Mobile SEO Tips and Best Practices

[MarkChambers]

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

[skrauss]

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

[MarkChambers]

Thanks Elias!

[A_Q]

No problem Mark. I hope it works out well!

[MarkChambers]

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

[A_Q]

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.

[MarkChambers]

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.

[A_Q]

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