3 Quick Tips to Optimize for Mobile Search

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In a recent post, we had a fireside chat about how mobile search will overtake desktop search in 2015. And we promised a post to further the discussion on ‘how’ to take advantage of this swing and make sure you are prepared to optimize for mobile search.

As obvious as this may sound, create a mobile version of your site! If you haven’t done that, please quit reading now, and go make one. If you don’t have a webmaster or other handy type around, use Duda Mobile a super easy service we like to quickly create one for ya!

OK now that you have a mobile-friendly version of your site, here are 3 things to do:

This one’s a bonus and doesn’t count, since we mentioned it above. But for you scrolling types that may just give this post a once-over:

Screen Shot 2014-12-13 at 11.54.12 AM

Thanks for the image Duda Mobile!

0) Make sure you have a responsive site or a mobile-specific site so your content fits the screens appropriately. Don’t make users do magical things to scroll and contort their devices to view your cool content, OK?

1) Speed rules. Make it fast, cut the fat, get down to biz. Make your navigation concise, and consider limiting the links and content to only your top content areas.

2) Analyze the difference in conversions, bounce rates, engagement on mobile searchers vs. desktop. Look for dead ends, pages with high drop offs, and target them for fixes (or even removal from main navigation). Conversely, look for your most productive pages and apply those factors to improve the less fortunate ones;). You can view your mobile site load times and other stats right in Google Analytics.

3) Think local! More than 20% of all mobile searches are for folks looking for services & products in your ‘hood. So if you have a local presence, creating a verified Google+ Local profile will give you a listing on Google Maps, which is valuable for smartphones because it’s featured prominently in the SERPs, and ‘local search’ on a smartphone can also happen within apps (such as the Google Maps app) that utilize Google search.

Ok we hope that helped. If you have any other great tips to optimize for mobile search, let us know!

Is 2015 the Year Mobile Search Passes Desktop?

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How often do you search using your phone or tablet vs. your laptop or desk…wait, do people still have desktop computers anymore?! Well, we took a little internal survey (little meaning the handful of us here at Dasheroo HQ working this weekend).

2013-2018 mobile search stats

2013-2018 mobile search stats

And it seemed a little more than 1/2 the time, searches were done ‘on the go’, which is pretty remarkable if you really think about it.

So we decided to do some more digging around, to see if we could find some more statistically valid numbers around mobile search stats and whatdya know, our buddies at eMarketer recently tackled the same issue! Love those people.

eMarketer reports that “2015 will see mobile search reach the tipping point—the stage at which the majority of spend, organic traffic and paid clicks comes from smartphones and tablets, surpassing traditional desktop/laptop search activity.”

Hey, we’re pretty representative, and a little ahead of the curve;)

So what does this mean for you, as a busy biz owner? Ya gotta optimize your site for mobile search. Look for an upcoming post about our recos on just how to optimize for mobile search.