Harnessing the power of SEO for your mobile marketing campaign is a different kettle of fish from traditional desktop search strategies. Keywords are shorter in length to facilitate mobile user behavior, which generally takes a more shorthand approach to typing. Smartphones are always on the move, so location-based marketing is a key player in any effective mobile marketing campaign.
If you’re new to mobile marketing, the possibilities can be overwhelming. The first step is to implement an SMS marketing strategy, but to really make it sing, it must bind your other mobile efforts together. There are a number of ways to do this. Here are six:
1. Google Mobile
Most browsers use Google as their default search engine, so it’s important to devise your mobile marketing campaign in a Google-centric fashion. Once you find rankings success there, Bing and Yahoo will follow.
2. Responsive Design
So how do you please the Google bots? Responsive web design is essential. The easiest way to achieve this is to serve all devices with the same set of URLs, each using identical HTML. The appearance of your content on each device would, in this case, be determined solely by CSS. If you have the budget, an alternative approach is to create an entirely different site for mobile and desktop.
3. Apps
A good app is a really effective way to engage customers. A 2013 Compuware survey showed that 85% of consumers prefer apps to mobile-friendly sites. The beauty of developing an app in native code is the ability to leverage the functionality and hardware of the device. Accelerometers, cameras, gyroscopes, GPS – all these tools can be integrated with your app to provide a compelling user experience.
Good apps, though, are expensive. Be careful not to overreach or you’ll end up with a sub-par product that nobody wants to use. Even a good app isn’t appropriate for every business, so it’s wise to first adopt the lower-risk mobile-friendly site strategy and see how it works for you.
4. Maps
List your company with Google Maps or your brand will literally be off the radar to searchers. The food industry and other B2C impulse sectors stand to gain a lot from a strong presence on Google Maps. Don’t underestimate the power of passing trade when your target audience has GPS and Google in the palm of their hands!
5. Local Keywords
The location-specificity of mobile devices is one of their key differentiators. Make sure your mobile marketing strategy takes location-based keywords into account.
6. Optimised Content
Search engine rankings for mobile-friendly sites are contingent on keyword density. Ensure your site it liberally peppered with relevant, commonly-searched keywords – but don’t go overboard or you’ll turn users off. Balance the amount of content necessary to provide a pleasant experience with the need to include essential keywords. Building a site that is both visible and desirable to searchers is one of the hardest tricks to pull off.
According to an Internet Retailer study from last year, mobile devices accounted for 21% of all e-commerce sales for the ‘500 leading retailers’. Optimising your mobile marketing strategy in conjunction with an SMS marketing campaign will open your business up to a whole new world of untapped potential.