Native apps account for 3 out of 4 minutes people spent on mobile. However, SEO practices are still largely focused on optimizing mobile websites, leaving app content out of this critical channel for content discovery and consumption. This is the presentation for the webinar: Mastering Mobile SEO for Your Website and Native App Content. You can watch the recording at: https://www2.branch.io/LongtailMobileSEOWebinar_LP-OnDemandRegistration.html The presenters are Branch CEO Alex Austin and mobil SEO expert Emily Grossman. Topics include: -The broken app content discovery through search -Applicable strategies to boost SEO ranking for your app content -Best practices to optimize your mobile website SEO -How to optimize the web-to-app flow to maximize ROI What you need to know about app indexing, AMP, and Instant Apps

1. Mastering Mobile SEO for
Your Website & Native App
[WEBINAR]

2. Housekeeping
• Audience will be put on mute during the webinar
• Type in your questions at anytime
• Q&A session at the end

3. Agenda
● The Broken App Content Discovery from Search
● Strategies to Maximize SEO Value for Your App
○ Google App Indexing
○ AMP& AMP Deepviews
○ Instant Apps
● Mobile SEO Best Practices for Your Website
● Optimize the Web-to-App Flow to Maximize ROI

4. About the Speakers
Alex Austin
CEO and co-founder
App Developer
Emily Grossman
Director of App Strategy
Frequent speaker at mobile
marketing conferences
@illustriousalex @goutaste

5. The Importance of SEO
10x
conversion rate from
organic SEO traffic
than paid traffic
51%
web traffic driven by
organic search

6. Native App Crushes Mobile Web
3x
Conversion rate
than the mobile
web
55%
of all US
e-commerce
transactions

7. Your App
Your app’s content
A potential new user
App Content Trapped

8. Your App
Your app’s content
A potential new user
The Way It Should Be

9. Google (Firebase) App Indexing?

10. not quite

11. Google (Firebase) App Indexing
Website
(or Branch link)

12. Google (Firebase) App Indexing
Website
(or Branch link)
Your App
app indexing

13. Google (Firebase) App Indexing
Website
(or Branch link)
Your App
app indexing
tracking lost

14. You need a website still.

15. Don’t have one?

16. App content sitemaps with
AMP Deepviews for search
Branch automatically indexes your app content &
creates a de-duped sitemap hosted on your app.link
domain to expose your content to search.

17. Organic Search with Deepview Discovery Flow
DEEP LINKED CONTENTORGANIC SEARCH BRANCH DEEPVIEW APP / PLAY STORE

18. Ranking still mostly based on
traditional non-app signals
(back links, social
engagement, mobile
optimized, etc)

19. Still need to work on SEO but Branch makes that easy

20. Have a website?

21. Mobile Web SEO Best Practices

22. Why Is Mobile Web SEO Important
If You Have a Native App?
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

23. 1. For Google App Indexing, Signals From
App AND Web Contribute to Rankings
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

24. 2. Better Mobile Web SEO Helps You
Drive More App Installs
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

25. How is Mobile SEO Different from Desktop SEO?
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie
Site
Architecture
Has SEO
Implications
Websites &
Apps Can
Co-Mingle in
the Same
Results
Queries &
Query Intent
Can Be
Different
Quality
Signals Can
Be Different
for Mobile
Use Cases
Voice Search
= More
Natural-Lang
uage Based
Queries
Results
Change from
Device to
Device
Competing
for Less
Above-the-Fo
ld Space in
SERPs

26. Rankings Tracking for Mobile SEO is Hard and
Getting Harder…

27. Today’s Tips for Improving Your
Mobile Web SEO:
❑ Pass Google’s
Mobile-Friendly Test
❑ Improve Mobile Usability
❑ Prepare for Mobile
Indexing
❑ Assess Mobile Site
Architecture
❑ Assess Content Parity
❑ Leverage Schema Markup
(Especially in High-Interest
Verticals)
❑ Improve Performance
(PageSpeed)
❑ AMP
❑ PWAs
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

28. bit.ly/mobilefriendlytest
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

29. Improve Mobile Usability
Remove Flash
Configure
ViewPorts
Tt!
Use Legible
Font Size
Space Out Touch
Elements
Search Console Mobile Usability Report: support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6101188?hl=en
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

30. Preparing for Mobile-First Indexing
(The TL;DR Version)
Desktop Only
(1 URL)
Responsive Design
(1 URL)
M. Site
(2 URLs)
Dynamic Serving
(1 URL)
✓ Your desktop site
will still be used
(not ideal)
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

31. Preparing for Mobile-First Indexing
(The TL;DR Version)
Desktop Only
(1 URL)
Responsive Design
(1 URL)
M. Site
(2 URLs)
Dynamic Serving
(1 URL)
✓ Not much changes
✓ Allow Crawling of CSS,
JS, & Images
✓ Your desktop site
will still be used
(not ideal)
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

32. Preparing for Mobile-First Indexing
(The TL;DR Version)
Desktop Only
(1 URL)
Responsive Design
(1 URL)
M. Site
(2 URLs)
Dynamic Serving
(1 URL)
✓ Not much changes
✓ Allow Crawling of CSS,
JS, & Images
✓ Your desktop site
will still be used
(not ideal)
✓ Allow Crawling of CSS, JS, &
Images
✓ Support Structured Data
✓ Check html for hreflang, & add
to mobile html if needed
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

