It is official: more people are now using their smartphone or tablet instead of their computer in order to perform Google searches.
This information is much more than just an interesting piece of data about the way people use the Internet. In fact, it should be at the forefront of your mind the next time you design or revise your company’s website.
You need to become aware of some of the major and subtle differences that exist between traditional online marketing and the techniques that are used to capture a larger portion of the mobile audience.
Basics of Mobile Marketing
The number one component that every single business needs to have is a mobile-friendly website. Without this one simple thing, no number of other marketing strategies will ever help you achieve the best possible search engine ranking.
Some companies get around this issue by offering an app in place of a mobile-friendly website design, but this is still a dangerous approach because there are many people who will choose not to download something in order to find out more information about a business. Instead, they will simply move on to the next option.
Getting a Mobile-Friendly Design
If you are currently getting ready to design a new website, you should definitely take the time to compare the different site builders and how they will impact your mobile visibility.
Fortunately, you can find reviews of every major platform to make this a more simplistic process. For example, it is easy to find a WebsiteBuilder.com review, and this free editor gets a high score because it offers many robust features such as mobile-friendly designs.
After you have selected a website host that offers templates that render properly on mobile devices, be sure to pay close attention to the preview mode before you publish anything.
This is vital due to the fact that your mobile website is not likely to exactly duplicate the appearance of your desktop site, so you need to ensure that all of the pertinent content is readable and especially that each call to action link is clickable.
Keep in mind that the website may also look different on a tablet than a smartphone, which makes it necessary to look at every page from a variety of devices.
Localized Content Brings Better Results
When you use your smartphone to search for something, the odds are high that you are trying to find details about a local company, product or event.
Due to this and the importance of mobile compatibility, Google has a different set of criteria that is used to determine each site’s search engine ranking for their desktop and mobile results.
You can take advantage of this by including localized keywords in your written content. This means mentioning the city or target area in a natural way on every page of your website, and it also includes taking steps to get your company listed on Google Maps, Bing, Yelp and Yahoo Local.
For an example of just how much mobile alters the results you see, enter the name of your favorite local restaurant into Google from your phone and desktop.
If the company in question understands the importance of mobile marketing, you will instantly get a map and the ability to click a button to call them from within Google’s mobile app.
Meanwhile, the desktop results will give you access to the same information, but it will not be as easy to instantly connect with the business.
Additionally, you are more likely to see news stories and other results via your desktop as opposed to the social media links and Yelp listing that should be near the top of the first page for mobile users.
As you can see, the Internet is quickly becoming more user-friendly for people who are accessing it via a smartphone, so it is no wonder that more people look things up with this method.
If you want to compete in your local market, it is vital to place a bigger emphasis on mobile marketing than traditional desktop methods.
In other words, your mobile site should be your first concern, along with localized keywords. After all, achieving a higher search engine ranking within Google’s mobile app is now much more important for the future of your business.
