How can you make the right “mobile” decision for your company and make it it easy for mobile users to find your mobile property? R2i is the exclusive Learning Partner for AMADC and, earlier this week, we gave a presentation on this very topic to a group of marketing professionals in the DC area. Our discussion focused on best practices for structuring mobile sites for optimal search and visibility.
4. Going “Mobile”
1. What is “Mobile?”
2. Why Mobile?
3. Do I Need to do Something?
4. The Importance of Mobile Strategy
5. Choosing a Mobile Solution
6. Focus on Search
7. Mobile Exposure Through Search:
• Mobile SEO
8. Mobile Exposure Through Search:
• Local, CPC
9. Drive Traffic
10. 10 Key Takeaways
Confidential 4/27/2012
6. What is Mobile?
Google BlackBerry Apple iPhone Palm WebOS Symbian OS Windows
Mobile
1. Your Website On a Mobile Phone: Site renders „as is‟
2. Mobile Friendly Website: Content renders on mobile
3. Mobile Optimized Website: Mobile I/A and mobile content
4. Branded Mobile or Custom Native App: Unique functionality; Required
download
8. Your Target is Primed…
35% of U.S. adults own a smartphone,
according to the Pew Research Center
66% sleep with their smartphones next
to their beds
70% of mobile searches are acted upon
within an hour vs. 30% of other searches
91% of all American‟s have their mobile
phone within arm‟s reach 24/7
9. Do You Need to Do Something? Check Your Analytics
10. The Importance of Mobile Strategy
Have an action/conversion in mind
Data Exchange?
Form Lead Generation?
mCommerce?
Click to Call?
Drive Users to Take That Action
through a clear, simple path
11. Focus On Conversions!
The Data Exchange
• Offer something interesting
• Coupons to Generate Leads!
• M-coupons will dominate
mobile retail marketing
spend until 2013, according
to Juniper Research (March
2010)
• Would a user benefit from
logging in to your site?
Confidential 4/27/2012
12. Focus on Conversions!
M-Commerce
• In the US, m-commerce revenues are expected to
hit $6 billion by the end of 2011, growing to $31
billion by 2016, according to Forrester Research
(June 2011)
• m-commerce includes mobile media and content,
retail, travel, coupons/deals, and services
• 91 percent of online retailers in the US have a mobile strategy in place or
in development, according to Shop.org/Forrester Research (May 2011)
• 48 percent of US retailers surveyed had a mobile-optimized website; 35
percent had deployed an iPhone app; 15 percent deployed an Android
app; 15 percent had deployed an iPad app
13. Choosing a Mobile Solution
Mobile Friendly Website
• Platforms
• Technology
• Design
• Content
Stuytown
Confidential 4/27/2012
14. Choosing a Mobile Solution
Mobile Optimized Website
• Platforms • Design
• Technology • Content
RoseNYC RechargeYourYard
Confidential 4/27/2012
15. Choosing a Mobile Solution
What is an App?
Definition
Software designed to help the user to perform singular or multiple related specific tasks on a
mobile device.
• Books
• Business
• Education
• Entertainment
• Finance
• Games
• Navigation
• News
• Photography
• Productivity
• Reference
• Social Networking
• Sports
• Healthcare & Fitness
• Lifestyle
• Medical
• Music
• Travel
• Utilities
• Weather
Confidential 4/27/2012
19. The Search Audience
Who’s Who?
• 43.2 million US consumers ages 18
to 34 are logging on to the mobile
web this year
• eMarketer estimates 21.5 million 45-
to 64-year-olds and 3.7 million
seniors 65 and older will use the
mobile internet
Confidential 4/27/2012
20. Mobile Internet Usage and How it’s Being Used
• One in seven searches are now mobile
(Google)
• 1 in 3 mobile searches are local. After
looking up a local business on their
smartphone, 61 percent of users called the
business and 59 percent visited
• 79 percent of smartphone users use their
smartphones to help with shopping
• 71 percent of smartphone users that see
TV, press or online ad, do a mobile search
for more information, but 79 percent of large
online advertisers still do not have a mobile
optimized site
21. How are Users Using Mobile Search
Local Content Still Dominates
• On-the-go web usage drives
search activity for local
content
• Specific Content Search
Behavior
Confidential 4/27/2012
22. This Isn’t Going Away
Seriously!