33. Preparing for Mobile-First Indexing
(The TL;DR Version)
Desktop Only
(1 URL)
Responsive Design
(1 URL)
M. Site
(2 URLs)
Dynamic Serving
(1 URL)
✓ Not much changes
✓ Allow Crawling of CSS,
JS, & Images
✓ Your desktop site
will still be used
(not ideal)
✓ Allow Crawling of CSS, JS, &
Images
✓ Support Structured Data
✓ Support hreflang on m URLs
✓ Mobile URL sitemap
✓ + More…
✓ Allow Crawling of CSS, JS, &
Images
✓ Support Structured Data
✓ Check html for hreflang, & add
to mobile html if needed
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

34. Preparing for Mobile-First Indexing
(The Extended Edition)
https://www.mobilemoxie.com/blog/app-seo-news/understanding-mobile-first-indexin
g-23-long-term-impact-seo/
https://www.mobilemoxie.com/blog/app-seo-news/understanding-mobile-first-indexin
g-13-immediate-impact-seo/
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

35. Structured Data Makes Mobile Search
Results More Clickable
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

36. Structured Data in Mobile Search
@goutastehttps://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/data-type-selector

37. Get Better at Being a Data Source:
Structured Data Formatting
moz.com/blog/json-ld-for-beginner @goutaste

38. Performance & Site Speed –
Key to Driving Traffic That Stays On-Site
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

39. Desktop Performance Matters For SEO;
Mobile Performance Matters More
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

40. @goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie
Graph by @lukew

41. Improving Performance
(With An Emphasis on Mobile-Specific Pain Points)
❑ Avoid Redirects (especially with
multiple hops)
❑ Optimize Images
❑ Enable Compression
❑ Use Sprites to minimize Round Trip
Image Requests
❑ Minify CSS, JS, HTML
❑ Leverage Browser Caching
❑ Reduce Server Response Time
❑ Leverage Critical Path Rendering to
minimize impact of render-blocking
assets
❑ Pre-fetch & Pre-Render Most
Important Assets
❑ HTTP/2 (requires HTTPS to really be
effective)
❑ Support Service Workers (more on this
later…)
The Basics More Advanced
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

42. testmysite.thinkwithgoogle.com
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie
Improving
Performance:
Tools You Can
Use

43. webpagetest.org
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie
Improving
Performance:
Tools You Can
Use

44. moz.com/blog/the-technical-seo-renaissance
Improving Performance:
Tools You Can Use
@goutaste

45. New Chrome Dev Tools Features
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

46. New Technologies to Improve Mobile Web
Performance: AMP & PWA
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

47. What Is AMP?
• Framework for speed
• Built for static content
• Think News, Recipes
• On Google, leverages a Google Cache
• Caveat(s):
• Site traffic all on Google cache & inaccurate
attribution
• AMPs are treated as “alternates”
■ When a webpage has two alternates
(AMP & deep link), Google serves AMP
(not the deep link)
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

48. Progressive Web Apps & The Power of Service Workers
HTTPS REQUIRED
Since Service Workers are so powerful, browsers won't support one without encryption
@goutasteEmily GrossmanMobileMoxie

49. Capture the Mobile Web
Visitor to Install Your App

50. Website Popularity Drives Native App Popularity

52. Enter: the gradual upsell
GET
Get the app now!
My app is
disrupting apps
My app is
disrupting apps
Or subject yourself to a
terrible, laggy user
experience on our site.

53. Works well, legally…

54. Works well, legally…
for now.

55. Journeys: Targeted Web to App Flows
Drive high-quality installs and purchases
from your mobile web traffic

56. 1. Target
2. Design
3. Deploy

57. Organic Search Audience with Gradual Upsell
ORGANIC SEARCH LIGHT BANNER FULL INTERSTITIAL
Book in app
It’s much easier to
browser this property
in the iOS app.
continue on web

58. Social Flow With Interstitial
Facebook feed link Facebook browser
Book in app
It’s much easier to
browser this property
in the iOS app.
continue on web

59. Social Flow With Interstitial with Branch Data
Facebook feed link Facebook browser
Open App
We saw you already
have the app
installed.
continue on web

60. Coming soon: Instant Apps

62. Android Instant Apps / App Streaming
Your App
Instant App

63. Android Instant Apps / App Streaming
Your App
Instant App
Website
(or Branch link)
?

64. SEO strategy impact likely
minimal?

65. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1
If you’re app-only:
● You’ll need to build website for SEO
● Use Branch hosted Deepviews for your website until you build one
If you have an app & a website:
● Make sure your mobile website passes Google’s Mobile Friendly test
● Optimize for Usability, SERP features, and Speed
● Make sure you have a mechanism to drive web traffic to your app, a
channel you have full control with

66. For driving app installs from your site:
● No full page interstitials on Google referrers
● Use gradual upsell from Google
● Full page interstitials fine for other referrers (social, etc)
● Use Branch data to customize the experience
KEY TAKEAWAYS 2

67. There’s never been a more
exciting time to be in mobile

68. Just Keep Building.
Alex Austin
@illustriousalex
branch.io
Emily Grossman
@goutaste
mobilemoxie.com
Q&A