Just like everything else these days online marketing is going mobile. As smart phones become cheaper and more popular, people are finding themselves using their phones and tablets more and more to do their internet searching. Especially when searching for things locally. How many times have you needed to find a restaurant and pulled your phone out to search for directions?
Mobile Phone Usage is Exploding
According to CISCO mobile phone usage is going to DOUBLE by 2012 and TRIPLE by 2013. Sounds like a mobile marketing strategy needs to be developed now.
Have you ever Googled something on your phone and seen different search results then Googling on a PC? That's because Google knows your on a mobile device and wants to deliver the best results for you on the go. Thus they emphasize and rank higher those sites that are mobile friendly and have higher 'mobile ranking' because of Google Places, Local Reviews, etc.
A websites mobile traffic is averaging around 10%, but from personal experience I have seen mobile traffic double during holidays and high traffic times because people are using their phones while on the go as they travel. That's 20% of your traffic, or 1 out of every 5 people vising your site. You might think "Well but 4 out of 5 people still visit us on a computer, so do we really need a mobile strategy?" Remember it's 20%. If you grew your annual revenue by 20% would that be a pretty big deal? I think we all can say yes.
Creating a Mobile Marketing Strategy
Even before we get to the mobile marketing aspects of things, you first need to make sure your website is 'Mobile Friendly'. What we typically see is a 'watered down' version of a website when visiting a mobile website because people want to quickly aspect the most important things to them. This typically leans toward your contact information, directions, phone number, email address etc. People want these things fast, so when thinking about your mobile website keep in mind people will be accessing your site from a phone or tablet for fast information.
So don't use large images, videos, flash etc. Straight forward HTML and CSS can easily get people to what they are looking for on your site.
Start by creating a sitemap of your mobile site, just like you would your regular website. Except ask yourself what would I want to access on my website in 2 minutes or less if I were coming here for quick information?
Now this doesn't mean to exclude critical aspects of your website, but keep in mind your traffic is coming from a smaller screen and wanting the information more quickly.
Optimizing Your Mobile Website
Your mobile website can be optimized like any other site by using good practices of keyword friendly Meta Tags, Title Tags, and SEO friendly URLs. But more importantly to be found on a mobile search is how many LOCAL sites you are listed in. Remember, Google is ranking you based on it being a local search 99% of the time. The more prominent you are on local review sites will be a great improvement towards your mobile SEO rankings. A good place to start would be Google Places, Yelp, Yellow Pages, Super Pages, Four Square, etc.
Your Mobile Marketing Strategy
If you are unsure how to start your mobile marketing plan, feel free to contact us today for a free consultation review of your internet marketing strategy. You can also read our White Paper regarding mobile phone metrics here.
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