Everything You Need To Know About Mobile SEO

People around the world are addicted to their smartphones nowadays. Mobiles devices have become part of our lives and it’s changing many things including the way we use the internet. This change is also affecting SEO. It has become a necessity for every website to be optimized for mobile. This is the way to reach out to a large proportion of internet users who use mobile devices. This article will discuss how you can take advantage of this mobile revolution to deliver excellent mobile experience to your audience.

Why Is Mobile SEO Important?

Mobile SEO makes it possible for you to reach your audience in the right place and at the right time. With the discovery of new ways to use smartphones, mobile internet usage has surpassed desktop usage. There are millions of mobile phone users and in order to connect with them, you need a mobile SEO strategy that will deliver results.

Reports show that smartphone users have a higher intent of making purchases when they perform searches than desktop users. This means the potential buyers are on mobile and you need to be on mobile to tap into this market.

The Influence Of Google.

Most businesses did not pay attention to mobile before now. But when the number of mobile phone users began to increase exponentially, many online businesses started thinking about having mobile-friendly websites. Google then came along with the mobile-first index which made it compulsory for online businesses to have a mobile version of their sites. The company made it clear that it will start giving higher preference to websites that have mobile versions when it comes to ranking. Googlebot crawls the mobile website to determine the content, performance and user experience.

This development is a wake-up call to many businesses who still want to remain in business. They need to take action if they want to retain their customers.

Websites With Responsive Design Do Well On Search Engines

There are three options to choose from when developing your mobile site. You choose to have a responsive design, a separate site on a sub-domain or dynamic serving.

As far as Google is concerned, dynamic design is the best because it allows you to have one website that can adapt to any device. There will be no need to build different websites for different mobile devices and screen sizes.

It is not difficult to have a responsive website. With only one code base, you can easily maintain the site. Using a responsive design makes your site qualified for Google’s mobile-first index.

Things To Consider In Mobile SEO

Page Speed

You cannot afford to have a mobile website that loads slowly. Your mobile site should not be slow in loading pages because mobile users are very impatient. They do not want to wait for 5 to 10 seconds staring at their screens while your site tries to load. Many people expect a mobile site to load within 3 seconds. They can’t tolerate anything longer than that. So, fast loading speed is very critical to keep visitors coming back to your site.

To make sure that your site is loading at the right speed, you need to analyze its performance periodically and make changes when necessary. Your mobile website speed is highly dependent on your server. Minimizing your server response time will improve your page speed. Make sure you have adequate memory and CPU resources. Improve your server software and configuration regularly.

Also, your page speed will improve if you minimize redirects or eliminate them completely. Redirects eat up milliseconds out of the loading time, making things slower.

Some other ways to improve page speed is to optimize the images, use CDN or upgrade to HTTPS. If you do not know how to go about these, there are many professionals who offer SEO optimization services that are ready to help you.

User Experience

The user experience of your mobile site should be top-notch. Know the search intent of your customers and the common tasks they perform on your site. Ensure that they have a hassle-free experience when using your site.

Use legible font sizes. Let your calls to action be prominent and easy for your users to follow. Use unique and eye-catching designs to make them visible. You do not want your customers to spend time searching for it. It is also important to have a search option on your website. It makes it easy for users to find what they are looking for without having to search from page to page. If yours is an e-commerce site, you cannot do without a search option.

Optimize Your Site For Local Searches

Many smartphone users search on the go, and they search for things that are within their locality. Local competition is on the increase and if you’re not on top of your rankings, you will lose to your competitors. For your SEO to be successful, your mobile site should be optimized for local searches.

If you intend to reach local customers, include the name of the city your business is located. Use targeted keywords and place them close to the beginning of your tag. Your titles and descriptions should be unique and compelling.

Remember, you only have one shot to convince someone on to click on your link when your business shows up in search results. Don’t waste your chances by using irrelevant characters in your titles and meta description tags.

Another way to make your site show up in local searches is to get your business listed on top online business directories. Search for popular online directories and make sure your business is consistently listed on them. Also, check out local directories you can list your business on. The listing details should contain your business name, contact address and phone number.

The mobile landscape is going through a lot of changes. This means that your current SEO strategy will need an upgrade in the future to adapt to the changes. So you should not rest on your oars. Monitor the changes and make sure you are up to date on SEO trends.