• 25% of smartphone owners say
that they mostly go online using
their phone, rather than with a
computer
• In some cases, smartphones are
being utilized in lieu of a
computer similar to how cell
phones decreased the usage of
home landlines
Confidential 4/27/2012
23. Structuring Your Mobile Site for Search Engines
For optimal SEO benefits, use mobile
browser detection and redirection to
direct users to a /mobile version of
your website:
• Be device agnostic
• Valid HTML
• No flash!
• HTML5 is cross platform
and great for rich media
• Create a minimalist mobile
user experience
• Must be intuitive
• Mobile XML sitemap
27. Mobile SEO
Keyword Research
• Mobile user search behavior is different
• Keywords will differ from desktop
• The average mobile search is 15
characters or less
• Account for predictive text
• Use broad categories
• Focus on short tail
• FOCUS ON LOCAL!
31. How Else Can We Drive Traffic?
Mobile Ads - CPC
• This should not be the only tactic in your
arsenal
• Create a separate campaign with mobile
settings
• Create locally focused ad groups with
short tail keywords
• Opt out of the content network
• Create a mobile landing page or have
mobile browser detection on your landing
pages
• Or click to call on WAP text ads
• PPC landing pages may be a first step
into mobile
Confidential 4/27/2012
32. How Else Can We Drive Traffic?
Other Considerations
• Make sure your email campaigns
render on a mobile device
• Make sure that your company contact
information is easy to access/can
render on a mobile device
• Banners and Rich Media
• SMS
• In app/In game advertising
• External campaigns
• QR codes
33. Putting it in Perspective…
“It is true across the board. Roughly one in
seven searches, even in the smaller
categories, are happening on a mobile
phone, but how many of you are putting one
seventh of your resources into mobile –
anyone who hasn‟t got mobile only
business?
Your customer is trying to engage you… it
would be like not doing business with your
customers on Thursdays.” Jason Spero,
Google (Feb 2011).
Confidential 4/27/2012
34. Top 10 Takeaways
1. Understand what going mobile means for success
• Is mobile a direction your company should take now?
2. Create a mobile strategy
3. Keep focused on conversions
• What do you want mobile users to be able to do?
4. What would be your best mobile solution?
• Mobile optimized site?/ App?/ Both?
5. Structure your mobile site for search
• User agent detection and redirection
• /mobile
6. SEO keyword research will focus on user behavior
• Local + Broad Category = Search Success!
7. Desktop SEO strategies mimic mobile
• It‟s about relevance
8. Leverage your locale!
9. CPC should be mobile focused
10. Find additional ways to drive traffic
36. R2INTEGRATED: CONTACT US
www.r2integrated.com
Lori Ulloa | Senior Web Strategist, SEO Expert
R2integrated - Digital Marketing & Technology
410.327.0007 Twitter: SEO_Girl
lulloa@r2integrated.com | www.R2integrated.com
Baltimore/Washington • Seattle • Boston • St. Louis
Notes de l'éditeur
Mobile changed everythingIt’s changed “information portability”Users can now review products and services at the moment they’re evaluating purchase. Information has become “on demand”
It’s changed the standard definition of SocialThus, opening up a channel that, at the moment, actually maintains users’ attentionIt’s important to think of marketing and advertising efforts on mobile as mutually beneficial. What’s in it for the user? How can you help them to accomplish something. Engage them in an exchange……because they are most likely not exchanging anything with the person sitting next to them.
