Mobile SEO iCrossing POV

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    Mobile Search EngineOptimisation

    An iCrossing Point of View

    Prepared by: Allyson James

    This document contains confidential and proprietary information of iCrossing Ltd..

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    COPYRIGHT 2013 ICROSSING LTD JUNE 2013 | MOBILE SEO 1

    Mobile SEO

    Its very hard to ignore the statistics: In 2012 51% of the UK owned a smartphone andthis number is expected to continue to rise to 60% in 2013

    1. Tablet sales in the last

    quarter of 2012 grew by 75.3%2

    over the same period in 2011. Market analysts are nowforecasting that tablet sales will outnumber notebooks in 20133.

    Understanding the UKs mobile consumer behaviour, Google/Ipsos 20124

    Our audiences are now truly connected; touching and interacting with traditional andnew marketing channels on a variety of different devices, in a variety of differentsituations. Understanding these audiences, how their needs on mobile devices differ totheir needs on desktop and how each of the channels and situations interact with oneanother will underpin any successful mobile strategy.

    Mobile SEO should be an integral part to defining this overall strategy. As SEObecomes ever more entwined with content and UX, your choice of mobile sitearchitecture should be informed by a combination of best practice and current searchdata. Whilst budgeting may allow for a fully responsive site, your mobile audience maybe searching for specific content that could be better displayed on a separate mobile

    site. These considerations will provide the foundations of a bespoke strategy that willmaximise ROI not just for the SEO channel but across all of the marketing mix.

    On average, our clients have seen a 15.26% rise in mobile traffic from natural search inthe last two years. 53% of the UKs smartphone owners use their phones to searchdaily

    5and the differences between desktop and mobile search results are continuing to

    grow.

    1In the UK Smartphones become the rule not the exception, eMarketer, 2013

    2http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23926713#.UQuVsh0ieX9, International Data Corporation, 2013

    3

    http://www.digitimes.com/Reports/Report.asp?datepublish=2012/12/11&pages=RS&seq=400, Digitimes Research, 20124http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/, Google / Ipsos, 2012

    5http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/, Google / Ipsos, 2012

    http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23926713#.UQuVsh0ieX9http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23926713#.UQuVsh0ieX9http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23926713#.UQuVsh0ieX9http://www.digitimes.com/Reports/Report.asp?datepublish=2012/12/11&pages=RS&seq=400http://www.digitimes.com/Reports/Report.asp?datepublish=2012/12/11&pages=RS&seq=400http://www.digitimes.com/Reports/Report.asp?datepublish=2012/12/11&pages=RS&seq=400http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/http://www.digitimes.com/Reports/Report.asp?datepublish=2012/12/11&pages=RS&seq=400http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23926713#.UQuVsh0ieX9
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    COPYRIGHT 2013 ICROSSING LTD JUNE 2013 | MOBILE SEO 2

    Traffic from organic search split by mobile and non-mobile device, iCrossing 2013

    Capitalising on these differences and employing a mobile specific SEO strategy has thepotential to provide large ROI.

    Considerations of a Mobile SEO strategy

    Following on from Googles 2012 Penguin and Panda updates, and most recentlyPenguin 2.0 in May 2013, the SEO industry has had to adapt. The new pillars of SEO,as defined by iCrossing, combine a technical focus alongside the creation of highquality, natural links through influencer and consumer engagement. The days of highvolume, unnatural links are over. Mobile SEO also needs to build strategies based onthese new pillars but with slight alterations to linguistic profiling (keyword optimisation)and technical optimisation, specifically aimed at targeting both your mobile audienceand mobile search engine algorithms.

    Future of Search: New pillars of SEO

    Opportunities between mobile and desktop will be different, with shorter, more localisedkeyword sets having higher affinity to mobile audiences. Mobile users are more likely toclick on higher ranking results than desktop users and will also be more likely to useauto-complete suggestions. Using these factors as part of our linguistic profiling formobile is essential.

    Once mobile specific opportunities are identified, there are several technical aspects ofyour site to be considered to maximise visibility within mobile search engine resultspages:

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    COPYRIGHT 2013 ICROSSING LTD JUNE 2013 | MOBILE SEO 3

    Page Speed

    Code Compliance

    Switchboard Tagging

    Technology CompatibilityInternal linking

    User agent redirects

    On-page meta content

    All of the above are considered by mobile search engine ranking algorithms and canmake the difference between your mobile optimised site, your desktop site, or no resultat all being displayed within search engine results pages.

    Search engine algorithms are focusing more on user signals to measure the usefulnessand relevancy of your site to a search query. Looking at session times and bounce rates

    from your site back to their search results page provides a great signal of whether yoursite deserves to be ranking highly or not. It is therefore important that high visibilitypages are used as the subjects for UX testing.

    Finally, tracking and monitoring your campaigns to highlight potential improvements andshow successes should be implemented via your analytics and within 3

    rdparty tools to

    ensure that data is segmented into useful categories. Measuring local and mobiledevice rankings enable insight on potential traffic and revenue increases from themobile channel. Reporting on device and operating system usage as well as thestandard split of mobile versus desktop will also provide more data for attributionmodelling. Looking at the impact of channels on each other, for example organic visitsfrom a tablet after exposure to offline advertising such as a TV advert, is an interestingdevelopment within this sector.

    In Conclusion

    Your mobile SEO strategy, whilst based on traditional SEO activity, should take intoaccount the differing needs of your mobile users. It is an integral part of your overallmobile offering and should be taken into consideration when deciding on sitearchitecture, content offering and user experience. Like desktop SEO, it can no longerbe an autonomous program of work but must entwine with other marketing andtechnical channels in order to maximise ROI and your bottom line.

    Finally, with the forecasting of tablet dominance in 2013, smartphone penetration within

    huge markets such as India and continued development of mobile specific searchengine algorithms, traditional SEO programs can no longer cover the intricacies of yourmulti-device offering. If you dont already have a mobile SEO strategy, now is the time toinitiate one.

    For further information, or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate tocontact your iCrossing account manager [email protected]

    http://www.seomoz.org/ugc/why-site-speed-optimisation-should-be-part-of-your-seo-strategyhttp://www.seomoz.org/ugc/why-site-speed-optimisation-should-be-part-of-your-seo-strategymailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.seomoz.org/ugc/why-site-speed-optimisation-should-be-part-of-your-seo-strategy