Getting Found on Google and the New Mobile-Social Imperative
Just when you thought you had this whole Google thing figured out, the world went mobile and your social influence just became a game-changer in the fight for page No.1 search engine placement.
After recently attending the SES NY Conference & Expo, a leading search and social marketing event, I remain convinced that there’s one thing that never changes in this space: The rules for SEO never stop changing. At this year’s event, great minds gathered and mused over algorithms, analytics and more, but there were two key takeaways: 1) Mobile internet access – and search in particular — is set to overtake desktop access by 2015 and 2) Social media is no longer an option, it’s a must for businesses wanting to secure their position in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Look at statistics from a recent Mashable.com Mobile Infographic: 87 percent of the world’s population has a mobile phone – that’s 5.9 billion people. Consider the skyrocketing smartphone and iPad sales totaling nearly half a billion and 40 million unit sales, respectively, in 2011 alone, and there’s no wonder you have an estimated 1.2 billion mobile web users worldwide.
These stats are more than just interesting, they have big implications on how websites surface when consumers are looking for products and services on a mobile device. Google is all about delivering optimal results and user experience. If a searcher is entering a query via smartphone looking for a Japanese restaurant in White Plains, let’s say, and it’s a toss-up between restaurant A and restaurant B, which happens to be a mobile optimized site, guess which restaurant Google is going to serve up first? You got it. The answer is B.
“Those businesses that get on board with this trend as an opportunity to jump ahead of competitors, will do so by creating a mobile version of their website,” says Dan Hight, vice president of business development, xAd, Inc., and SES NY presenter. “Companies don’t have to recreate the wheel to have a mobile optimized web presence. It’s a slimmed down version of their site that renders well on a phone or tablet and includes just the most critical contact, service information and call to action.”
What about social media and its increasing SEO power? According to SES NY speaker, Jim Yu, founder & CEO of BrightEdge, an industry leading SEO platform, social is an important signal for search. “Google is driving the convergence of search and social with its Google+ network. Companies have to cultivate a presence on Google+ if they want to maintain their Google ranking.”
With Google’s introduction of Google+ social network and the latest addition, Search Plus Your World, its SERPs are now integrating social media signals, as well as activity from networks of friends on Google+, so for SEO effectiveness, businesses need to add Google+ to Facebook, Twitter other social networking activity to remain competitive in the rankings.
Lisa Kaslyn is head of Prosper Communications, specialists in Public Relations, Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SEO-Communications Strategy, Optimized Web Content Development and Marketing, Social Media and traditional journalism. Lisa will be presenting SEO Trends and Tactics at the Professional Women of Putnam’s April 17th meeting at the 151 Grill in Brewster and on April 19th at the @Watercooler in Tarrytown.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
