A Practical Guide to Mobile SEO - Part 1
 by John Heard

Understanding how search engines see and treat mobile search...
A Practical Guide to Mobile SEO - Part 1 — by John Heard
Example Google Local Mobile Search

The first thing to realize about Mobile Optimization is the fact that Google, Bing & Yahoo don't care if you have a mobile Web site or not. Web sites designed for mobile users do not get any special treatment in Google search, regardless of what device the user has.

If you pay close attention to the search results when using a smartphone, you'll notice quickly that search engines do not rank mobile Web sites higher, in fact you'll rarely even see a m.domain.com or other mobile site listed UNLESS you add the word Mobile or anther unique keyword to your phrase.

To be perfectly clear we are specifically talking about smartphones, like Android and iPhones, not WAP enabled "dumb" phones. WAP Search is managed by a separate spider at Google, and WAP phones do get a different search result set. However, WAP phones are not growing at a 400% rate per year like smartphones are, they are on their way out. The new smartphones are treated just like desktop search by Google, so you need to plan accordingly if you want to be able to access that market.

Don't get us wrong, it is important to have a site optimized for mobile users, but this is a usability issue not necessarily a ranking problem. A mobile site is not a requirement to rank in the top 10 for smartphone or tablet users. In fact, if you build a dedicated mobile Web site, that site is not likely going to ever outrank your desktop or main site.

For the rest of this article, when we're talking about Mobile, we're specifically talking about Smartphones, and only those with modern browsers, not the WAP devices.

Mobile Search Results...

TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE