Tips for Creating A Mobile Site Search Strategy

Mobile phones enable customers to take action - plan your digital presence accordingly!

Mobile marketing has grown in significance, as the number of mobile devices sold in the US has increased.  This is only the tip of the iceberg for global mobile device sales and the consumer culture that has developed.  Research mobile marketing in other countries, such as in South Africa, Kenya, South Korea, and the UK, and you'll see deeper penetration rates than that in the US, and unique marketing campaigns that have sprung up as a result. For an example, see this repost of my Digital Canvas Retail article on Coke and South Korea.

For a few tips for your small business, consider the following:

• Develop a persona of a mobile /tablet user based on motivations.  Imagine what actions with a mobile phone are associated with that persona.  Such brainstorming can reveal what kind of content should appear on the mobile site.
• Refine the mobile persona based on motivations related to geography, keyword, or technographic trends.
• The result of the brainstorming is creating mobile content tailored to your audience. Analytics tags and reporting can be set to filter according to these segments.
• If choosing to develop an app, develop a mobile website first.  The website will help acclimate customers to your mobile presence and pave a way for the acceptance of an app.  Also, keep in mind - Apps are discovered within an app "store" or where it is sold, so apps rely on a different search strategy than that of the internet.  Thus research how an app is deployed and marketed within a store for app -specific keywords, and incorporates link strategies centered on the app stores rather than your site.
• For a mobile site, use a subdirectory domain.com/mobile. Buy an permanently redirect .mobi to that subfolder.  Doing so will indicate a strong association when visitors are searching for your firm.  Consider using canonical tags to make sure a mobile page is associated with a main url.   An example of a canonical link:  <link rel="canonical" href="http://www.domain.com/canonicalurl.html" >
• Use enhanced campaigns with Google Adwords or Bing to increase ad exposure to mobile devices. Enhanced campaigns permit users to adjust the percentage of appearances on mobile, tablet, and desktop devices.  Use Keyword Tools in the paid search managers to review mobile search patterns and plan campaigns/ad groups accordingly.