Mobile search engine optimization (mobile SEO) has been in a state of flux in recent years.
The mobile website SEO landscape has been turned on its head with the introduction of Apple iOS and Google Android devices. The smartphone user is becoming one of the more common browsers of the Internet.
In fact, Google has recently announced changes in rankings of smartphone search results in order to improve the search engine experience for mobile users.
This amplifies the importance you should place in ensuring your mobile website SEO strategy.
As you’re probably already aware, Stream Companies (and Google for that matter) recommends a fully responsive website over an adaptive website. In fact, many of the below recommendations for improved mobile SEO rankings can easily be accomplished with a responsive mobile website.
Engage your mobile users
One of the most important elements of any mobile website SEO strategy is to engage users. As smartphone users are typically on-the-go and do not have much time to find what they’re looking for, businesses must create content that can be found quickly and painlessly.
In essence, offering specific content that gives mobile users exactly what they need is pivotal to creating and sustaining customer engagement.
Optimizing your site for SEO
The landscape for mobile website SEO is always changing, and Google and other search giants are starting to alter the way mobile sites are ranked and how easily your business can be found. Mobile SEO is a key factor to improving your overall search engine optimization strategy, and it starts with ensuring that your site is built for mobile users.
While many websites now have versions for desktop users as well as smartphone users, there are frequent instances where redirects between the two sites make it impossible for users to easily find your site and navigate it.
Sites that use redirects will push a user from the desktop version to a different site optimized for mobile visitors. If this is the method your business it using, it’s absolutely critical to continuously test the site to ensure your users can easily get to the mobile site, and all the links and redirects are properly in place.
For example, if every link on your desktop site leads to the homepage of your mobile site, this can create issues with the user. Or, if your mobile customer is trying to read contact information, the redirect needs to go to that exact section of the mobile site – not to an alternate, irrelevant page.
The beauty of responsive websites is you’re only dealing with one URL and one set of content, which means there’s no complicated redirecting involved between two separate websites.
Optimizing your mobile website to ensure an easy, seamless engagement will create an enjoyable experience for every user – the most important element in any mobile website SEO strategy.
Build your site to avoid errors and dead ends
Google is going to begin penalizing sites that are not built error-free for smartphone users. This amplifies the importance of making sure your mobile website SEO strategy focuses on providing your visitors with a high-quality mobile experience.
Smartphone users are more likely to run into issues where they’re unable to load pages because the pages are built for desktop versions.
Other issues may involve problems with unplayable videos and other visual content. Working through configurations to ensure your site is free of issues will help you place higher in Google search rankings.
Mobile website SEO strategy is becoming more and more important for businesses everyday as the number of users viewing the Internet on smartphones is growing at an incredible rate. Google is seeing this trend and is placing a bigger emphasis on proper mobile search engine ranking for these types of sites.
To effectively attract and engage your mobile audience, it’s imperative ensure your business is prepared for these changes and has a sound mobile SEO strategy in place.
Want to learn more about digital marketing trends and changes taking place in the new year? Click here to register for the action-packed webinar, Digital Marketing Trends For 2014 And Beyond!, taking place on December 19th, 3-4pm EST.
All the best,
Bill Parlaman
Bill is the VP of Digital Marketing for Stream Companies, a Philadelphia area advertising agency.
