Mobile Sites and Mobile SEO Mobile Sites & Mobile SEO www.ClickTecs.com
Did you know? • 90% of mobile users in US and Western Europe have a web-‐enabled phone-‐ Source Comscore 2010 Mobile Year in review • Mobile Web use is growing faster than applicaKon use – Source Clickz.com • The current industries seeing the most growth in mobile searches are business, entertainment, and travel (30% in Restaurant category) • Mobile Searchers tend to use the same search engine on their mobile device as they use on their PC
70/20/10 TradiKonal Online
Emerging PlaXorms
Future Investment
Mobile
Social Media Website Landing Pages Paid AdverKsing SEO
Solve a Need… Mobile Problems
Mobile users face four main usability hurdles: • Small screens • Awkward input • Download delays • Poorly-‐designed sites
In the past 1900 -‐ innova+on
1983 -‐ portability
2010+ – smart phone
Today– a 3 screen future
Types of AcKviKes • CommunicaKon (including email, social network sites, forums, using a camera applicaKon to send a picture to a friend), • Informa+on seeking (examples include finding business hours, stores, loca+ons, direc+ons, checking news, sport informa+on, movie +mes), • Data handling (e.g., uploading a picture, installing an applicaKon), • Entertainment (e.g., watching video), • TransacKons (e.g., shopping, banking)
Mobile Sites vs Full Sites 1. If your budget allows for a mobile site, build one: your users will do be_er with it. 2. Use site analyKcs to determine how much your site is accessed from mobile devices and to decide whether it’s worth building a mobile site and which plaXorm to prioriKze 3. Build a mobile site if people do small, quick transacKons on your site under Kme pressure. 4. Build a mobile site if people use your site to communicate with each other. 5. Build a mobile site if people come to your site to kill Kme and browse. 6. Do not build a mobile site if your full site has a shallow informaKon structure and limited funcKonality (1–4 possible tasks).
Mobile Website • Auto-‐Detect Mobile Phones. Mobile-‐friendly websites automaKcally detect that users are on a mobile device and then display the appropriate version of the site. • Clear Calls to Ac+on. The most important features of the site should be at the top of the page and should include clear calls to acKons. • Avoid Mobile-‐Unfriendly Elements. The design should avoid mobile-‐unfriendly elements such as flash, large images, video, and complex layouts.
Mobile Websites ConKnued Fluidity. Design with a fluid layout that will gracefully adapt to a range of typical mobile screen resoluKons. Touch Interface. Touch screens don’t have hover states — it’s all about fingers tapping, so don’t build a site that requires users to move their mouse over menus or other elements. Also, make sure links and other clickable elements are big enough to tap with a fingerKp. Scrolling. Limit scrolling to one direcKon — the site should only scroll verKcally. Having to manage a page that scrolls horizontally and verKcally is difficult to navigate.
Mobile Sites One Window. Avoid pop-‐ups and new windows. A user’s enKre experience should take place in a single window. Simple Naviga+on. Simplify your navigaKon. Typically, a site’s tradiKonal navigaKon is too complex for a mobile site. Clean Code. Most desktop web browsers allow a lot of leeway when rendering HTML and will usually display a site correctly, even if the code has flaws. Mobile browsers usually have less room for error, so there is an added value to having clean, simple code.
Mobile Sites Cont’d Use Alt Tags. SomeKmes images won’t load, either because of issues with the mobile browser or because a user’s connecKon is too slow. Always include descripKve alt tags for images, in case they don’t appear. Label Forms. Some modern websites embed form labels inside the form field. On mobile, it’s much more difficult to keep track of the fields, and users olen make use of “next/previous” bu_ons built into they keyboard. Without clear labels alongside the form fields, it might be impossible to know what informaKon is supposed to be in which field.
Last but not least –Mobile Sites Escape Hatch. SomeKmes users just need to use your normal site. If possible, always have a link back to the original, Full site and from your Desktop site to your mobile site
Did you know… 1 in 7 searches on Google are performed on a mobile device
Google’s keyword tool provides mobile keywords and volume
Keyword Query Context
Google’s research: • 59% of smartphone users report using the mobile Internet while waiKng in line • 48% report using it while eaKng • 44% report using it while shopping.
Mobile Search vs Desktop Local results are more likely in mobile
Image search opKmizaKon and video SEO olen have a low priority in enterprise SEO, but will play a crucial role in Mobile Search
Like me, Like me Not No Google Plus One in mobile results (yet)
Fewer places to filter in Mobile may mean a higher CTR in mobile search
Mobile SEO 1. ValidaKng the page with the .Mobi Validator or the W3C Validator 2. Following ‘tradiKonal’ on-‐site SEO Best PracKces such as: * Major keywords in the Ktle tagging * H1ʹ′s and body text * Rich keyword Meta Titles and DescripKons * Keyword-‐rich anchor text for internal links
3. Have dedicated Link building Campaign for the Mobile Site
Low CompeKKon in Mobile SEO means big opportunity for your client!
Mobile SEO ConKnued 3. Mobile Search results tend to reflect ‘Local Search results’ – your site must be opKmized for local type searches. Also submit your business info to local directories making sure your site is verified and included in sites like Google’s Local Business Center. 4. Get the Mobile Site spidered and indexed – submit to major search engines: * Google Sitemaps * Yahoo! Submit Your Mobile Site 5. Standard domain names and URLs (m.site.com, mobile.site.com, site.mobi, www.site.com/mobile) should all point to your mobile site. If you can afford only one of these domains, use m.site.com
Mobile Keyword Research Tool
Great Tools to use • www.ipadpeek.com -‐ see how your site looks on an ipad
– Note: Flash works so not fully accurate (disable the flash plugin)
• www.iphonetester.com -‐ how your site looks on an iphone • www.iphoney.com • h_p://validator.w3.org/mobile/ -‐ Sees how mobile friendly your site is and checks against W3C Compliance • h_p://www.google.com/gwt/n -‐ makes the page mobile-‐ web-‐friendly by trimming the content down to its bare essenKals h_p://www.gomez.com/mobile-‐readiness-‐instant-‐test-‐ mobile readiness test gives you a score between 1 and 5 based on an analysis of over 30 proven mobile web development techniques
‘The Market doesn’t know what it wants unKl it sees it.’ ~JK Rowling, Author
Next Steps • Look for a blog post on Mobile Sites vs Mobile SEO • Review AnalyKcs of exisKng sites for Mobile Traffic and see if a Mobile Site is required • Upgrade SEO to include Mobile SEO
QuesKons?
Jamshaid (Jam) Hashmi
1888 678 7588 x 1278 Toll Free jhashmi@clicktecs.com Connect with me on Linkedin h_p://ca.linkedin.com/in/jamshaidhashmi Follow me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jamshaidhashmi