Last year in the United States, Australia, Sweden, the UK and South Korea all passed the 50% mark for Smartphone market penetration. With over half of all people who own cell phones having access to the internet in these countries, and several other major countries including Canada and Japan approaching the 50% mark quickly, there is no doubt that a growing percentage of total searches are being done on mobile devices. What is perhaps more important is that when people are performing searches from smart phones they do it differently than when they are using their desktop or laptop computer.
If, for example, someone searches for “Ford Car Repair” from home they are likely looking for tips on how to repair their car or guides to perform maintenance. If, on the other hand, the same search is made from a smart phone the individual is often trying to find an auto mechanic nearby who can help them get their vehicle fixed. There are an endless number of examples like this where the results can and should be customized by Google and the other search engines to provide different results based on the device used for searching.
Those searching from smart phones are also more likely to make a purchase soon after performing the search. This is because they are often out with the intent of buying something and they simply want to compare prices or find directions to a specific store. This makes advertisements targeted specifically towards smart phone users extremely effective.
At this point the general strategies used in SEO for mobile sites is quite similar to the strategies used for sites accessed by desktops. Many marketing experts believe that over the next few years Google and the other search engines will be making some changes to allow for more precise targeting of mobile devices. Whether this comes in the form of new tagging options or customizations to mobile versions of sites is currently not known of course.
The competition in the SERPs for popular search terms will be extremely high because of the fact that there is not enough room on mobile devices to display too many results above the fold. Most phones will only display 3-5 results without having to scroll down. This is why many major brands and companies are already investing heavily in mobile site optimization and other things. Even the CPC advertising which is displayed on mobile devices is getting more competitive by the week.
With all these factors combined there is little doubt that mobile SEO will be a major part of marketing in the future. Whether for local businesses or online companies, smart phones can’t be ignored. They certainly can’t be treated the same as other computer platforms.
What have you done to promote your business on mobile devices? Do you display different content to customers accessing your site from a smart phone?
