Would you believe me if I told you we checked our cell phones 150 times per day? And that on average we spend 177 minutes on our smartphones per day? These are just a few mind blowing statistics I learned when I attended Joe DeMike’s Pubcon session on Capturing the Mobile Moments with Google. These revealing and surprising facts should be eye-opening in regards to how we choose to target our audiences. If you are at all debating on whether to focus your digital marketing efforts on mobile, the answer should become evident by the time you finish reading this post.
What exactly is Mobile SEO?
In 2014, mobile users surpassed desktop users and the number of mobile users has only increased since then. Optimizing your site for mobile includes a mobile-friendly design, fast page speed, user-focused site structure and more.
What makes Mobile SEO Different from Desktop SEO?
Users’ intentions are different on mobile and desktop. When users search on their mobile devices, four out of five people used search engines to conduct local searches. They want information about products and services near them. In fact, location specific phrasing such as “closest,” “near me,” or “nearby” are 34 times more popular today than they were 4 years ago.
[bctt tweet=”Four out of five people used search engines to conduct local searches on mobile devices.”]
Mobile users also have shorter attention spans than your desktop users. Ranking fourth place in organic search results on mobile is quite different than ranking fourth on desktop. Because people use mobile phones to search while they are out and about, they need information more quickly than if they were sitting at home searching on their desktop. That fourth place ranking on a mobile device is much harder for users to get to than it is on desktop, meaning your new concern is missing out on those mobile conversions.
Mobile Website Options
Two options when building your mobile website include: a mobile site with a separate URL or responsive web design. There are benefits and caveats for each option.
Mobile Websites with separate URLs
Mobile sites that have a separate URL (usually looks something like m.website.com) allow you to easily have different content appearing on mobile and desktop. Mobile users behave differently so it’s important to cater your mobile site to your mobile audience. If you choose this option, you can put your most actionable pieces of content up front and customize the content to cater to your mobile user’s needs.
Responsive Websites
Responsive websites provide an optimal viewing experience for all users, regardless of if they are on desktop, tablet, or mobile devices. The images and text on your website will automatically shift to the screen size you are using. This means the content on every device is the same but the design has shifted to become more accessible depending on your screen size. If you decide to choose responsive design, it’s important to design your website with mobile users in mind. What do they see first on their mobile phone? Your phone number? A call to action? A request a quote button? Remember that users have a small attention span, so it is important to hone in on the most important information they need from your website.
Mobile SEO Best Practices
In terms of your mobile SEO strategy, think fast, easy, and clear. If you give users what they need on your mobile site and it loads fast, your conversions will be much higher than if they have to search through your site or wait forever for it to fully function.
Fast Page Speed. We’re talking Jimmy John’s fast here, people. Mobile users simply won’t wait for your site to load because they know that they can get the information they want somewhere else more quickly.
Prominent Calls to Action. A service-based company can leverage phone calls from their mobile sites to make sales. A “Call now” call to action or click-to-call buttons are ideal for companies that take service and consultation calls. For e-commerce sites, “Buy now” or “Shop now” are ideal. When users are visiting your e-commerce mobile site, allow them to use your site without registering for an account.
Easy Navigation. Keep your menu short and sweet or else your users will lose patience. Also, be sure it’s easy to get back to the homepage. Use your logo as a navigation button to return to the homepage content.
Design Efficient Forms. For mobile forms, minimize the number of fields in your forms and autofill information when possible. If you are asking users to fill out multi-part forms, clearly label progression as they complete the form.
If you’re still not convinced you need to optimize for mobile, think of your own habits with your smart phone. If we check our phones 150 times per day, think of how many customers and clients you could be reaching in that time. These are just a handful of ways to give your users the best experience possible when they find your website on their mobile device. For a full, well-rounded list, feel free to reference this guide, which was presented by Joe DeMike at Pubcon!
Do you need help with a mobile website? Don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d love to help your business get into the hands of your users.
Curious how desktop SEO is different? Check out “The Beginner’s Guide to SEO: Desktop Edition”.
