Internet Marketing Tips, Tools and Strategies

It seems everywhere we look nowadays there is someone on a smart phone surfing the web, updating their Facebook page, or composing a Tweet. The popularity of mobile users on the Internet is growing, is it time you looked at creating a Mobile Website?

Google reports that about 1 in every 7 searches on the Internet are from a mobile device and by 2013 there will be more searches from mobile devices than from desktop devices. In fact 25% of Internet users around the world are “mobile only” right now, yet not many websites are mobile enabled.

You might not think that a website optimized for mobile usage is that important, but you have to consider a few key factors before making that assumption:

Search Engine Relevance – Search engines (such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) are trying to give their users the most relevant content and the best user experience they can. If a user is searching for a particular website on a mobile device, most search engines can detect what device the search is being conducted on and will give preference to mobile websites (or mobile enabled websites) over non-mobile counterparts.  

User Experience – A user is not going to dedicate time to viewing miniature versions of full websites if they do not function properly on their smartphone/tablet – basically every site that is not built for mobile devices specifically are going to function this way. Patience on the Internet is short, most users won’t “waste” their time by making text bigger and moving the website around the screen to read everything. Also, most users are trying to physically push on buttons with their finger thanks to touch screen advancements and zeroing in on a small icon with a forefinger isn’t always the easiest thing to do.

Digestible Information – Mobile users are not always looking for the same information that they would search for from a desktop; navigating through a mobile website on a phone is usually a “short and sweet” affair. Mobile searcher's wants are typically less, but more specific so you want to be sure you are giving them exactly what they are looking for. What is the most sought after items mobile Internet users are looking for on a mobile site? Company information, destination information, contact information and social media.  

Now that you understand why mobile website development is important and what mobile users are looking for, creating a mobile friendly version of your company website makes sense. Right? Why not get started today by downloading our free Mobile Marketing Strategy Kit.

The first time I heard the term "so-lo-mo" I did a double take. "So-lo-mo....what?" Here we go again, another internet marketing acronym to remember. The internet marketing world is filled with acronyms and abbreviations for all kinds of things we do online (see - SEO, PPC, SMO, LP, SMM...blah blah blah), but so-lo-mo was definitely the first that just really got me shaking my head. But with that being said, the term is here to stay and the buzz around it is legitimate. 

The term "so-lo-mo" is the convergence of social media, local search, and mobile marketing. It's a way of creating a 1-1 engagement strategy with customers on a local level with mobile devices and social media. When done correctly, so-lo-mo can help you reach the right customer, in the right place, at exactly the right time. 

Familiar with "checking in" on you mobile device? With sites like Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places, and Yelp growing rapidly, checking in is quickly becoming the cool thing to do when out on the town, shopping, dining, entertaining, etc. People are broadcasting their lives in real time to the world and where they are currently located. Personally, this is not something I do a lot of simply because I like my privacy, but millions of people are doing this on a daily basis and here are some reasons why:

• Freebies and Discounts - checking in to places you may find yourself with a free appetizer or drink, discounted parking, or 10% off the purchase you are about to make. 
• Recommending Places They Like - why not share the good word about a business that you enjoyed? Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Or maybe you just want to brag a little bit? Writing a review in real time as you are having an awesome time makes the recommendation better. 
• Games and Boredom - many check in programs have games that allow participants to earn virtual points and people do this for the fun of it (or because they are bored out of their mind while they wait for x, y, or z).
• Connect with Friends - most check in applications allow your friends and followers to see your recent activity (if you are participating in the art of "checking in" of course!). 

According to eMarketer, location-based ad revenues worldwide will reach $6.2 billion by 2015, consuming 35% of total mobile ad revenues. See chart to see how massive an increase this will be over the next 5 years. Knowing this, it might be a good time to start looking at location-based marketing and see how it can fit within your overall internet marketing strategy. 

Need some help getting started? Download our Free Mobile Marketing Strategy Guide and learn all about the future of mobile marketing and "so-lo-mo."

Follow our blog in the coming weeks and learn more about mobile marketing as we share some exciting information about this rapidly evolving industry. 

For quite some time, my team at WSI and I have been discussing mobile marketing and mobile seo and how to integrate the best strategy for our clients. We have been waiting to start offering mobile marketing services for our clients until we felt we had all the information necessary to offer the best service out there that would get great results for our clients.

As you can see from the chart on the right, marketing professionals are allocating a good amount towards mobile marketing.

Pierre Far from Google wrote a blog post on the Google blog and specifically discussed the topic surrounding making websites mobile friendly.

Here are the notes from that lecture that I got from seroundtable.com and wanted to share with you:

•Google differentiates between traditional mobile phones and smartphones.

•Google has two bots: Googlebot and Googlebot-Mobile. Googlebot crawls desktop-browser type of webpages and content embedded in them and Googlebot-Mobile crawls mobile content.

•Currently only traditional phones are supported with special useragent strings within Googlebot-Mobile, not smartphones (this may change)

•Google said they "expect smartphones to handle desktop experience content so there is no real need for mobile-specific effort from webmasters.

•It does not mean you can't serve a special style sheet to smartphones, Google said, "the decision to do so should be based on how you can best serve your users."

•URL structure: For Googlebot and Googlebot-Mobile, it does not matter what the URL structure is as long as it returns exactly what a user sees too.

•Using the same URL "is not considered cloaking by Google."

•Mobile sitemaps: you should include only mobile content URLs in Mobile Sitemaps, even if these URLs also return non-mobile content when accessed by a non-mobile User-agent. 

Mobile marketing is fast becoming a crucial part of most businesses online marketing campaigns. I still lump "mobile" into the online campaign terminology because to me its still technically online marketing just accessed through mobile devices.

The important thing to take away from this blog post is that there are in fact 2 separate bots, one for mobile content and one for browser based content. If you are looking to expand your online marketing and opportunities for both paid and organic search, you should strongly consider looking into generating some mobile content and making your website more mobile friendly.

These days a mobile phone's main purpose is not to make a phone call. Today people are using their cell phone to listen to music, get driving directions, to retrieve email and to surf the internet.

It is estimated that 1 in 10 consumers are reading their emails on a mobile device and according to Pew Internet, by the year 2020 50% of all web searches will happen from mobile devices.

The majority of mobile searches involve local services such as dining, gas stations, shopping, directions and entertainment. This is great news right? More people visiting your website immediately before visiting your location. Wrong. A traditional website does not always translate to a mobile device. If you have not optimized your site for a mobile device or created a mobile website than these consumers may miss out on your services. This is a targeted audience that is out and about looking for something in particular. Don't miss this business because they are unable to view your website.

What makes a mobile site different? Due to the small screen size of a mobile device the images on your site will probably be too large. Mobile devices are also slower so you need the content on your site to be really small so it loads quickly. Keep in mind that when someone is visiting your site from a mobile device they want the information they need quickly and easily. Make sure your mobile site has short and concise content that is easy to navigate and avoid programs like Flash that may not be available on a mobile device.

Take advantage of this mobile market and tailor your website to meet their immediate needs. Online usage via mobile devices is only growing. Get ahead of this trend and welcome the mobile audience to your website.