In this presentation, we’ll be taking about:What mobile IS from a marketing perspective Why Mobile? and some interesting trendsDo YOU Need to do Something now? How you can check.The Importance of Mobile Strategy (ie..if you build it, they may come…..but what will they do when they get there)Choosing a mobile solution. This will explain the difference between different ways to “go Mobile.”Mobile exposure through search: Mobile SEO – This will be the meat of this presentation but doesn’t mean much if we don’t lay the groundworkLocal search, CPCOther ways to drive trafficTop 10 things to remember from all of this if the coffee isn’t keeping you awake during the post-lunch energy crash
Just by hands: How many of you own a Smartphone?……have searched for a restaurant, store, or directions on you phone? Keep your hands up.……have clicked on an ad through your phone……you have made a purchase through your phone?Look around the room at the faces of “Mobile”…or at least a microcasm
What does mobile mean?.....at least in a marketing sense?Mobile isAllowing users to enjoy your web content on their tiny screensAllowing users to use your website ……to make purchases, access materials, find important information…..on their tiny screensAllowing users to find your business on their tiny screensAlso in a marketing sense, mobile means:You could have a site or web property that just renders ‘as is’ on a mobile screen. Examples of this could be a lot of local restaurant sites where you have to do a LOT of scrolling to find information. ORYou could have a mobile friendly site. This is often the case with sites designed on newer version content management systems. This basically means that your content will shrink to be readable on the screen similar to how liquid design worked on web layouts in the past but this doesn’t mean that you have a mobile site per se.You could have a mobile optimized site. If you do, your site will have a unique mobile user experience but does not require the user to download anything. If you’re holding your smartphones and are NOT currently on Facebook, check out www.rechargeyouryard.com. This is an example of a mobile optimized site.If it makes sense, you could do a mobile app. This could be in addition to your mobile optimized website. A mobile app requires download from the user. Apps make sense if the app can help the user accomplish something more easily than your website can.
Why Mobile?*Because Two in five cell owners say that their phone operates on a smartphone platform*90 percent of mobile subscribers in US and Western Europe have a phone that can access the mobile Web and…..*Smartphone sales are actually set to pass computers in 2012 Now it’s important to think “device agnostic!”Apple receives far more publicity than any other mobile-phone manufacturer, but on the world stage it is still a smaller player (though fast-growing). Before media hype causes you to focus your marketing/development budget on the Apple platform exclusively, consider that a large percentage of mobile users don’t have one – mostly they use Nokia or Samsung But…interesting to note, earlier this year, Apple sold over 10 million iPads. So….what are your peers doing about mobile growth and the fact that mobile is a vehicle that captures user attention? Some are capitalizing on it……US mobile ad spending will grow 47% in 2012, and as on the desktop, search and display are emerging as the dominant mobile ad formats.
Scary but…. two-thirds of smartphone owners sleep with their phones right next to their bedsSadly, I am one of those people
So, how do you know if you need a mobile solution? It’s in your analytics….if you have analytics on your desktop website.This example is from Google Analytics’ old interface that many of you may be using.*To see if you have mobile visits, take a large set of data to account for seasonal variations. I typically recommend a year. In the left navigation, find visits from mobile devices under the visitors section. If you get to the report and notice that mobile visits account for even a small percentage of your site visits, you could be losing out if you don’t have a mobile user experience.Once you’re viewing the data, also check the bounce & exit rates associated with your mobile visits – this will give you an idea of how mobile users perceive your website’s current mobile user experience. This could be interesting data If you have a site that renders on a smartphone but isn’t a mobile site, per se, If bounce and exit rates are high, you need to reevaluate your solution for mobile visitors.Just a quick note to mention that if you’re using the new analytics interface, you can find this info under “Visitors” and “Mobile”
Great! You’ve just found in your analytics that a good portion of your traffic is coming from mobile devices. Now what?This is where mobile strategy comes into play. Your first step in mobile strategy is figuring out what you want users to accomplish on your mobile property. This will help you to determine what kind of mobile solution you may need.Some examples of potential user actions in your mobile solution could be data exchange as lead gen, form lead gen, mCommerce or click to call. The chart above gives a few examples of user actions after viewing a mobile ad.
