How to Get Started With Your Mobile First SEO Strategy

Do you have a mobile-first SEO strategy?

It’s no secret that modern people spend more time on smartphones and mobile devices. They use these devices to interact with their family and friends on social media and to search and buy products online.

Believe it or not, this trend will become more popular with time. So, it is imperative to make the user’s mobile experience a priority.

A mobile-friendly website is not a luxury but a necessity today.

What is Mobile First SEO?

Mobile First SEO is used by designers and developers to ensure that a website offers a better experience across numerous devices i.e. mobile devices, smartphones, desktop etc. The information on your website must be easily accessible whether a user browses your site on a desktop or mobile device.

The website must realize what device the user is using and offers the same viewing experience. A mobile first SEO strategy helps website users a lot.

The entire point of having an online presence is to reach out to your users and interact with them for better user experience. Being mobile-friendly is considered as a critical Google ranking factor.

With the mobile first approach, you can save your money and time.

Benefits of Mobile First SEO

1. Clear Site Navigation.

In this competitive world, users don’t like complex site navigation.

Remember that a clear navigation is a key to help users to reach out to their intended destination. It will lead to increase in the user conversions.

Drop-downs must be removed from websites for a better experience on desktop and mobile devices.

2. Solve Problems Quickly.

Many problems occur when companies redesign their websites including site navigation, organization of content and data and important user functions.

You’ll face many issues if you develop a desktop site first and then trying to make it fit to a mobile device. With mobile-first strategy, developers are able to solve these issues.

3. Focus on Content.

For desktops, you can add functions, images and content to fill the website space. It reduces the amount of white-space and creates visual clutter. The website content must be clear, concise and consistent. Mobile-first SEO improves desktop versions of your website and results in a clean and professional look.

Many companies have developed a mobile-first SEO strategy due to the increased use of mobile devices. Web designers and developers build websites for mobile devices first and desktop second. It is just to offer a positive user experience on the mobile devices. The mobile design is expanded on the desktop by developers.

In 2015, over 60% of Americans owned a smartphone and 10% of them were dependent on smartphone means their only access to the Internet was through their phone. If you have a solid mobile first SEO strategy, you’ll notice more searches than that of desktop.

As we know people use Google to search for local businesses on their mobile phones, the mobile first SEO strategy must include a high-speed and professional looking mobile app that loads on all mobile devices opposed to having your HTML website try to load on a mobile phone and one that looks like your existing website.

Mobile first SEO strategy features a “tap to call” button at the top of the mobile application. So, it is quite easy to place a call once the mobile app starts on a mobile device.

Features of “mobile first SEO” strategy

• Found at the top of Google’s search results.

• Have a well-designed mobile app that loads automatically whenever someone gets your search results from a mobile phone.

• Feature a “tap to call” button on mobile app so people can instantly make a call into your business. The “tap to email” and “tap for directions” buttons are also in use.

Any business that depends on inbound phone calls will fit the key demographic for the mobile first SEO strategy.

Mobile first SEO strategy has a two-fold objective which is highlighted below.

• To interact with new customers who are looking for your business products or services.

The mobile first SEO strategy works well for this purpose because of Google’s algorithm at the local level. For example, if someone is in Georgia and simply types the word ‘engineer’ into Google on their mobile phone, Google will automatically give the local search results for engineers in that city. The results would be same as that of “engineer in Georgia”.

• To interact with existing customers who are looking for your business products or services to get directions, you can make a call or send an email.

Due to this, we are noticing an increase in mobile app use for people looking for business directions.

We have compiled a few tips to help you get started with your mobile first SEO strategy. Keep reading!

Test your content on mobile.

Most of the businesses create content on a desktop without thinking that the content will also be seen on mobile devices. Before you publish a website page or blog post, make sure that you test it on your mobile device. Don’t forget to test it on Android, Windows and smartphones.

You also need to test it on various tablets.

Is the content readable? Does it load quickly? Is it easy to get what you need? Is the content professional? How do the images look? There are numerous tools you can use to test the appearance of your website on mobile devices and desktops. If you deliver easy-to-read content on their smartphones, you are more likely to grow your business.

Get to Know Your Searchers.

The importance of understanding your searchers can’t be overlooked. In order to market to new search patterns, you should be able to understand your customers and their requirements.

It is advisable to spend time among the targeted customers through your marketing campaigns. For instance, if you’re trying to develop a marketing campaign for coffee, interact with customers through coffee culture forums.

Monitoring customers’ preferences will help you understand your customers’ needs.

Prioritize SEO for Mobile.

