Don't get left out of mobile search results. Red Door Interactive's director of search marketing explains how to optimize your site for small screen searches.
Mobile search is rising in popularity as consumers realize the convenience of search on the fly. Consumers with traditional handsets have been using SMS texting to search for the nearest Starbucks or Pizza Palace, and those with smartphones go to Google.
Google is the most popular mobile website (M:Metrics), and the 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. day part has the largest mobile web user audience. We also know that mobile media consumers spend over eight minutes per session accessing the mobile web. These stats suggest the time is ripe to be found on the mobile web where over 11 million U.S. mobile users will be searching for your products and services.
Mobile users are loyal to the brands they know on the web, and it's best if they find you on a dot-mobi domain because sites designed for the small screen are easier to view and use than those transformed from a wired version.
If you're thinking of a mobile presence and wonder about optimizing your site for search engines, you may wonder if the rules are the same as for wired sites. Well, yes and no. We'll provide some guidelines for designing a mobile site from scratch, but first some tips for those who elect to transform an existing site.
Transforming your existing site
Wired websites can be transformed for mobile use. Just create a mobile-friendly version of your current site for display only to mobile users. If you take this route, use valid code that is W3C xHTML compliant because mobile search engines aren't very forgiving when it comes to invalid code.
We recommend that you follow accessibility best practices, which can be found on the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative. This not only helps the vision impaired, it also accommodates all users regardless of platform. On this version of your site, don't use any unnecessary code that could take longer to load. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) will provide maximum flexibility for reorganizing mobile content quickly.
You need short, crisp copy with targeted keywords in your meta tags, heading tags and body text. Try to have at least one authoritative incoming link on each page, using keyword-rich anchor text on your internal links.
Provide easy scrolling and smart navigation with a short click-to-purchase to increase conversions if you display ads.
Some search engines provide transcoding to transform any website into a mobile site, but this doesn't always result in a mobile-friendly site.
Building your dot-mobi site
Your best bet is to create a mobile-specific site because this provides the best user experience. You can use a subdomain, but you'll be saddled with dual design updates. Therefore, it's best to buy a dot-mobi domain. Pick a domain name that is uncomplicated and easy to remember, because most users will type in the URL.
Organize your pages so the most important content appears first on the page, followed by the navigation. This may be unorthodox, but it's useful for mobile because the first thing users want to do is check to see if they're on the right page. The navigation alone doesn't provide these clues. Users also have difficulty scrolling, so content on top will give you better retention.
Organize navigation logically by showing your most popular buttons first, using text links. Label your navigation buttons clearly, using as little screen space as possible.
Make sure all inner page information is within three clicks of the home page. Provide a sitemap for the benefit of search spiders and users alike. Filenames should be short and keyword rich.
Don't use pop-ups, frames or Flash. Optimize your mobile pages for short keyword phrases; mobile users average three words per query. Minimize file size for fast loading. Follow the suggested SEO tactics mentioned above regarding targeted keyword copy, meta tags and links, adjusting to accommodate the small screen size.
Submit your site to local and mobile directories, requesting links from relevant mobile websites. Use press releases and blog posts to gain backlinks. Social bookmarking and tagging functionality is a must. Include your main website URL in the footer of your mobile site. You can make your telephone number clickable by using the sample syntax below.
<href="tel:8055171900">866-517-1900< /a>
Once implemented, a click on your phone number will immediately connect users to your business.
Authenticate
Test and validate your mobile site to ensure maximum effectiveness. The Google Mobile Proxy and Skweezer are examples of good simulators. The .Mobi Validator or W3C Mobile Web Validator can be used to validate the site.
There are many resources online to help you go mobile. You might want to review the mobile web development standards put up by the W3C Mobile Web Initiative and the Open Mobile Alliance.
Getting listed
Submit your site to all the major mobile search engines listed below and then some. You'll want to focus on the local and vertical search engines important for your niche. Keep in mind that some verticals are local in nature. For instance, people looking for a house cleaner might go to Judy's Book or Angie's List. Bargain hunters might go to BizRate or PriceGrabber. Oodle is a new vertical that searches web classified ads for consumer convenience. Other locally oriented verticals can include real estate and automotive search engines such as Zillow and MyRide.com. The nature of your site dictates the local/vertical search engines you must be listed in. While the major mobile search engines crawl periodically to index websites, you'll get listed faster if you submit.
Mobile search engines
Google Mobile Search
Yahoo Mobile Search
MSN Mobile Search
Ask Mobile Search
AOL Mobile Search
Nokia Mobile Search
Technorati Mobile
4INFO Mobile Search
The promise of mobile
Forrester Research believes mobile is the most promising of all emerging platforms. Cell phones are not only ubiquitous; they have become a major internet platform. So put up a mobile site and you won't miss this opportunity to extend your reach.
Paul Bruemmer is director of search marketing at Red Door Interactive. Read full bio.