Understanding The Mobile SEO Opportunity

Nick Wilsdon

Lead SEO, Vodafone Group

Mobile Becoming Primary Internet Access Point

Source: Google https://www.consumerbarometer.com 2

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Question: How Do You Access Internet

More often via smartphone than computer / tablet Equally via smartphone & computer / tablet

@nickwilsdon

Mobile Only Access Now Reality

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Question: How Do You Access Internet

Source: Google https://www.consumerbarometer.com @nickwilsdon

Mobile Website vs. App – Who Wins?

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smartphone tablet

88% 82%

12%18%

app activity browser activity

30%

33%

37%

favour appsfavour mobile webequal

Source: comScore – Oct 2014

Source: IAB– Dec 2014

52% of users in the IAB study admit clicking web links within apps – in our always-on world, can people tell the difference between app and mobile web?

@nickwilsdon

Mobile Web vs. App – Whole New Level of Integration

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“Sometimes the best answer is on a website, and sometimes it’s in an app.” – Google

App indexing is not new, introduced in 2013 but it can now be used to index content on apps that are not installed on the user’s device

When users click an app result, they will be prompted to open the application or download it.

Available in Bing (MS Store) and with iOS apps

How will we do this? Mobile App Sitemapshttps://developers.google.com/app-indexing/introduction

@nickwilsdon

Choosing the User Journey By Search Query or Intent

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Combined Mobile Search & App

Experience

Network

Coverage

Billing & Top

up

Device Suppor

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Personalised FAQs

Account

Support

New opportunities for data driven (i.e. personalised) responses to searches = better user experience

@nickwilsdon

Many Mobile Journey’s Are Broken

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Question: Which device did you use to make your purchase

Smartphone Tablet Computer

Source: Google https://www.consumerbarometer.com @nickwilsdon

Question: What do you tend to do when you run into problems using a website on a smartphone?

• Continue to use the same site on a smartphone (15%)

• Use the same site but on another device (50%)

• Find another site that works better on a smartphone (24%)

• Call or visit the store (7%)

• Try the same site via a smartphone again at a later time (25%)

Which Explains Low Mobile Conversion Rate

8Source: Google https://www.consumerbarometer.com @nickwilsdon

Get Inspired By Domino’s App Success Story

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1 in 8 people in the UK have downloaded app

Now 40%+ of orders come through the app

2012 2013 2014 2015

1%

27.5%

38.3%40%+

Dominos App Orders

Increased use (on move) & reduced friction

@nickwilsdon

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“More Google searches take place on mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries

including the US and Japan*.”- Google – Inside Adwords Blog, May 2015

* Now confirmed that the UK was one of these countries - Eileen Naughton, Managing Director and VP for sales and operations in Google UK-Ireland / 15th June 2015

Mobile Tipping Point Arrived in May 2015

@nickwilsdon

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“Publishers are ready to ramp up content distribution on Facebook’s Instant Articles in the coming days”- The Wall Street Journal – June 25th 2015

Expect More Carrots Than Sticks

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Google is busy pulling levers to increase the quality of their mobile results. This is a great opportunity for advertisers.

• Google will be considering “high quality” apps a positive ranking factor in mobile search

• Google experimenting with “Mobile Friendly” tag in PPC results – will this be rolled into Quality Score?

• Now on Tap can navigate between apps and generate more information about the content in apps

• All of this will drive app downloads and engagement with your brand

@nickwilsdon

Your Mobile SEO Checklist

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• Acceptable Mobile Configuration (passing Google’s Mobile Friendly Test)*

• Responsive Website Design (RWD)

• Monitoring desktop/mobile rankings, traffic and conversions

https://developers.google.com/webmasters/mobile-sites/mobile-seo/configurations/index

Basic Mobile Checklist

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*

@nickwilsdon

• Integrate app and GSC/BWT*

• App analytics, cross-platform tracking

• App Store Optimisation (ASO)

• Focus on performance (page/app loading) and UX improvements

• Involve SEOs on user journey discussions

• Think mobile-first on content strategies and campaigns

https://developers.google.com/app-indexing/introduction / http://search-codelabs.appspot.com/codelabs/app-indexing

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/dn630422.aspx

Advanced Mobile Checklist

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@nickwilsdon

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@nickwilsdon

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nickwilsdon

https://plus.google.com/+NickWilsdon/

Thank You