post by Stephanie Nelson
Most business owners know that optimizing their website to be found in the organic search results is important these days. However, a new thing has cropped up that folks need to pay attention to – mobile SEO.
It’s no surprise that more and more searches are happening from mobile devices – both smartphones and tablets – each year. And while traditional search engine optimization efforts can help businesses show in mobile results, there are some differences that need to be addressed.
First, how does your website design show on mobile devices? Nowadays, most website designs are built to be responsive. This means that no matter what device you’re own, the site adapts to the screen size appropriately. Older designs may not do this, though, so you’re faced with the decision of doing a website redesign to a responsive layout or building a separate mobile-friendly site. The pros and cons of each are detailed in the infographic from Moz.com below.
Another mobile tactic of olden days was to let your desktop design show on mobile devices, but to block CSS, Javascript, and images. This is now a no-no if you want the GoogleBot to like your site.
Site speed is a major factor in mobile searches, even more so than in desktop searches. Make sure your image sizes are optimized for mobile loading and that you minimize the number of redirects on your site.
Flash and pop-ups do not load well or at all on most mobile devices. Make sure your mobile site does not include these elements.
Possibly most importantly, you need to know that most searches on mobile devices are for something local/nearby, like a restaurant, store, bar, etc. In order to capitalize on this, you MUST optimize your site’s meta data, title tags, and on-page copy at a bare minimum to reflect your location. City + State, as well as zip code and neighborhood names are popular inclusions in mobile searches that indicate location. Without these on your site and/or in your meta data, title tags, and on-page copy, your site will not show for appropriate searches for your goods or services.
We know how overwhelming it can be to try and figure this all out, follow all the rules, and get it right. Don’t chance your results. Give us a shout today!
