Category Archives: Mobile Marketing

Mobile SEO – What Is It, Really? – Part II

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Clay Cazier

On-Page Optimization

As we move forward, Google’s Fast, Relevant, Comprehensive and Fresh mantra hangs in my mind as does an October 2011 post by Ryan Jones named Mobile SEO is a Myth. Although Jones goes to the extreme of arguing that a mobile site should be one and the same as your normal retail site, there are a few good points worth considering, including how mobile devices are just a mechanism for delivering a good web experience. Would you rate a TV show differently depending on the size of the TV used to display that show? I don’t think it’s true that the “…best Mobile SEO strategy is to not have a mobile SEO strategy…” but the thought ties in perfectly with Huffman’s point about how they judge the quality of Google’s own Mobile Search and “normal” Web Search sites using the same criteria: Fast, Relevant, Comprehensive and Fresh.

Fast is a technical point previously addressed. When we consider the Relevant, Comprehensive and Fresh requirements, fundamentals like content development and on-page optimization (TITLE, META tags, etc.) necessarily join the checklist of things that must be included in “Mobile SEO”, proper.

A second thought stemming from Huffman’s presentation is that they hope Google Search for Mobile delivers a “complete” experience for users. He gives examples of “complete” as i) inclusive of as much information as possible; and ii) information being presented in ways that are sensitive to the capabilities of access devices. Simplistically interpreted, this means mobile site owners should generally avoid things like Flash while leaning toward features created by HTML5 or jQuery – both of which provide more functionality within a device like an iPhone or Blackberry. Continue reading →

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Mobile SEO – What Is It, Really? – Part I

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Clay Cazier

In listening to current and prospective PM Digital clients, the importance of mobile website development to the future of their businesses is a given but “mobile SEO” is sometimes mentioned with some hesitation. What is it, really? Meaning, when you’re challenged with increasing traffic and other KPIs delivered by your mobile site, what tactics are included in the solution set? What Is Mobile SEO?

First, let’s establish the near-term goal – improvement of your site’s page rankings for top keyphrases searched through Google. Specifically, we’re interested in improving page rankings for top keywords entered by mobile device users and returned via Google Search for Mobile. (Also consider YouTube and other major social sites to be worthy of individual, mobile keyword research and optimization.) Looking forward to farther-reaching goals and KPIs, let’s agree that we’ll save the advanced discussion of mobile conversion optimization for another day and set rankings, traffic and revenue as a good, default three KPIs.

With the appropriate keywords and target site(s) defined, let’s look to Google for advice on what should comprise “Mobile SEO”.

Technical Optimization

Starting in late 2009, Google’s Webmaster Central Blog began offering the basics of what they like to see in mobile websites, what we’ll call technical optimization:

  • Help Google index your mobile site, November 13, 2009 – i) “…create a Mobile Sitemap and submit it to Google to inform us to the site’s existence…”; ii) “…If you’d like your site crawled, please allow any User-agent including ‘Googlebot-Mobile’ to access your site…”; iii) “…Check that your mobile-friendly URLs’ DTD declaration is in an appropriate mobile format such as XHTML Mobile or Compact HTML…”

    • Continue reading →

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iPad Web Traffic Shows Rapid Growth, Browsing Behavior Similar to Desktop

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Anthony Avolio

Apple recently announced that over 1 million iPads have been sold in the first 4 weeks of U.S. availability.  With media fervor subsiding and novelty wearing off, we were interested in better understanding how iPad users are browsing the web.  Listed below are three observations related to iPad traffic stats gleaned from some of our retail clients.  It’s important to note that individual marketers show variations in the amount of visits from iPad browsers, so your mileage may vary.

iPad is rapidly gaining share in terms of site visits.  With just a few weeks of availability, the iPad has shown rapid growth and in some cases, has overtaken more established mobile devices in terms of visits.  While iPad visits make up a small proportion of total site visits (typically less than 0.5%), this fast growth shows promise.  Whether this rapid growth rate can be sustained in the longer term remains to be seen.

iPad Traffic Growth

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What the iPad Means for Marketers

Posted on April 13, 2010 by PM Digital

Now that we’ve have had a week to put the new iPad through its paces, we asked our PM Digital bloggers for their thoughts on the device with an eye to its potential for marketers.  Below are some of their initial impressions and takeaways.


OS4 Will Make the iPad Truly “Magical and Revolutionary”

Chris Paradysz:  OS4 will have multi-tasking capabilities.  Now, I love the iPad.  I can be excited about any great technology, but it should fulfill the hope I had back when I blogged about it earlier in the year that it will create an intimacy bond between content and users.

Music, video, words, pictures should no longer be disconnected from touch and feel.  The iPod and iPhone didn’t transform this connection with people (consumers).  With the portability, size and weight of the iPad well-suited to most people’s hands and laps, it can easily move from one position to another and from one person to another.

From a marketing pov, this creates a new experience sensation and viral ability that prior e-readers have failed to deliver.  Within an app or the internet, an advertiser can deliver a rich brand or offer experience, not just ink on “paper”.   With the iAd and technology infrastructure to support it, I have two questions:  1) how soon will it be before Apple starts up an advertising agency; 2) will a new SNL Apple skit be on this Saturday night?


A Must-Have Device You Didn’t Know You Needed

Suzy Sandberg: Just to get this out of the way, YES, the iPad does look like a giant iPod Touch. (iPad owners, I feel your pain on this relentless comment).  And since I can’t strap the iPad to my arm when I go running, I do still need my iPod Touch. And I still need my laptop since the iPad has limitations (no USB for one). I also have/need a cell phone until/unless Verizon ever actually does get the iPhone.

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Going Mobile

Posted on March 23, 2010 by Tim Kilroy

In 1971, The Who released a great album, Who’s Next, and Track #7 is the classic “Going Mobile”.  Who would have known that Pete, Roger and the gang were actually predicting the great mobile explosion of 2010?

From 3G enabled smartphones to ubiquitous WiFi-enabled laptops to the looming iPad, the internet is going mobile. I know that this isn’t really breaking news (I was involved in a mobile internet project launch in 2000), but now the mobile explosion is here. The question at hand is how do marketers take advantage of mobile and how do consumers use mobile.

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The (Still Small) State of Retail Mobile Apps

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Glenn Lalich

retailappsApple celebrated 1.5 billion app downloads last week, but that heady number doesn’t tell the whole story of the one-year old App Store. It took Apple nine months to reach 1 billion app downloads. It took only three months to add another 500 million. That’s remarkable.

Take it as a given that most apps are faddish and have a short shelf life (think cowbells, lighters, “1,001 Pick Up Lines”). There are also apps that have expanded our perception of what is possible, like identifying a song almost anywhere using Shazam, or distinguishing a color on-the-fly using Benjamin Moore’s ben Color Capture. These are potent, uniquely mobile experiences. Apps in one form or another are here to stay.

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