In exploring user actions in a bit more depth, we’ll look at the data exchange as a source for lead gen.Data exchanging works best when you Offer something interestingCoupons are a great example of this and are growing fast as a marketing tactic!M-coupons will dominate mobile retail marketing spend until 2013Another example could be a user account. Would a user benefit from logging in to your site?It’s important to think about the user benefit and how they can benefit quickly!
If it makes sense for your company, your site user action could focus on mCommerce.In the US, m-commerce revenues are expected to hit $6 billion by the end of this year, growing to $31 billion by 2016.m-commerce categories could include mobile media and content, retail, travel, coupons/deals (and redemption), and services91 percent of online retailers in the US have a mobile strategy in place or in development…..they have to in order to keep up!But, In a recent Forrester survey, 48 percent of US retailers had a deployed mobile-optimized website; 35 percent had deployed an iPhone app; 15 percent deployed an Android app and 15 percent had deployed an iPad appBut…..For every shopping activity, including researching products and prices, reviews, promotionsand purchasing products, most usersprefer their browser to a native app
Now, if you don’t already have a mobile solution, let’s look at some options.Here is an example of a mobile friendly site.Design:I/A and UX are device agnostic because…..It’s basically a Shrunken Desktop experience for mobile users……..essentially your website’s Mini MeContent: Renders “As Is” for most web and mobile browsersIf you currently have this setup, check your analytics to see if your mobile users are engaged with the user experienceComments: Reducing desktop experience may sometimes require zoomand horizontal scrolling as it would with a site that isn’t mobile friendlyLoading speed can also be an issue and it can affect UX and SEO effortsCertain media players, programs, and plug-ins such as Flash/Silverlight and embedded JavaScript may not function due to lack of platform support. An example of this would be Flash and its incompatibility with all Apple products.
A better option would be a mobile optimized site.This approach creates content specifically for the mobile user experience.Specifically designed for Platforms such as: Tablets ( iPad, Playbook, Galaxy, etc)Smart Phones (iPhone, Droid, Blackberry, etc.)Design:New I/A Mobile UX, Portrait & Landscape Content:“Quick, Easy, & Relevant”Content is reduced,simple and functionalFast load times – better for UX and SEOYou should provide the option of access to full-site (mobile friendly version,as best practice)UX could mimic native mobile app without using an app development platformComments: /mobile subdirectory construction is best – we will get more into that shortlyMobile browser detection and redirection is required for that setup
If it makes sense for your company, you could go for a mobile app.A mobile app should serve a purpose and really assist a user with a taskApps make sense for product/service categories such as books, games, some retail, entertainment and a host of other categories. Making the decision to go with a mobile app means that you really need to be aware of it’s potential objective.You can use Google analytics to track your mobile apps but, obviously, Google has made this much easier on Droid apps than others.
Now, does an app make sense for you?Here is a chart featuring data for downloaded apps per device.Wow, those iPhone folks love their games apps!
Again, an app only makes sense if it provides something useful…..otherwise, people will just make fun of your company.This app is called Hold.The object of this application is to track how long you can keep a finger on a static position on the touchscreen. You can later use this data point to plug into a spreadsheet and chart precisely how much of your life is being wastedI was going to use the iFart app as an example of a useless and childish app until I found out that the developer makes about $10,000 a day on that app. Wow!
Ok, now we’ll focus on a mobile optimized site and how to drive traffic.Search is the fastest growing category in mobile ad spend and is predicted to keep growing as mobile internet usage increases.Note the overlap of tactics in the funnel. These tactics are closely interconnected.
