David Gerrard

MOBILE UX & SEARCHTHE INEXTRICABLE FUTURE

@callmegerrard

Mobile isn’t the future, mobile is now(and has been for ages)

43% 41% 16%

DESKTOP MOBILE TABLET

Internet Usage by Device

Google’s definition of mobile = smartphones

This does not include tablets, feature phones

or multimedia phones

Not mobile

Still not

mobile

THE MOBILE-FRIENDLY UPDATE

The update started rolling out on April 21st, the

whole process could take up to two weeks.

The impact will be

larger than both Panda

and Penguin

Unlike Panda and Penguin, the

algorithm will run in real-time

It only affects searches made from a

mobile device

But the effect on Android and iOS may be

different

At launch, it’s only

part of the main

algorithm

Local results, for

example, not

affected

It’s a

YES

NO

assessment

(it’s really simple)

It’s applied on a page-level basis

DOMAIN.COM

Page speed will

not be an initial

factor

A label is displayed next to mobile-friendly pagesWarning: some pages without labels may still be friendly

What we’re seeing so far…

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Use the mobile-friendly testing toolhttps://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

Who’s currently failing?Hint: loads of big players

Check your mobile usability reports in

Webmaster Tools

Account > Search Traffic > Mobile Usability

MEASURING IMPACT

Analytics, Analytics, Analytics

Custom Segment Conditions

Device Category: Mobile

Medium: Organic

Source: Google

http://ow.ly/M09iJ

Check Search Metrics

Check Mobile Search Queries in WMT

Account > Search Traffic > Search Queries

Just remember that WMT data is delayed by a couple of days

THE CRITERIA

THE CRITERIA IS SIMPLE

There are five main elements to follow

1. Avoid unplayable content*

(that means things like Flash and Silverlight)

* Basically, don’t use incompatible plug-ins!

2. Ensure content is not wider than the screen

Prevent the need for horizontal scrolling

3. Ensure links aren’t too close

togetherMake navigational elements easy to click

4. Text should not be too small to read

without zoomingThis is another funny joke

5. Configure the viewport

Include a meta viewport tag

<meta name=“viewport” content=“width=device-width, initial-scale=1”>

SOME OTHER COMMON

CONSIDERATIONS

Don’t use app interstitialsUse banners instead

Do not prevent Google from crawling

CSS, JavaScript and image filesThey need them to see your site correctly

Don’t block your mobile site entirelyUse rel=“alternate” and rel=“canonical”

<link rel=“alternate” media=“only screen and (max-width:640px)”

href=“http://m.example.com/category”>

<link rel=“canonical” href=“http://example.com/category”>

ON YOUR DESKTOP SITE

ON YOUR MOBILE SITE

Avoid irrelevant cross-linking

INCORRECT

example.com/shoes m.example.com

CORRECT

example.com/shoes m.example.com/shoes

Link to the closest equivalent page

Fix mobile-only 404sEnsure redirects are correct and necessary

Avoid faulty redirects

example.com

example.com/adidas

example.com/nike

m.example.com

m.example.com/adidas

m.example.com/nike

example.com

example.com/adidas

example.com/nike

m.example.com

m.example.com/adidas

m.example.com/nike

Think about page speed

carefully

ONE MORE THING

Where Google goes…Bing follows

BING JUST HIT 20% MARKET SHARE IN THE US

FUN FACT

FINAL THOUGHTS

On the subject of mobile-friendliness…

Take note of and adhere to Google’s mobile guidelines

or risk losing traffic

On the future…

Anticipate the changing nature of mobile search and

plan for relevant emerging technologies

Think beyond the update…

Plan for further emphasis on mobile usability in the

future