that is for a good reason. Mobile industry grows rapidly, so is the mobile broadband access to the internet. For many countries the mobile connectivity is the budget solution and is hard to beat. It makes the mobile the source of all searches and online purchases for quite a number of people. Those who have a choice between the fixed broadband and the mobile broadband are also in love with mobile searching and surfing, socializing and clicking on the ad links with coupons. So, it is important to be found on mobile web. And what about SEO for mobile?
Speaking about SEO optimization, as we know it, will it change?
Simply put, the subject of the mobile SEO is rather obscure as nobody sure so far, that mobile SEO will be separated from the desktop SEO. So, the article is not about mobile SEO itself, but it is about the changes in the Internet brought up by mobile phones impact. A year or two ago it was forecasted that there would be split between mobile and desktop SEO. Now it is likely that mobile will soon become part of the desktop search with only some specifications.
Trends
While being on the mobile web surely deserves your attention, you should remember that mobile search is specific. You can`t become successful without socializing in the web where more than 70% of mobile access is to socialize, and with the mobile searches this figure is as large as 90%. The most popular category on the mobile search is travel. Most bookings in the hotels are made on the last minute. Most purchases in e-shops are also carried out on the last minute before holidays. People searching on mobile are regularly in a hurry and on the move, so their searches are brief and hurried. Mobile searchers tend to use shorter search strings of keywords and shorter phrases (in fact, 25% percent shorter). It is predicted that voice search will become more and more popular with mobile users and this is quite understandable, as it is more convenient, so more colloquial expressions among leading searches are expected. Social is another aspect of using mobile. Socializing on the PCs becomes more and more popular to say nothing of the mobile - there it is even more important.
Conclusions
So, engage not only in SEO, but also in SMO (social media optimization). So, if you can think of some content related to your business that could be searched for with a location intent, if you feel that you could provide your customers with something urgent, necessary in this particular moment, and they can`t wait until they get to their desktop, then you should have mobile site or at least mobile content for your site. You should also make your target keywords shorter, and may be more conversational if seen in the perspective of mobile voice search. Of course, there are predictive tools out there, to help mobile users find things easier like Google Suggest, and you should learn how to use them in your SEO.
More tips from experts
Today optimization of the interface is what matters most. As in the times of browsers war, developing for all the browsers, platforms and sizes is of much concern than anything else. So,
- Mobile sites should be straightforward, the navigation should be as easy as pie and they are primarily about information rather than design.
- You should bid for top-five results, as there are only five of them on the page and almost nobody cares going to the second page, statistic says. So, you should aim at being on the top-5. For this choose a category very carefully, try to specify the place where your business is and try to aim at shorter queries.
- Some experts advise the use of microformats for rich snippets, as they become even more important with mobile search.
- You should better include clickable phone number or the call to action or both on your mobile site rather than a link to your desktop site. And make them prominent. easy to find and large enough to click on.
Takeaways from Google
Google Webmaster advises us not to worry about duplicated content.
Mobile sitemap is a must. It can be done with the help of Google Sitemap Generator.
Googlebot Mobile is only for the feature mobile phones and Google thinks webmasters shouldn`t care much about creating content for Googlebot . Google treats smartphones as close to a desktop solution. At Google they see that smartphones tend to display more desktop features.
We are advised to set separate ad campaign for our mobile presence.
Check your site if it is mobile friendly
2012-01-27 00:59 by Cancanit, Back To Top
Johny Mc said...
The most problematic part is about URLs. You didn't mention that. The present-day tendency is to use desktop site's urls without redirection. it is good from the point of view of seo.
Thanks for the article! Lots of handy tips. I would appreciate more resources on this issue. Links, sites, you know... All I find is about a year ago, and that's pretty old. Need fresh stuff.
2012-01-27 07:38:15