Lets look at the search audienceMobile internet usage is still heaviest among younger adults, with 43.2 million US consumers ages 18 to 34 logging on to the mobile web this year,44.4% of the total.But usage is on the rise among older adults as well. This year, eMarketer estimates 21.5 million 45- to 64-year-olds and 3.7 million seniors 65 and older will use the mobile internet. By 2015, those numbers will both more than double to 45.4 million and 11.3 million, respectively.The point is, if you think your audience age demographic isn’t mobile web savvy, you may be losing out
Mobile internet usage is on the riseOne in seven searches are now mobile. That stat is from Google.Now what is mobile search user behavior?1 in 3 mobile searches are local. After looking up a local business on their smartphone, 61 percent of users called the business and 59 percent visited• 79 percent of smartphone users use their smartphones to help with shopping• Even non mobile and sometimes offline channels are seeing mobile action. 71 percent of smartphone users that see TV, press or online ads, do a mobile search for more information, but 79 percent of large online advertisers still do not have a mobile optimized site
How are users using mobile search?*Research shows that the increase in on-the-go web usage goes hand in hand with more search activity for local content*In most cases, mobile isn’t used as much for idle browsing as it is locating specific things: movie times, restaurants, the answer to a heated conversational point that came up during that first date. *There is also a disproportionately high number of brand searches among mobile web searches.
This isn’t going away and it not the latest fad25% of smartphone owners say that they mostly go online using their phone, rather than with a computerIn some cases, smartphones are being utilized in lieu of a computer similar to how cell phones decreased the usage of home landlines.
Structuring your site for search will be an important consideration and is currently a hottly debated topic. From an SEO perspective, as mobile functionality grows and the ability to use your phone as you would a desktop becomes the norm, I highly recommend mobile browser redirection and a subdirectory for your mobile optimized site.The main reason for this is links.*in-Links are a major factor in Google’s algorithmAs you may know, most search engines see your subdomains as separate sites. So, search engines will see your m. or .mobi sites as different sites in terms of in-links. So, you wouldn’t want to divide your link building efforts between various web properties.In addition, your new mobile site will be just that….a NEW site which lacks the credibility that domain age provides. So you can’t leverage the assets on your primary domain for your new mobile asset.You can get a rich mobile user experience using mobile browser detection and redirection to your mobile subdirectory.Remember that when you’re designing your mobile user experience, you want to try, as much as you can, to be device agnostic. To do this at this point in the game where it’s hard to design for all platforms, go back to basics…….designing a clean user interface with a minimalist approach.
Now that we know how users are using mobile search, we can apply tactics to SEORegarding SEO and mobile, a lot of the same basic tactics of desktop SEO apply but with focus on different user behavior, screen view and character limitations.[Talk about points] – Keywords, content, titles, description should all be appropriate for mobile UXBasically, shrink all efforts….think Tweeting for meta data. We will get into keyword research shortly
When talking about any SEO effort, I like to hit the point of relevance and value pretty hardFirst and foremost, just as your SEO strategy on your desktop would, your mobile SEO strategy needs to provide value to the user. Here is an example of the LinkedIn internal search picking up on keyword repetition. This guy was able to rank for SEO.See Allan? He’s probably NOT a happy camper.
But really, is this guy relevant to your search if you need someone to optimize your site?……Let’s see…..he works at hyper mega local net, he was educated at the SEO school for dummies and worked at his last job for 90 years and 11 months. Before that, it looks like he worked with the dewey decimal system. Hmmmmmmm…….Do you think he’s getting called for business opportunities? Not sure if I would contact him to optimize my site.The point is….focus on the value that your content will provide to your users. Mobile searchers are on-the-go and want to find what they’re looking for easily.Help them find it.
