mobile seo: let the games begin! (presented at ses san francisco, september 2013)

San Francisco • September 10–13, 2013 • #SESSF @SESConf

Mobile SEO: Let The Games Begin!

Brian KlaisPure Oxygen LabsFounder and CEO

San Francisco| September 10–13, 2013 | #SESSF | @SESConf

@BrianKlais

“Your Free Mobile SEO Trial is Over”

“…we plan to roll out several ranking changes in the near

future that address sites that are misconfigured for smartphone

users.”


@BrianKlais

Fortune 100 Mobile Recap

http://www.pureoxygenmobile.com/research-two-thirds-of-the-fortune-100-are-not-mobile-optimized-for-google





@BrianKlais

94% Face Mobile Ranking Risks






@BrianKlais

Err On Side of No Mobile Errors

What Google says …

• If a searcher visits a desktop page from a mobile device, redirect to an equivalent smartphone-friendly URL not a 404 page.

• Make sure the smartphone-friendly page is not an error page.

• If your content is not available in a smartphone-friendly format, serve the desktop page instead.


@BrianKlais

The Penalty for Mobile 404s

?

“GM” Query(September 2013)

“GM” Query(June 2013)


@BrianKlais

Diagnosing a Faulty Redirect

Status: 200


@BrianKlais


Status: 200

http://www.ford.com/Cars/Mustang/models/…

http://pixel.everesttech.net/2519/cq?ev_sid=3&ev_ln=mustangconvertible&ev_crx=17785702469&ev_mt=b&ev_n=g&ev_ltx=&ev_pl=&ev_pos=1t1&ev_dvc=c&ev_dvm=&url=http://www.ford.com/Cars/Mustang/models/?searchid=61240949|2322886349|11611920

http://m.ford.com/Cars/Mustang/models/…


@BrianKlais


View this mobile redirect header: http://www.pureoxygenmobile.com/view-mobile-redirects/#!=http://www.ford.com/Cars/Mustang/models

http://www.pureoxygenmobile.com/view-mobile-redirects/%23!=http://www.ford.com/Cars/Mustang/models






@BrianKlais

Serve Relevant Mobile Content

What Google says…

• Route mobile searchers to relevant mobile pages

• If mobile searcher requests example.com/article29, redirect to the equivalent mobile page, such as m.example.com/article29

• Don’t redirect to the m.example.com homepage


@BrianKlais


• Implement server-side wildcard pattern matching / conditional redirect logic to target top user-agents (eg iPhone, Android, etc.,)

• Javascript redirects are less optimal but are supported by Google

• When targeting by user-agent, remember Android tablets and phones both have “Android”. To target phones, match on “Android AND mobile”; to target tablets, match on “Android and not mobile”


@BrianKlais



@BrianKlais

Tag Pages with Canonical Markup

What Google says…

• Canonical markup helps make content visible to bots and searchers

• If you have an “m.” mobile site:– Each desktop page should contain a "rel=alternate" link meta tag that

points to the mobile URL– Each mobile page should contain a "rel=canonical" meta tag that points to

the desktop URL

• Alternatively add notation to Sitemaps file

• Consider Javascript redirects that match on link value


@BrianKlais

Canonical Link Markup: Just Do It.


@BrianKlais

Tag Conditional Content/Redirects

What Google says…

• Sites that customize mobile experience based on user-agent settings need to make it clear to bots that content varies by user agent

• When your server modifies content or redirects mobile searchers or bots, that page’s “Vary” HTTP header must contain "user agent”


@BrianKlais

Conditional Server Redirect Tag

View this mobile redirect header:http://www.pureoxygenmobile.com/view-mobile-redirects/!=http://www.amazon.com/ref=gno_logo

http://www.pureoxygenmobile.com/view-mobile-redirects/%23!=http://www.amazon.com/ref=gno_logo

http://www.pureoxygenmobile.com/view-mobile-redirects/%23!=http://www.amazon.com/ref=gno_logo


@BrianKlais

RWD ≠ SEOWhat Google says…

• Target smartphones via “max-width 640px” @media queries

• Pages should load in <1 second

• Average RWD page weighs 2x more than an average “m.” page

• Do your media queries apply to all pages - or just home page?

• Take advantage of compression, caching, image optimization– Free tools: http://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights

http://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights

http://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights


@BrianKlais

Promote Apps Intelligently

What Google says:

• Avoid promoting app via interstitial pages

• Use a simple banner to promote your app inline with page content

• Promote appropriately based on OS (e.g. Smart App Banners for Safari)

• Or use an HTML image that links to the correct app store


@BrianKlais

Promote Apps Intelligently

• Add iOS meta tag to pages (m. AND www.):

Ex: <meta name=“apple-itunes-app” content=“app-id={id}” />

• Embedded browsers (eg Facebook) may not support

• Cross-platform “smart banners” are available via Jquery on Android and older iOS

• Expose crawlable link too for Google rankings

• Make sure app supports URL schemes for app-linking


@BrianKlais

Add Banner to Deep Pages, Too.(And Why Not Link Into The App?)


@BrianKlais

If Social Is Driving Organic Rankings…

http://www.searchmetrics.com/en/services/ranking-factors-2013/


@BrianKlais

…And If We Use Social Apps 4x Web…

4x!


@BrianKlais

… Aren’t These Broken Links?


@BrianKlais

App-Optimize Your Social Links

URL Scheme protocols for top social apps:– Google+ => gplus://plus.google.com/{id}– Facebook => fb://profile/{fbid}– Twitter => twitter://user?screen_name={id}– Foursquare => foursquare://venues/{id}– LinkedIn => linked://profile/{id}– Pinterest => pinterest://user/{id}/– Yelp => yelp:///biz/{id}

• Don’t present mobile users social login wall

• Send iOS and Android users directly into apps (Facebook, Google+, Twitter) for more likes, check-ins, +1s, reviews


@BrianKlais

The Mobile SEO Games Are On!


@BrianKlais

May The Odds Be Ever in Your Favor!

Brian Klais Founder | CEO Pure Oxygen [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mobile seo: let the games begin! (presented at ses san francisco, september 2013)

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