If your web traffic is organic, customers are more likely to find your website on a mobile device.

Google prefers websites that are mobile-friendly, so it’s important to have your website’s pages optimized for all devices. Your complete website must deliver a good mobile experience.

As you know that first impression is the last impression, try to impress your potential customers with your brand.

Optimize For Local Search.

Recent research has shown that over 50% of searches have a local intent behind them. These types of searches look for a nearby business or a particular product. They also look to have the contact information and addresses for these businesses.

You need to set up your Google My Business Page which includes a description containing links and plenty of details, select the proper categories, upload multiple photos, add a local phone number contact, add your physical business address, hours of operation, reviews from customer and update your website copy.

Users can easily read long-form content comfortably on mobile devices. Be sure to keep headings larger and paragraphs short in your website. It is advisable to select simple and easy-to-read fonts on a mobile device. Be sure to make contact details visible.

Evaluate Your Mobile Page Load Speed.

Over 40% of people leave a website that takes more than 5 seconds to load. Page load speed affects your revenue when it comes to mobile devices. It is important to analyze your mobile page load speed.

Update Your Mobile Ads.

Titles show everything. Use AdWords to try its latest features to test your mobile ads for high performance.

Are your mobile ads responsive? Are you using the longer headlines and descriptions? Is your URL customized?

By doing so, you can interact with the mobile-first world.

Use Buttons and Forms Wisely.

If you are selling a business product, be sure to make it accessible on a mobile device. Long forms can be completed easily on a desktop, but hard to do on a mobile device.

It is advisable to delete unnecessary fields and clear the mess of links, page elements and navigation bars away from the buttons or forms.

Be sure to make the conversion process clear and consistent.

Make Sharing Easy.

One of the top benefits of a mobile-friendly strategy is the ability to share content easily.

A customer having good experience with your customer support service can easily share that information on social media and with friends or family.

Remember that businesses that optimize their websites for shareability will notice great growth in their business.

Use Google Analytics.

First of all, go to the audience mobile device section of your Google Analytics. Then, you’ll find the operating system, the resolutions, and handhelds that your customers are having when they browse your website.

You can build an advanced segment in Google Analytics to gain organic traffic. You can specify to “only see the mobile traffic” which will help you understand the behavior of that user.

Google Webmaster Tools.

Google Webmaster Tools has a filter which allows you to see the mobile search for keywords and pages. So, you can easily notice how your website is behaving on the search engine result pages for mobile users.

Google Keyword Tool.

There is a setting in Google Keyword Tool where you can specify that you just want information for mobile device searches. It will help you see how does it match with the traffic you have for your business products or services?

Don’t Block CSS, JavaScript or Images.

In the early days, blocking CSS, JavaScript or images was helpful. Today, it is not good to block these elements. So, avoid blocking CSS, , JavaScript or images.

Everyone knows that smartphones are more powerful than the desktops owned by users. The smartphone GoogleBot can also manage them and organize the same content that users do.

On-Page Optimization.

When it comes to mobile first SEO, you must keep your titles and descriptions clear and consistent. It helps the GoogleBot to understand your web page faster and give a better understanding about your business. It will improve click-through rate and rankings.

Create a Mobile Web App.

A mobile app allows your visitors to interact with your business and reaches you in a hassle-free manner. Recent research states that the time people spend on their mobile devices is more utilized on apps than web browsers. Over 90% of mobile usage time is spent in apps.

Well, having a mobile-friendly website is not merely enough.

You need to have a strong mobile first SEO strategy to create an app that users can easily download and use to interact with your business. Mobile web app can be your ally in marketing.

Keep in mind that a well-designed app has features like “tap to call” that allow users to contact your business efficiently. You can allow users to use this app for loyalty programs, advertising and transactions.

It helps to promote your brand and provide better user experience. It is advisable to build a unique and innovative mobile app for your business.

We have compiled a few ways to improve your mobile app’s visibility.

• Use your brand in the app’s name

• Add link of your website to your app page

• Put branded anchor text

• Create a QR (Quick Response) code  to download the mobile app on your landing pages

Final Words

Mobile first SEO strategy is an ongoing effort, but the above steps will ensure that you’re going in the right direction. You can try professional SEO services USA – firm to get started with your mobile first SEO strategy successfully for the growth of your business.

When your company prefers mobile-friendly content and makes it easy for customers to search, your business will gain the reputation and credibility in the industry. 

Building a mobile-first strategy is challenging but considering the latest trends towards mobile world will be beneficial.

How do you make better mobile user experience? Let’s share your ideas with us in the comments!