Mobile SEO Tips and Best Practices
-
Hi,
Any advice on approaches for mobile SEO much appreciated. For example, what things do I need to do to optimise a mobile version of a desktop site?
E.g. optimise titles, meta description, headings and copy, do I need to submit a mobile sitemap to Google? Do I need to link from the mobile page to the corresponding page on the desktop site and vice versa?
Will Googlebot Mobile naturally find the site from the desktop link?
What about link building for mobile sites, any thoughts on this, are there specific mobile sites that will link such as directories for a start?
Any other tips or resources? Any SEOMoz resources on this?
What about the same domain versus the subdomain debate about hosting the mobile site? Any thoughts?
Many thanks
-
Hi Mark,
If your desktop searchers and mobile searchers have similar interests and intents, and use similar keywords to locate similar concepts, then responsive design will be an adequate solution for mobile SEO. In most cases, however, mobile searchers have different needs and use different keywords than desktop searchers, and sites constructed with the principles of responsive design without addressing mobile users and keywords will have decreased engagement and be eligible for fewer keywords than a site that has an optimized mobile home page and site architecture with additional pages for mobile-specific visitors. In that sense responsive design is a step towards optimization, but will never be as optimized as a well-optimized mobile site. See my recent column in Search Engine Land for an example of how Walgreens designed their mobile site in a way that addresses mobile searchers concerns in a way that responsive design will never be able to: http://searchengineland.com/how-to-best-optimize-your-mobile-site-for-seo-112940
That article outlines the process I recommend for optimizing mobile sites to be truly competitive in mobile search, so that should answer your first question. As for the others...
> do I need to submit a mobile sitemap to Google?
No, but it doesn't hurt. As I explained in another SEL article about mobile SEO myths:
These can help with indexing feature phone content, and for letting Google know that you want your content to appear in their index of accessible mobile content. But if you’re indexing smartphone content, you don’t need it, says Google’s John Mueller. To back him up on this, none of the ranking sites in the upcoming Resolution Media study on smartphone search results used mobile sitemaps.
Mobile sitemaps probably can’t hurt, and like Web sitemaps, they could help sites get more unique content indexed, but they’re not necessary for mobile SEO unless you’re concerned about indexing feature phone content.
**>Do I need to link from the mobile page to the corresponding page on the desktop site and vice versa? **
No, but it is a best practice from a usability standpoint as some searchers are going to prefer your full site. Especially if they can't easily find what they're looking for on your mobile site.A link from your desktop site helps with search engine discovery, so it is helpful, though not completely necessary from an SEO standpoint.
>Will Googlebot Mobile naturally find the site from the desktop link?
Maybe, but it's better to properly redirect Googlebot mobile and smartphone Googlebot to your feature phone and smartphone sites, respectively. I would also verify your site(s) in Google and Bing Webmaster Tools, as in my experience that is the fastest way to get new sites indexed.
>What about link building for mobile sites, any thoughts on this, are there specific mobile sites that will link such as directories for a start?
I wrote an article on mobile link building at Search Engine Land, giving five easy steps for beginners:
http://searchengineland.com/better-mobile-linkbuilding-in-5-easy-steps-86410
It contains a link to my blog, where I have a list of several hundred mobile directories
>Any other tips or resources? Any SEOMoz resources on this?
Rand doesn't believe in mobile SEO, as he's under the mistaken impression that search engines are platform agnostic, in spite of the the evidence to the contrary. As it is, there hasn't been much written here on the subject.
Would definitely recommend reading more of my column, as you have asked a lot of questions about things I've addressed in my column in the past. The other columnists who write regularly on mobile search at Search Engine Land also give great advice.
Here are a few more resources to check out:
My Natural Search and Mobile SEO Blog, where I've been writing about mobile SEO since 2007
Cindy Krum's Mobile Moxie site, that has tools and info on the subject
Sherwood Stranieri's Bars of Signal blog
Interview with the three of us on BlueTrain Mobile
Covario also has a good white paper by Michael Martin
>What about the same domain versus the subdomain debate about hosting the mobile site? Any thoughts?
If you want to spot a newbie to mobile SEO, ask him/her if mobile pages split link equity and prevent mobile pages from ranking. The concept makes sense in theory, but mobile content is a different paradigm, and properly redirected pages will actually appear in search results as of December 2011 regardless of link equity. And Google had been doing a pretty good job prior to that distinguishing mobile pages from desktop pages and displaying the most appropriate content: http://searchengineland.com/dont-penalize-yourself-mobile-sites-are-not-duplicate-content-40380
As I recommend in the how to article above, an m.domain.com site is preferred for mobile homepages and other mobile-specific landing pages. For all transcoded desktop content it's fine to use responsive design with the same URL.
Hope this helps!
Best,
Bryson -
Thanks Elias!
-
No problem Mark. I hope it works out well!
-
Thanks Elias,
I will have a look at this.
I guess with a separate mobile site you could start again in terms of link building, but you could optimise the mobile site for different terms than the desktop, I suppose there are pros and cons, but I agree that a responsive design would condense all the link authority in one place and plus you wouldn't be starting again!
Cheers
-
responsive design can address different layouts (if you click on some of the examples in my previous link and resize your browser you'll see what I mean)
If you wanted to serve up different content then you'd have to look at having a dedicated mobile site. This will double your work load though.
