Today, more people than ever use their smartphones or tablet to browse the web. Mobile Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) use similar algorithms to rank websites as their desktop counterparts, but you should be aware of some differences. We’ve gathered the 10 best strategies you should use to improve your website’s position on mobile SERPs.
1. Improve Your Loading Times
Internet users do not like to wait for pages to load, particularly on mobile where the user is focused on conserving battery power and keeping data usage to a minimum. While your website may load well on a desktop browser, certain rich content may make your page load more slowly on mobile.
The most effective way to improve your mobile loading times is to reduce or remove the rich content your website displays. Alternatively, you can reduce the size of the files on your website to make them load more quickly for site visitors on mobile.
2. Don’t Force Your Visitors to Download Your App
Many of your visitors would rather see the content they searched for immediately than take several minutes to download your app. It’s great to promote your app on your mobile site, but don’t force your visitor to download it before seeing your content.
Depending on your audience and the intent of your average visitor, your energy and budget may be better spent developing a better mobile site than a mobile app. Run tests and surveys to get a better understanding of your average site visitor’s interest and intent to know which is better for your company.
3. Understand Mobile Search Behavior
When users conduct search queries on their mobile device, they typically use shorter, more direct phrases than longer, more specific ones – for example, many users will search for “pizza” rather than “who delivers pizza near me.” This means you may need to incorporate certain keywords in your SEO strategy in order to appeal to mobile searchers.
4. Implement Mobile Friendliness
As the number of mobile searches begins to grow, so does the importance of mobile-friendliness. When you design your website, you have two options to make it mobile-friendly in the eyes of Google and other search engines:
- Responsive design – Your website automatically adjusts to fit the size of the screen it is displayed on.
- Standalone site – You create a standalone mobile website, which features its own URL and a design which suits mobile devices.
Responsive design is far cheaper and easier to implement, but it’s generally a poor choice for websites that are data-heavy. Alternatively, you can make a standalone mobile site very lightweight, however, it’ll be more expensive to implement, and you’ll need to update and maintain more than one site – unlike responsive design.
Each type of mobile design has its benefits, but the right choice for you will depend on your audience, content, and budget.
5. Optimize Your Site for Voice Searches
Most mobile devices come with a Voice Search option, which has become a very popular alternative to traditional search queries. Voice searches typically contain vastly different keywords and phrases than their text counterparts, thanks to the patterns of speech we use when we speak. People are more likely to use natural language when they conduct a voice search, rather than use specific keywords or broken phrases. For example, most people will not search for “pizza delivery new york city” by voice – they’re more likely to say “who delivers pizza in New York City?”
Include common phrases used in natural language pertaining to your business as keywords in order to appeal to voice searches.
6. Include Direct Data on Your Website
Depending on your audience and business, your customers may search for your hours of operation, menu, phone number, or location. Include any and all information you believe customers may search for in reference to your business in order to capitalize on mobile searches. Local searches are often conducted on mobile devices, making it especially important to your mobile search engine ranking that this information is included on your site.
7. Use Personal Interaction to Leverage Positive Reviews
Businesses with positive reviews are heavily favored by Google’s ranking algorithms. In order to get positive reviews, you’ll need to deliver 5-Star service to every guests who walks in your door. After you’ve had an excellent encounter with a customer, ask them to leave a positive review on your Google My Business, Facebook, or Yelp profile. Many businesses offer incentives to customers who leave reviews, which is an excellent option if you’re looking to obtain a large number of reviews quickly.
Remember to deliver phenomenal service 100 percent of the time – people are more likely to leave a negative review after a poor experience than a positive one after a great experience, so don’t give anyone a reason to leave a negative review. Negative reviews will harm your ranking.
8. Verify Your Business and Location
Google offers a verification service in order to help you improve your local search ranking. When you verify your business, Google will also assume your location is verified, allowing the algorithm to more confidently display your business near the top of local results.
When your location isn’t confirmed, Google may not show your business in relevant results. The algorithm doesn’t want to direct customers to the wrong address, so be sure to verify your business and address in order to improve your search engine ranking.
9. Make the Most of Google My Business
The Google My Business tool is among the most valuable platforms on the web for your business. By filling out your Google Business profile with as much information as possible, you will optimize it for local searches. Google ranks businesses with excellent Google My Business profiles more highly than those with little information because they provide important details pertinent to the customer, so include as much detail as possible when filling out yours.
10. Take Social Media Into Account
Social media is another factor you shouldn’t ignore when preparing your website for mobile searches. By optimizing your social media accounts, your business will be more likely to appear on local search results for applicable keywords.
Include many of the same details you used in your Google My Business account on each of your social media platforms. In addition, you should use each account regularly.
