Your business will miss a lot of opportunities if it doesn’t manage to reach mobile users, especially if you are targeting local consumers. According to studies conducted by BrightEdge, mobile traffic to websites have gone up by 125% since last year, and mobile users are only likely to click on links they find on the first page of search engine results.
This graph shows a drastic drop in click-through-rates (CTR) on links beyond page 1 of SERPs.
Getting your website onto the first page of search engine results for local queries and making your website mobile-friendly are important steps toward keeping up with your target market. Here are some of the most important elements of a website that’s optimized for mobile local search.
Local Optimization
Google data reveals that 1 out of 5 searches are for local keywords, and the percentage of local searches on mobile devices can be as high as 40%. Optimizing your pages for local searches requires a combination of on-page and off-page efforts, like using geo-targeted keywords in your website’s content, having active social media accounts, and making sure your business listings on sites like Yelp are updated. Keeping your company information updated on Google listings and websites, such as Google+ Local, Google Maps, and Google Places for Business, is especially important when optimizing for mobile local searches.
Responsive Web Design
Your website will appear differently on different mobile devices, and may be difficult to navigate unless it’s built specifically for mobile users. One option is to create a separate mobile website, but this often requires more resources to maintain. Building responsive websites can be a better solution. A responsive website’s visual elements automatically adjust based on the mobile device users view it on. Implementing a responsive design on your website will make your website easy to view and navigate regardless of the device your visitors are using.
Faster Loading Speed
The main challenge with responsive websites is making sure everything loads quickly. Ilya Grigorik, a Developer Advocate for Google, noted that 57% of mobile users have had problems accessing a mobile site, and that slow loading time was the main issue one third of them faced. Google’s guidelines now recommend that web developers create mobile sites with above-the-fold elements that load within one second or less.
A good way to determine how to make your website load faster is to use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. This tool checks your website to see if it passes its pagespeed rules, and offers suggestions on what to do to improve its overall score.
Optimizing your website for mobile local search is easy if you have the right web developers and designers to assist you. Talk to us and find out what we can do to help you reach your target market through their mobile devices.
Karen de Castro is a Marketing Copywriter for TrueLogic. She graduated from UP Diliman and worked in a major television station in the Philippines before coming to TrueLogic. When she’s not writing PRs, blogs and other marketing collateral, you will find her in the kitchen, cooking and baking different concoctions and aspiring to become a chef. Traveling, photography and music keep her imagination active.
