Mobile SEO

Let’s start with some statistics that will explain why mobile SEO is going to be the next ‘big thing’ for the online commercial sector. At the end of 2010, it is estimated that there will be five billion mobile device users worldwide. The amount spent on mobile advertising is estimated to grow to $19 billion by 2015 and 49% of mobile users in the US have already used their devices to buy online in the last six months. Mobile commerce is expected to reach $119 billion in sales by 2015.

Have we got your attention yet?

The importance of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) has been known about for a long time. You cannot create an effective online marketing presence without taking into consideration the nuts and bolts of SEO such as keywords, tags, rich content and links. With the next generation of online shoppers no longer tethered to a desktop PC or laptop, mobile SEO is going to be crucial to the success of your business, but is it any different from all the hard work (and money) you’ve already put into your standard SEO techniques?

Tweaking your existing SEO

The common consensus is that the only difference between your existing SEO and its role in a mobile device environment is that you will need to ‘tweak’ it slightly to optimise its potential for ‘on the go’ users. The first thing to consider is the limited space available to you, so mobile SEO has to be clutter-free and maximised to work within these confines. Mobile search engines use different bots and algorithms that rank your mobile site according to how well it will fit into a mobile environment. Key to every consideration is usability and clarity of message, so the first rule is – keep it simple. Things such as tags, including heading tags, alt tags and title tags, are still very important, so stick religiously to SEO best practice when adapting any existing content for mobile users.

Bad XHTML or JavaScript can cause problems on some mobile browsers. It can also slow download times to a crawl. So keep your file size small, ensure any images you include are message-specific and don’t clutter up the page and that your code is tight, clean and relevant.

Why is mobile SEO so important to me?

Ecommerce is a massive industry. PayPal have seen a six-fold increase in the number of mobile transactions in just one year, from $25million in 2008 to a staggering $141milion in 2009. More than five million PayPal members use their iPhone, Blackberry or Android to make online purchases. By 2015, mobile sales will account for at least 8% of all online sales. Without a good mobile presence, you could be missing out on a lot of potential business. And without good mobile SEO, your site will become lost on page-nowhere of the mobile search rankings.

Google, and other search engines use a different search algorithm for mobile results. Someone can perform a search on their desktop PC and get completely different results if they run the same search form their mobile. Traditional SEO techniques are still important but understanding additional factors such as page size, text length, document type and image size can make a significant impact on the position a site receives in the mobile search results. And because mobile users browse less, securing those top positions is even more important.

The smart phone is going to be a huge influence on how people interact with the web over the next few years. Commercially, that means a rethink for anyone who is still working purely on the basis that all online sales are done from a static site. Incorporating mobile SEO services into your overall business strategy means that you won’t be missing the browser ‘on the go’ and potentially a lot of sales.