SEO is clearly a crucial aspect of internet marketing and, done right, it can have an enormous impact on a business’s success. Savvier SEO companies know that optimization efforts can be exponentially more effective when they consider the mobile aspect of search as well.

A Google study from last year offers some startling facts about mobile SEO that should not be ignored by any marketer: 51% of smartphone users are more likely to buy from a retailer with a mobile specific website, 79% of users use their phones for shopping and a whopping 74% of these users make purchases from their mobile shopping.

It’s clearly not enough to simply consider SEO on the computer; the most effective SEO practitioners must extend their strategies into the mobile realm. While the basic, broadest concepts remain the same in mobile SEO, there are differences in strategies and audiences between desktop and mobile sites that should be dealt with accordingly. Following the guidelines below will help you get the most out of mobile SEO.

Use Analytics Data Unique To The Mobile Site

The parts of a mobile site that people use most often might be different than the most-used parts of its desktop site, since usability is altered on mobile devices. Therefore, it’s important to gather mobile analytics data rather than using data that has already been gathered for a desktop site. Use this analytics data to identify the most frequented parts of mobile sites and build your mobile site around these areas.
Making your site user-friendly is key in mobile SEO, so making mobile-specific URLs and implementing a “detect and redirect” policy (which uses JavaScript to detect when a search is made on a mobile versus a desktop device and brings the user to the mobile site first) can help mobile users have easy search experiences, which will lead to greater visibility in the long run. Also, make sure your site is standards compliant so that everything displays correctly.

Customize Your Formatting To The Mobile Device

The formatting of your mobile site is another major factor in mobile usability. Make sure your site is formatted in the clearest, most logical way; mobile users will not take nearly as much time to figure out complicated or illogically designed sites as desktop users might, so logical formatting is a must. In keeping with this rule, mobile sites should have a lower content volume in order to be as clear as possible. Keep the basics and skip anything that might be confusing to a user. Split content between different screens if you feel like you can’t take any information away and remember to not use Flash, frames, or other presentation methods that often don’t show up on mobile devices—you don’t want to lose valuable content or important navigational tools because of a formatting error.

Modify Your Keyword Choices

Mobile search query strings tend to be slightly shorter than desktop search strings, so selectivity in regard to keywords is important. There’s a mobile filtering feature on Google Adwords that allows you to choose the best, most effective keywords for your mobile SEO. Location information keywords are especially valuable to include since most smartphone users tend to search for local information. Google Mobile even provides a map featuring locations of the five most relevant searches, so location specific keywords can help mobile sites crack the top five, resulting in a much higher probability of visibility.

Remember To Link

Linking also needs to be viewed a little differently when dealing with mobile SEO as opposed to desktop. Mobile links to mobile sites are more effective than mobile links to desktop sites, so take the extra time to link mobile-to-mobile. Submit mobile sites to directories just as you would with desktop sites and remember to post mobile sites’ launches on social media outlets, press releases and blog posts for the most publicity.

Mobile devices aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so adapt your SEO strategies if you want to to stay ahead in internet marketing game. Remember, don’t rely solely on mobile SEO as a means of carrying your marketing; cross-channel marketing strategies are the most effective at providing a site with visibility over multiple outlets and should be taken advantage of in order to get the best results. Lastly – mobile searchers aren’t just browsing; they are searching with intention. Include calls to action in your mobile site to get more conversions.

Rise Interactive digital marketing agency works with its clients to create the optimal marketing channel portfolio for their brand’s online media investment. Rise’s intense data-driven mindset and advanced reporting capabilities enable it to achieve the clients two most important internet marketing goals: drive higher volumes of qualified traffic and analyze the results to maximize conversions.

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