Since March 2018 Google is indexing and ranking first the mobile version of a website.

Mobile-first indexing means Google will use the mobile version of your website for indexing and ranking, to better help the primarily mobile users to find what they’re looking for.

Why Google made this decision?

Already in 2015 Google realized that more Google searches took place on mobile devices than on computers. Today, with around 80% of all searches happening on smart phones, it is easy to understand why Google is encouraging site owners to take the necessary steps to ensure their mobile phone users have a good experience. This means for Google more searches on mobile, therefore more of a need for Google to rank sites that provide clear, viewable content that mobile users will appreciate and engage positively with.

What does this mean for your mobile marketing strategy?

Eminence has lined up for you the best practices for achieving a successful Mobile Marketing Strategy

  1. Website with responsive layout

Google recommends a website with a responsive layout. What does this mean?

A responsive web design is the approach that suggests that design and development should respond to the user’s behaviour and environment, based on screen size, platform and orientation. The advantage of a responsive web design is, that the content and the source text of a page are identic for the desktop and the mobile version. This makes it easier for Google to interpret for both views (desktop and mobile) the same content.

  1. Register your mobile site in the search console

If you have a separate mobile site, you have to register it in the Google Search Console. All mobile sites should be registered, in order to transmit to Google the existence of a separate mobile version. If you have a responsive site with a main content and a mark-up structure that is the same for desktop and for mobile, you don’t need to undertake further steps.

  1. Using Mobile User Agents and checking the pages

In 2015 and 2016 Google had launched the algorithm updates Mobilegeddon 1 and Mobilegeddon 2, whereby mobile friendly websites are preferred and better ranked in the organically search results than non-mobile-optimised websites. Nevertheless, today you can still find a lot of URLs in the mobile search results, which are expandable, although they have received a mobile-friendly-label.

There will follow for sure more detailed assessment factors by Google in the next few months. Accordingly, it is important to crawl your own website with a mobile User-Agent; this should be applied for the Search Console, as well as for the analysis and optimisations tools, such as Page Speed, GT Metrix & Co (optimisation tool to check the online performance of your website). You should ask yourself the following questions; What is the usability? Is the main content available immediately? How long is the loading time? Are the banners and interstitials (an advertisement that appears while a chosen website or page is downloading) useful or are they disturbing?

  1. Check your structured markups

A structured markup is a type of code, which is added directly to your website’s HTML markup. It helps search engines to understand your site’s content.

Structured markups are a user-focused improvement. It tells search engines what your content means, rather than just what it says. Without structured markups, a search engine would not be able to determine whether a page is referring for example to Jaguar the car or Jaguar the animal.

Furthermore, search engines generate rich snippets by using information, which has been coded using structured markup. A rich snippet shows extra information between the URL and the description.

We recommend to review the markup structure of your landing page and ideally use one mark up per site. The markup for the desktop and the mobile version should be the same in order Google can better measure the main content of the landing page.

  1. Check your desktop visibility vs your mobile visibility

As Google is assessing websites according to the mobile versions, it is very important to check the performance of your website in the mobile search results. You can check and monitor the desktop- and mobile visibility with the Searchmetrics Suite.

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  1. Optimize your mobile loading time

Since the Google Speed Update, which took place in July 2018, the mobile page speed became more important and the loading time of a website on the mobile phone is an official ranking factor for Google. With the Mobile First Index, the optimisation, in particular the mobile loading is becoming more important. Already on the market since 10 years Eminence has wide knowledge and rich experience to help you to optimize your mobile page

Read also: Mobile Marketing: The Key to Success

  1. Smart content

It is very important to create personalized experiences with each user. Various statistics proved that for example personalized email messages are improving significantly the click-through rates and the conversions.

What is the optimal length of text on a mobile screen?

In a study conducted by Briggsby, 86% of the users’ attention is directed to the top ⅔ of a mobile screen. This information is key to driving strategic content marketing for mobile users. Also the choice of your keywords should be mobile-user specific. Our experts of Eminence can help you to choose the best keywords for your company or product.

  1. Micro-moments

Micro-moments are defined as moments during the day when a consumer instinctively reaches for their smartphone to find some information. This could be for example; today’s news, the location of a store, a recipe, etc.. Statistics have shown that in these micro-moments, 96% of the users reach out by using their smartphone.

With a thoughtful strategy and a detailed competitor analysis Eminence can help you to define the micro-moments of your targeted audience.

  1. Mobile payments

The consumer is using more and more his smartphone for paying goods and other services. The mobile payments market is escalating. According to the Business Insider Journal, the usage of mobile payments among millennials will continue to increase. By 2020, it is expected to reach $503 billion. It is also forecasted that by 2025, 75% of all financial transaction will be cashless.

  1. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

AR and VR show a huge potential, in particular for travel, real estate, retail and the games and entertainment industry. For these companies it is important to have an up to date marketing strategy that integrates a multi-channel engagement cycle, to help conversions and build positive brand awareness.

According to Digi-capital research, 80% of AR/VR revenue by 2020 will become from sales, ad-expenses and mobile data/voice. And AR would take 75% of $120 billion market, while VR will stay on 25%

A great example for augmented reality is Ikea who has launched last year the Mobile Place app. This Mobile app allows the customer to see exactly how more than 2’000 furniture items would look and fit in their home. An interesting example of virtual reality is the Mobile app VR Mojo Orbulus. It offers to the consumer a virtual trek of sights and sounds from around the world.

Are you ready to face the challenge? Our agency can help you to build a customized and successful Mobile Marketing Strategy for your company and your brand according to the future trends and innovations.