Mobile SEO vs. Usability - SinglePlatform
-
I have a restaurant client that we're setting up with SinglePlatform.com to distribute their menu and make sure all of the restaurant sites have updated information for their business. As part of SinglePlatform's service, they offer a mobile site. Normally we would just create a mobile site and make sure that it's optimized but this client isn't ready to invest in a customized mobile site yet. The mobile site we can get with SinglePlatform is very simple. Call, Menu, Address, View Full Website, Photos, General Info.
I know this would make it much easier for mobile users to find information and contact them but it's not mobile best practices. Whatever main page they land on would redirect them to the home page of the mobile site (i.e. not a 1 to 1). We also won't have any Google Analytics information for this site.
The question comes down to usability or SEO? I'm leaning toward the mobile site for now and sell them on a customized solution later. I guess I'm just looking for some verification or any insight.
-
Yes, I think it's a must for them now as their current site is almost unusable on a phone. The main issue with the mobile site and Google's stance are the faulty redirects. I believe everything redirects to the mobile home page right now. It may not be a huge deal right now because they have limited content but it's something we'll have to address.
The mobile site currently can be indexed by Google as well, which is an issue.
-
In this case, especially, usability = SEO. Mobile for restaurants is extremely important. People like to use the sitelinks to go directly to a menu or directions.
Sounds like you're aware of Google's stance on the subject.
I'm not familiar w/ SinglePlatform- but I'd think they are addressing or will have to address this soon.
-
Jared,
With any SMB you have to straddle the line between best practices and budget. I would not build a mobile site even when they are ready, but would go responsive as that IMO is the best practice. Given they do not have the wherewithal to do more site building, this looks like a workable solution.
I am surprised they cannot provide traffic metrics, etc.
One thing, make sure the phone number they use is the same as the NAP for the business. Do not let them use a tracking number unless that number is an image. (remember the image cannot link to a number that is different than the NAP and it cannot have a number in the alt text either.) This is a key point.Hope that helps,
Robert
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How Progressive Enhancement Will be Helpful for SEO?
We have bundle of webpages where we load the content dynamically with the help of Ajax. Since we, need to implement Ajax crawl scheme for making Google to read those Ajax dynamic content we planned to go with hashbang URL's (!#) by creating HTMl snapshots. But last week Google withdrawn their support on crawling the Ajax crawling scheme we are planning to go with progressive enhancement approach as stated by Google in a press release. So, I just want to know what is meant by progressive enhancement and how we can implement in the case of webpages where we load the content dynamically with the help of Ajax? Please advice me on this.
Web Design | | Prabhu.Sundar1 -
Changing website to Mobile site
Hi All, We are building a new website and would take it live in next few weeks. I want help to understand what all should we consider.. The site structure would be same with additional features but the URL path and site name is same...Should i take any precausions before shutting down the old site and getting the new one live? Thanks
Web Design | | jomin740 -
How does adding ecommerce to a site affect SEO? What are the negative and what are the positives?
We are thinking of adding ecommerce to our website as a service to our customers. We generate most of our leads through online quote requests but heard that it may be beneficial to our SEO if we add ecommerce for a few products. Is this true? Does anyone have tips on best and worst SEO ecommerce practices?
Web Design | | TeguarMarketing0 -
Mobile and SEO
We are in the process of building a responsive version of our site for mobile users (currently about 20% of total traffic). What are the most important SEO considerations we should be aware of when it comes to this kind of project? Thanks
Web Design | | halloranc0 -
Confluence and SEO
I think this is a difficult question so apologies in advance and any help would be appreciated! We currently have a large amount of support center content sitting on our main pages which we don’t think is very effective (mainly basic how to guides). We think it is difficult for visitors to understand and the UI is very poor. In order to solve this we’re currently moving this content onto a subdomain using Confluence, a wiki based team collaboration tool (from a company called Atlassian). What we’re planning on doing is very much like what Atlassian themselves have done on this page: https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/ALLDOC/Atlassian+Documentation What are the SEO issues / dangers that I need to consider before moving this content? I’m assuming that as this content will still be on the same domain then we can minimise link equity / authority loss by setting up re-directs to the new content. Also, has anyone had any experience of using Confluence and whether individual pages can be optimised for SEO? I notice that there are lots of add-ins that can be used, one of which is an SEO add-on which allows you to customise things like meta description tags.
Web Design | | RG_SEO0 -
Html 5 main and secondary navigation for SEO best performances
I am building a website which will have a main navigation related to the site and each link of the main navigation will have a secondary navigation. We do not want to use a megamenu style navigation. I will try to explain it with a example: Let's start with an example for a computer store "My PC Store", the Main Navigation would be: Desktop PC's Notebook & Tablets
Web Design | | netbuilder
Multimedia When clicking on the "Notebook & Tablets" the user is directed to the page domain.com/notebook-tablet.html and on this page the secondary navigation appears: Laptop Netbook Tablets / iPad I am confused on how I should organize the semantic navigation for best SEO performances and I need advice / suggestions. I thought about 2 different ways to do it but which one is more appropriate in terms of SEO? PROPOSITION A Home Page: <header> My PC Store <nav> Desktop PC's Notebook & Tablets Multimedia </nav> </header> Sub-Page (Notebook & Tablets): <nav>(or <aside>?) Desktop PC's Notebook & Tablets Multimedia </aside> </nav> <header> Notebook & Tablets <nav> Laptop Netbook Tablets / iPad </nav> </header> As you notice on the home page the Main Site Navigation is included in the <header>while it is not in the sub-pages. PROPOSITION B Home Page: <header> My PC Store <nav> Desktop PC's Notebook & Tablets Multimedia </nav> </header> Sub-Page (Notebook & Tablets): <header> Notebook & Tablets <nav> Desktop PC's Notebook & Tablets Multimedia </nav> # Notebook & Tablets * Laptop Netbook Tablets / iPad </header> The main navgation remains always in the <header>(home page / sub-pages) of all page. I need suggestions... How would you guys organize the nav ? </header> </header>0 -
SEO tricks for a one page site with commented html content
Hi, I am building a website that is very similar to madebysofa.com : means it is one page site with entire content loaded (however are commented in html) and by clicking on sections it modify the DOM to make specific section visible. It is very interesting from UX point of view but as far as I know, since this way most of my content is always commented and hidden from crawlers, I will loose points regarding SEO. Is there any workaround you can recommend or you think sites like madebysofa.com are doomed to loose SEO points by nature? Best regards,
Web Design | | Ashkan10 -
How SEO friendly (or unfriendly) this site structure is
We have a client who wants a site structure like this http://thethomasoliverband.com/home - try to scroll down on the content and see how the url of the site changes. Would there be any problems on trying to SEO this type of structure?
Web Design | | paulct0