What Is Mobile SEO?

Mobile SEO garnered quite a bit of hype in 2012, but now it’s time to take it seriously and start implementing.

How Mobile SEO Is Different

Mobile SEO is an entirely different ballgame. Just as we discussed last week, mobile internet usage varies differently than desktop internet usage – and it’s expected to surpass desktop usage by 2015. Now are you convinced it’s time to take it seriously?

People who browse the mobile internet are typically in two places: on the go or on the couch. Therefore, it’s important to understand how your specific visitors use your mobile site in order to determine an effective game plan.  Your website visitors’ behavior is the biggest factor in how your structure your mobile site. The following is how we address mobile behavior in terms of mobile development and optimization.

Mobile Behavior Is Different

Google Mobile recommends web masters build their websites in a responsive web design format if it makes sense for your business. This ensures that no matter what device your website visitors are using, they will be able to interact with and engage with your content with a positive user experience. This also ensures that your website can be crawled properly for mobile search.

However, for the sites that responsive website design doesn’t work due to dynamic content or a lot of content, you’ll need a separate mobile URL. In terms of SEO, without the proper coding and redirects by your web master or SEO company, mobile search engines may not know to crawl your dedicated mobile site, or worse, they’ll crawl both your desktop site and your mobile site and each will compete against each other in search ranking results.

Keyword Phrases Are Different

In an effort to save time and be more efficient, the majority of keyword phrases entered into a mobile search engine are concise and follow the “location + category” pattern. For example, when someone is in Houston and is in the mood for Italian food, they are likely to search “Houston Italian restaurants.” On top of that, mobile web browsers try to improve user experience even further by auto-completing the search term.  What this means for your mobile site is you need to consider how you will be found on mobile devices, and optimize the keywords on your mobile site accordingly. If you have a responsive website design, when optimizing your site, you’ll need a separate keyword strategy for your mobile device users.

On the backend of your website, your web master or partner marketing company can code your website properly so search engines can call you mobile site differently. They can also make sure your mobile site architecture reflects your user behavior and search terms. For example, if you have an Italian restaurant website and are building a mobile site strategy, use your Google Analytics to determine what pages are popular on mobile devices. You can also look at what search terms are from mobile devices. If you know then that your location, menu, and contact information are the most visited on mobile devices, then your mobile site can be built to optimize those search terms. Not only will this help your search rankings, but also your mobile site visitors’ experience.

Linking Is Different

Inbound and outbound links differ on mobile sites in terms of the search engines. You are given more credit if your outbound links go to other mobile sites. In term, your inbound links should also come from other mobile sites. Since real estate is so precious on mobile devices, linking strategies need a new outlook on how to increase your mobile linking profile.

Google offers more technical advice for those of you who want to understand more about how to optimize your website for mobile in their latest mobile guidelines. If you’re interested in a consultation with us on how to improve your mobile web presence, contact us today. Be sure to download our free ebook below for even more tips on mobile SEO.

About Small Screen Producer

Small Screen Producer is a full service, marketing firm located in Houston, Texas that specializes in online digital media marketing through a 4-step process. Step 1: WE PLAN a custom web presence strategy for your business through website design and development, mobile development, social media account creation and branding. STEP 2: We then POSITION your brand through Pay-Per-Click advertising and search engine optimize tactics that include on-page and off-page SEO that are Google and Bing approved. STEP 3: We then PROMOTE your brand using an Inbound marketing strategy or a content marketing strategy to help you accomplish your marketing goals. We do this through blogging, video production, infographics, call-to-actions, landing pages, and free educational offers. We help you build trust and rapport with your customer base. STEP 4: We then PROTECT your brand’s web presence with a reputation management program that monitors social media and on line reviews. Get started today with a free online marketing assessment of your company’s web presence. Your company deserves it.