5 Important Considerations Before Doing Mobile SEO

Earlier this year, Search Engine Land published a series of mobile search stats from Microsoft that should make everyone who isn’t already doing mobile SEO sit up straight and listen. Among them: 32% of respondents said that they use mobile search “more than I use search engines on my computer.” That may not seem like a large percentage right now, but consider that smartphones are on track to overtake feature phones this year. In a short time, that 32% will rise much higher, and it would not be surprising if mobile searches soon outpace web searches. This means 2011 is the year you should begin to take mobile search engine optimization seriously.

But before rushing into a mobile SEO program to capitalize on all this booming smartphone traffic, below are five important considerations you should know about before doing mobile SEO:

1. Mobile SEO is very different from desktop SEO.

MobiThinking recently published an article on Mobile SEO Best Practices that asserts the differences between mobile SEO and desktop SEO, which include:

• Differences in mobile web user requirements
• Differences in search engine behaviors
• Differences in web user activity
• Differences in building your mobile site vs. website

2. Thorough research is key to mobile SEO effectiveness.

Like web SEO, thorough research is crucial to the success of your search optimization efforts. Before beginning a mobile SEO program, you should have detailed knowledge of your customer, your market and future goals. Use this information to develop a mobile SEO strategy that is right for your brand. Now is also the time to record benchmarks such as your current mobile site traffic levels, percentage of mobile traffic, mobile referring keywords, and other important KPIs that you can later use to measure the effectiveness of your mobile SEO efforts.

3. Make sure your CMS is mobile-ready.

In some cases this may require replacing your entire CMS, or simply redirecting visitors to a separate, mobile-friendly version of your website. For instance, if your customers include those using a small portable or mobile device (lets say a restaurant, menu, hours, location and reservations), the features needed to support these devices need to be built into the content management system (CMS).

4. Think critically about mobile calls-to-action.

It’s safe to assume that your mobile visitors would prefer not to waste mobile airtime minutes browsing your 500-page online catalog. As such, it’s important to think critically about mobile calls-to-action and what these should be. Is your goal to drive foot traffic to your physical location? Make the phone ring? How about recommending your business on Yelp? Your mobile calls-to-action will most likely be different from those of your website, and they should be front-and-center when planning your mobile interface.

5. Make life easier for your mobile visitors.

If you are selling products or services, keep the process simple and make it easy to make purchases. Remember, each roadblock in the mobile user experience—such as a lengthy page scroll or click to get to the next page#151;means lost sales. (These principles certainly apply to traditional web page/user interface design as well, but it is even more critical to get it right on mobile devices.)

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