Ok…..now you know you need a searchable mobile property and you’re ready to apply what you know about desktop SEO to your mobile site.Just as it is for desktop SEO, mobile keyword research is the basis for a good mobile SEO strategy.However, a few rules have changed…..Mobile user search behavior is different and Keywords will differ from your desktop keywords….so don’t repurpose your desktop long-tail keyword strategy because…..The average mobile search is 15 characters or lessYou also need to account for predictive text. Look for query volume when doing keyword research. There will be fewer unique queries than with desktop.Use broad categories but with a local focus. For example, if you’re a Baltimore pizza joint located in Canton, focus on terms such as Baltimore Pizza and Canton PizzaFocus on short tail. Try to keep queries to about two words of possible.
When doing your keyword research, why not let Google help.How many of you are familiar with the Adwords keyword tool for SEO keyword research?Well, you can use it for mobile research as well. Just filter results with advanced settings.
Focus on Local….not only for your keyword research but for external properties as well.Make sure to take advantage of your locationGoogle Places is one option……create an account if you don’t already have one and remember to add keywords in elements such as the title! Add all locations.Google Merchant Center for shopping if you’re a product based company – basic SEO tactics like titles and descriptions apply!Local review websites like Yelp – add your business and ask your customers to review you. Search for what you do and find the local listing/review websites specific to your category – see how you can participateOpenTable for restaurants; Tripadvisor for travel – hotels or attractionsThese sites just give your sites more exposure!Give Miles and Miles example – their follow up.
To get more into the importance of local search and to get a sense of what your peers are doing…..This graph demonstrates how local search efforts are slated to outpace national efforts.
Now, how else can you drive traffic to your mobile property?Mobile CPC is a great tactic but…This should not be the only tactic in your arsenalTo approach mobile CPC in the best way, Create a separate campaign with mobile settingsCreate locally focused ad groups with short tail keywords as discussed in the keyword section of this presentationOpt out of the content network – this will just be a waste of your money unless you use image ads on sites that you know render on mobile devicesCreate a mobile landing page or have mobile browser redirection on your landing pagesIf you don’t want to do mobile landing pages, you could utilize click to call functionality in your WAP text ads PPC landing pages may be a first step into mobile – This could be a “chicken before the egg” approach of you’re nowhere near building a mobile user experience
Other than search, how else can you drive traffic? These are other considerations that need further exploration in another presentation.Make sure your email campaigns render on a mobile device – this is important if you find that you’re getting a lot of mobile trafficMake sure that your company contact information is easy to access/can render on a mobile device. Don’t have your phone number rendering in an image to impede click to call functionality.You could deploy Banners and Rich Media – these actually get better click through rates than the same tactic on a desktop…at the moment.SMS and location targeting – There’s a service where users can sign up to receive offers from your organization if they are located within a geographic range of your location. Of course, this would work best for a consumer products organization at the moment but I’m sure creative uses will evolve.In app/in game advertising. This could make sense depending on your target audience.And lastly, you can leverage your offline campaigns with QR codes to landing pages.Similar to the dynamics of online advertising, search and display are emerging as the dominant mobile ad formats. Within the display category, rich media and video are growing the fastest as marketers seek to translate the desktop’s engaging brand experiences to smartphones and tabletsMarketing tactics are evolving similarly as they did on desktops years ago.
To put mobile advertising in perspective, I found this great quote from Jason Spero at Google.“It is true across the board. Roughly one in seven searches, even in the smaller categories, are happening on a mobile phone, but how many of you are putting one seventh of your resources into mobileYour customer is trying to engage you… it would be like not doing business with your customers on Thursdays.” Jason Spero, Google (Feb 2011).
Understand what going mobile means for successIs Mobile a direction your company should take now?Create a mobile strategyKeep focused on conversionsWhat do you want mobile users to be able to do?What would be your best mobile solution?Mobile optimized site?App?Both?Structure your mobile site for searchUser agent detection and redirection/mobileSEO keyword research will focus on user behavior.Local + Broad Category = Search Success!Desktop SEO strategies mimic mobile It’s about relevanceLeverage your locale!CPC should be mobile focusedFind additional ways to drive traffic*SMS, email, external campaign (QR code?)