Articles in The 'Mobile SEO' Tag

Google Mobile Search Made Easy

by Carolina Usbeck

Google has created a simple way to help users with their search needs. It has created search options for mobile devices, which enhance the search experience on a mobile phone and provide a nicer and quicker search for specific information.

As you can see on the image, there is an “options” tab on the right hand side of the Google site, which gives different choices for filtering results. Either by selecting the type of websites you would like to check, the date the information on the sites have been posted or whether you are looking for images, text or standard results.

The implementation of the options tab changes depending on the area of the search you are performing; if you are looking for information in the “web” as you can see on the picture you are provided with these general options described above. If you search within “shopping” the options available are sorting the information based on price and product ranking.

When you are using your phone to perform a search, remember the different options available to you by the options tab, it can be a real time saver.

Is Your Website Mobile Ready?

by Michael Buczek

With Apple iPhones, Blackberries, Smartphone’s and even regular cell phones having internet capabilities, it is important to have a website that can be viewable on these devices. More people are searching via these devices, which pose interesting issues for website builders. Websites show up much differently on a mobile device compared to a normal monitor. The only caveat to this is the Apple iPhone. The iPhone features a browser that has almost all of the features you would find on your standard computer. While the iPhone has viewing capabilities better than the average phone, it still has issues with Flash websites. Flash websites are not viewable by any mobile device at this time.

Some things you should consider when making your website mobile friendly:

• Minimize use of Flash — Flash is not viewable on any mobile phone at this time
• Create a WAP, .mobi sub domain and iPhone ready sites — these applications are specifically used for mobile devices. Each will display your website in a form that will be easily viewable on many mobile devices. .Mobi even allows you to specify which pages and information is displayed on mobile devices. While the iPhone can handle most sites, many developers are creating versions of websites that are optimized for the iPhone. These sites give users a unique experience and still give the information they are looking for.
• Know your audience — People using mobile search are looking for time sensitive information, or geographic locations. Provide the information they need as efficiently as possible. If you are tied to a geographic location, make sure you emphasize that in your keyword targeting
• E-commerce sites can use Google Checkout — This feature is now available for mobile devices and will give your users more confidence to buy online and on the fly with their phone. As people become more mobile friendly, they will be comfortable buying products on their phone and you will be ahead of the game if you can offer easy checkout options.

For more specific information and tips about coding and helping with mobile development, please see this post in the Google Forums. — Here is the link if you need it – http://groups.google.com/group/google-checkout-api-mobile/browse_thread/thread/e3f42b40f19ce167