In terms of link building... If you had a responsive site you wouldn't need to do anything different but if you are throwing up a separate mobile site it could suffer from a lack of links and unique content. Again, this is a tricky area.
The BBC have a separate mobile site but they don't really have to worry about link building
If I were you I'd explore responsive design further before delving into creating a separate mobile site. I feel the pros outweigh the cons.
-
Hi Elias,
Thanks for your response, some good advice there.
Yes, I agree, user-centred design in terms of site speed is a must. Say for example, you wanted different content and layouts, is this something responsive design addresses?
I am looking at a site that has a m.site.com format for the mobile site and the content and functionality will be different to the desktop site and for now tablets will serve up the desktop website. Yes, I think your comments still apply in this scenario, great content and good quality social/ link profile.
Say for example you are working on a site such as for a local plumber, where there is limited quality content, are there mobile dedicated places such as directories where you could get links from? I understand completely the idea of publishing quality content such as plumber tips and DIY videos for example, this is the ideal scenario where you could then publicise the quality content. What should I do differently when link building for a mobile site rather than a desktop site.
Many thanks again.
-
Hi Mark,
We have always gone down the root of responsive design with our sites so that you do not have to create a mobile website. This also means that you do not have to keep to sites updated.
With mobile the key is to make sure your site is as lightweight as possible. Think of the user - they're not going to wait around with a poor mobile data signal waiting for your site to load. Google knows this and trie to show faster sites higher up the rankings.
That said, Google will still prefer good quality content with a strong social and link profile.
Basically, make sure your site is as good as it can be and that you are taking the needs of mobile users into consideration.
Here are some responsive design examples to get you going http://designmodo.com/responsive-design-examples/
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions, as I have had to do a lot of research into this lately!
Elias
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
-
What is the best format for animated content
We want to use some movement in our designs, charts etc. what format is the most SEO friendly?
Technical SEO | | remkoallertz1 -
What's best practice for cart pages?
i don't mean e-commerce site in general, but the actual cart page itself. What's best practice for the links that customers click to add products to the cart, and the cart page itself? Also, I use vanity URLs for my cart links which redirect to the actual cart page with the parameters applied. Should I use use 301 or 302 redirects for the links? Do I make the cart page's canonical tag point back to the store home page so that I'm not accruing link juice to a page that customers don't actually want to land on from search? I'm kinda surprised at the dearth of information out there on this, or maybe I'm not looking in the right places?
Technical SEO | | VM-Oz0 -
What is the best way to correct GWT telling me I have mobile usability errors in Image directories
In GWT, I wish to remove / resolve the following errors Mobile Usability > Viewport not configured Mobile Usability > Small font size Mobile Usability > Touch elements too close The domain www.sandpiperbeacon.com is responsive, and passes the mobile usability test. A new issue I noticed, is that GWT is reporting 200+ errors just for image index pages such as http://www.sandpiperbeacon.com/images/special-events/ for example. Website users cannot access these pages (without editing the URL manually) so I don't consider these usability issues. BUT, I hate to see 200+ errors, especially when Google itself says "Websites with mobile usability issues will be demoted in mobile search results." I could set the image directories to dissalow in Robots.txt, but I do not want the images to stop appearing in image search, so this seems like a flawed solution. I cannot be the only person experiencing this, but I have been unable to find any suggestions online.
Technical SEO | | RobertoGusto0 -
Mobile site not ranking
Hello, I have a m.site.com version of my original site. It is about 1/10 the size, and no matter what I do-I can't get the site to rank. I've added more pages and specified canonical etc etc. Should I add as many pages as my larger site has? Are there specific places I should be submitting this version beyond the typical? I am at a loss, so any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! L
Technical SEO | | lfrazer1 -
Are sitewide links bad for SEO?
I have 11 real estate sites and have had links from one to another for about 7 years but someone just suggested me to take them all out because I might get penalized or affected by penguin. My main site was affected on July of 2012 and organic visits have dropped 43%...I've been working on many aspects of my SEO but it's been difficult to come back. Any suggestions are very welcome, thanks 🙂
Technical SEO | | mbulox0 -
Types of SEO Help
I have a web site that is going well but I think it could be better as far as usability and design. Also, I am sure an SEO professional would have some things to do to optimize. It seems though, that all the SEO companies either want to have along term contract or they don't work with my technology. Does anyone know of a company that would take my Visual Studio/C# project and tweak it for usability, design and SEO features for an hourly or set price?
Technical SEO | | Banknotes0 -
Best practices for repetitive job postings
I have a client who is a recruiter for skilled trades jobs. They post quite a few jobs on their job board on a regular basis. They frequently have job postings that are very similar to older jobs or multiple current job postings that are similar to each other. Looking at their webmaster tools and site: command search in google, it does appear they have some duplicate content issues. We're thinking it's because of the similar job posts. What is the best practice for dealing with this? And is there any way to correct the situation so that the number of "omitted due to similarity" results declines? Thanks for you help!
Technical SEO | | PlusROI0 -
Proxy servers and SEO
I read somewhere that reverse proxys can cause issue for search engines. Our server is using SQUID. What potential issues there might be?
Technical SEO | | Jani1